Energizing Healthcare in Nigeria: Powering Healthy Beginnings & Hopeful Future

Healthcare and electricity are deeply connected, many healthcare facilities in Nigeria lack reliable power, forcing critical medical procedures to be carried out in the dark. Reliable power is the backbone of any functional healthcare system, ensuring that life-saving medical equipment runs smoothly, essential medicines remain properly stored, and healthcare professionals can deliver quality care at all hours. Yet, in Nigeria, a significant portion of healthcare facilities still struggle with unreliable or nonexistent electricity, putting countless lives at risk.

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As we mark World Health Day 2025, themed “Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures,” it is crucial to highlight how electrification, particularly through renewable energy, is transforming healthcare in Nigeria.

The Energy Deficit in Nigeria’s Healthcare Sector

According to the World Bank, over 60% of healthcare facilities in Nigeria lack reliable electricity. This situation is significantly worse than in many other African countries. For example, approximately 85% of Rwanda’s 2,139 healthcare facilities are connected to the grid, including all secondary and tertiary health centers, which also have battery backups. Also, between 2004 and 2010, electricity access in Kenyan healthcare facilities increased from 65% to 74%, with hospitals maintaining a 98% access rate during this period.

This puts Nigeria among the most energy-deficient healthcare systems in Africa, with devastating consequences for patient care and medical outcomes.

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Many hospitals and clinics in rural areas rely on costly and polluting diesel generators, which often break down or become too expensive to operate. As a result, essential medical services are frequently disrupted, and healthcare workers are forced to make difficult compromises.

For example, midwives in unelectrified rural clinics have been known to use torchlights or candles to deliver babies at night. This is a reality echoed by a matron in a rural clinic in Oyo State, who revealed that healthcare workers at the centre had to rely on headlamps tied with scarves, candles, and kerosene-powered lanterns to attend to patients. Apart from the dangers of using kerosene and the inconvenience of poorly lit lamps and lanterns, this setup often led to understaffing as some nurses had to double as ‘lamp holders,’ limiting their ability to provide care.

Havenhill Synergy’s Impact in the Healthcare Sector

Solar is a sustainable and cost-effective solution. Unlike generators, solar mini-grids and rooftop solar systems provide a clean, consistent, and cost-effective power source for hospitals and clinics.

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At Havenhill Synergy, we have taken bold steps to bridge the electricity gap in healthcare by energizing over 50 healthcare centers across Nigeria. Our impact has been life-saving. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we stepped into power critical healthcare facilities, ensuring that essential medical equipment could function without interruption. In one of the facilities we electrified in Ologbon, healthcare workers relied on headlamps and candles, leading to inefficiencies. With reliable electricity, patient numbers, especially for maternal care, increased. Mrs. Oni, the matron, shared, “It has brought more people to the hospital.” The solar power also enabled a sponsor to provide medical equipment and allowed the centre to store medications safely in a freezer, improving care and efficiency. Our solution has not only saved lives but has also strengthened community trust in the healthcare centre.

The Road Ahead: A Call to Action

While progress is being made, thousands of healthcare facilities in Nigeria still lack access to reliable power. The Nigerian government has introduced initiatives such as the Rural Electrification Agency’s Energizing Healthcare Program to operate in two phases. ​Under the first phase of the initiative, 100 health facilities have been equipped with containerized solar hybrid systems, while the second phase will focus on deploying similar systems to 400 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs). 

But there have been challenges in electrifying healthcare facilities ranging from funding limitations, lack of institutional coordination and infrastructural challenges. Without a stronger push for sustainable energy solutions, many hospitals will continue to struggle with power outages, putting lives at risk.

To address this critical issue, more national-scale solar electrification initiatives should be implemented, leveraging public-private partnerships (PPPs) and innovative financing models. The government, in collaboration with development agencies and private sector investors, can scale up the healthcare electrification initiatives by:

• Expanding access to solar mini-grids in rural healthcare centers.
• Establishing a dedicated maintenance fund to ensure long-term system reliability.
• Training local technicians for on-site repairs and system management.
• Integrating energy-efficient medical equipment to maximize available power.

No healthcare facility should operate in the dark. Reliable electricity is a necessity for quality healthcare. As we celebrate World Health Day 2025, let’s recognize that powering healthcare with sustainable energy is an investment in a healthier, brighter future for all Nigerians.

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