Nigeria: Private Sector Financing Is Key to Improved Maternal Care in Nigeria

Nigeria faces an alarming maternal mortality rate of 993 deaths per 100,000 live births, despite reforms like the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) and Direct Facility Financing (DFF). The private sector can play a crucial role in addressing this issue by providing additional resources and innovative service delivery models.

The 2025 Private Health Sector Financing Summit convened by ACIOE Foundation aimed to explore how stronger public-private collaboration can improve maternal outcomes in Nigeria. The private sector in Nigeria accounts for an estimated 70% of health care services, including hospitals, clinics, and frontline providers such as Community Pharmacists and Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors.

Despite their importance, these providers are often underfunded and not fully integrated into health financing and service delivery systems. Private health facilities in Nigeria face significant barriers such as inadequate funding, limited infrastructure, and shortages of trained personnel. To overcome these challenges, the summit emphasized the need for mechanisms to lower the cost of capital, targeted financing schemes, and integration of private facilities into national and sub-national health strategies.

Expanding private health insurance is identified as a key pathway to achieving broader health coverage, particularly among informal workers and low-income earners. The summit called for regulatory reforms, incentives to reduce premiums, and strengthened consumer protection to facilitate this expansion. The active participation of the private sector is essential for unlocking access to finance, improving service delivery, and sustaining quality care, in support of universal health coverage (UHC).