Nigeria’s health sector faces acute challenges even as innovators redefine its future.
Public financing remains well below global benchmarks: the 2024 federal budget allocated about N1.34 trillion to health just around 4.6% of the total budget far short of the 15% Abuja Declaration target.
Many states also under‑spend on health relative to their budgets, with actual execution rates lagging allocations. Out‑of‑pocket payments, though improving, still account for a majority of health spending, reaching about 58.3% in 2024, exposing households to financial hardship.
Health outcomes remain uneven: Nigeria’s under‑five mortality rate is among the world’s highest at over 100 deaths per 1,000 live births, while infant and neonatal deaths also persist at worrying levels. Maternal mortality continues to drive concern, with the country contributing a substantial share of global maternal deaths due to limited access to quality obstetric care.
Despite these systemic gaps in funding, infrastructure, and outcomes, visionary women founders are leading solutions from supply chain innovations and primary care platforms to diagnostics, health education, and community‑driven services—transforming Nigeria’s health landscape and expanding access to quality care across communities.
Dr. Awele V. Elumelu is a physician with degrees in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Benin. She began her career in clinical practice, with stints at Lagos University Teaching Hospital and the Grantham and District Hospital in the U.K.
Today, she chairs Avon Healthcare Limited, one of Nigeria’s leading health insurance providers, and Avon Medical Practice, a fast-growing network of clinics and medical centres.
Her strategy has been to build integrated systems that combine insurance coverage with care delivery, positioning Avon as both a payer and provider in Nigeria’s evolving healthcare ecosystem.
Elumelu’s influence extends beyond her own companies. In 2018, she was appointed Private Sector Champion for Immunisation in Africa by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a role that taps into her corporate network and sector expertise to advance vaccine uptake across the continent.
She also serves on the Advisory Board of the Yale Institute for Global Health, contributing to global health policy conversations from an African perspective.
Within the Heirs Holdings ecosystem, Elumelu plays multiple roles. She chairs Heirs Insurance Brokers, where she is driving efforts to widen access to insurance products, and sits as a founding director on the board of the investment company, which has interests spanning financial services, healthcare, and energy. Her work there is anchored on aligning commercial returns with social impact.
She is also co-founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, one of Africa’s most prominent philanthropic platforms focused on entrepreneurship.
These healthcare juggernauts don’t get enough of their flowers. They’re doing amazing! Especially those on the services side