● HFN Announces Dr. Femi Akingbade as New Executive Secretary
Stakeholders at the 2025 Healthcare Leadership Conference, hosted by the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), have called for public-private integration to be elevated from an ad hoc approach to a national policy priority—framing it as essential to achieving health sovereignty amid shrinking donor support, rising out-of-pocket costs, and mounting pressure on public health infrastructure.
Held in partnership with WHX Lagos, under the theme, “Accelerating UHC and Health Sovereignty: Scaling Up Best Practices Through Public-Private Integration,” the conference convened senior government officials, legislators, private healthcare leaders, development partners, and system innovators to chart a unified approach to healthcare reform.
Notable attendees included Senator Ipalibo Harry Banigo, Chair of the Senate Committee on Health; Senator Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Chairman of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA); Kaakpema Yelpaala, Senior Fellow & Lecturer at Yale School of Public Health; Dr. Adedamola Dada, former Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Metta; alongside numerous policymakers, health executives, and development actors.
The event also featured the formal announcement of Dr. Femi Akingbade, former Acting Director General of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), as the new Executive Secretary of HFN. His appointment brings a wealth of institutional experience and policy insight at a critical time for the federation. With several reform efforts underway, Dr. Akingbade’s leadership is expected to accelerate HFN’s engagement with government and regulatory bodies, particularly in creating an enabling environment where private sector innovation can thrive as a core driver of health system transformation.
Giving her welcome address, Njide Ndili, President of the HFN and Country Director of PharmAccess Nigeria, underscored the urgency of transitioning from fragmented service delivery to a unified system architecture driven by intentional collaboration. She emphasized that Nigeria’s private sector, responsible for the majority of healthcare delivery, is too critical to remain peripheral in national policy.
She cited HFN’s participation in national-level engagements, like the Power and Health Sector Implementation Committee, the National Health Facility Regulatory Agency (NHFRA) Committee, and the National Taskforce on Antimicrobial Resistance, among others, as examples of the federation’s growing institutional role.
“This forum is more than a conference—it is a strategy room,” she said. “HFN is at the table where reforms are being negotiated, from advocating for electricity subsidies for health facilities to shaping the implementation of the NHIA Act. Our focus is to drive integration not just in service delivery, but in policy, financing, and governance.”
Delivering a keynote address, Senator Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo, Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, reinforced the legislative momentum behind health system reforms and urged stakeholders to recognize integration as a strategic obligation—not an outsourcing mechanism. She detailed recent efforts in digital health legislation, maternal support, and community insurance as tangible steps toward system-wide accountability.
“Integration is not about outsourcing government responsibility—it is about governed collaboration,” Senator Banigo stated. “The private sector already delivers the lion’s share of healthcare in Nigeria; what we need now is a unified, accountable system that harnesses this capacity to achieve equity, efficiency, and health sovereignty.”
Also speaking at the conference, Senator Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Chairman of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), noted that the NHIA Act already provides the legal foundation for scalable integration. He explained that the agency is now focused on converting that legal framework into actionable systems that include private providers, reward performance, and reach Nigeria’s most vulnerable populations.
“The Act empowers us to coordinate all health insurance schemes and bring both public and private actors into a unified architecture. Execution is now our core mandate—and we are working to align financing, technology, and quality assurance for national impact,” he affirmed.
Kaakpema Yelpaala, a Senior Fellow at Yale School of Public Health, presented a compelling roadmap on the role of digital infrastructure and AI in accelerating UHC. He emphasized that mobile penetration and fintech success across Sub-Saharan Africa present a unique opportunity for digital health to leapfrog infrastructure gaps—if foundational investments in power, connectivity, and cloud infrastructure are prioritized. He also warned that without localization of AI and data equity measures, Africa risks being excluded from the global health innovation wave.
The conference ended with a unified call for government to institutionalize public-private integration through clear policy direction and coordinated implementation. Stakeholders agreed that only through structured collaboration—anchored in legislation, financing mechanisms, and accountability frameworks—can Nigeria strengthen its health system and make meaningful progress toward Universal Health Coverage.
HFN is the umbrella body for private-sector stakeholders committed to improving healthcare delivery in Nigeria. Founded in 2015, HFN has been instrumental in advancing healthcare policy reforms, fostering collaborations, and enhancing access to quality healthcare solutions.