July 2025 - eHealth Africa

How Digital Networks Are Reshaping Healthcare in Africa

Posted on July 28, 2025July 29, 2025 by Moshood Isah

The recent and recurring outbreaks of diseases and other public health emergencies have undeniably strained healthcare systems, particularly across Africa. These challenges have not only necessitated thinking beyond traditional approaches but have also prompted the development of innovative pathways to ensure communities are better prepared and less vulnerable to such emergencies.

It is essential to note that digital networks are not only supporting healthcare delivery in Africa, but they are also fundamentally reshaping how public health interventions are conceived, designed, and implemented. It is no surprise that the African digital health market was valued at approximately US$3.8 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach US$16.6 billion by 2030. Indeed, these are not just figures; they represent real lives and communities being impacted and transformed by digital networks.

Increasing the adoption of digital health tools could lead to at least a 15% improvement in efficiency by 2030. This marks significant progress, even amid ongoing challenges such as digital inequity, limited local investments, and infrastructure gaps. Nevertheless, public health stakeholders continue to play their roles to ensure that even primary healthcare facilities in the remotest locations are being reached by the digital revolution currently reshaping the health sector.

This digital transformation has significantly improved access to healthcare through telemedicine and virtual consultations, reducing the risks associated with long travel distances and delays in reaching healthcare facilities. Beyond improving access, healthcare facilities themselves are receiving substantial boosts, especially in the areas of drug supply, vaccines, and essential goods. For instance, digital solutions like the Logistics Management Information System (LoMIS), deployed by eHealth Africa, have ensured the timely delivery of essential medicines and reduced stockouts. The deployment of this solution for vaccine distribution across over 300 Primary Healthcare facilities in Sokoto State has proven to be a game-changer.

In addition, digital medical records and health dashboards have significantly streamlined data management, enabling more efficient handling of patient information. This allows healthcare professionals to focus more on delivering quality care rather than being burdened by administrative tasks, while also enhancing clinical decision-making through real-time access to accurate data.

The digital health landscape has undeniably evolved into an interconnected web of systems that overcome geographical and socioeconomic barriers. By bringing care closer to underserved populations, it is transforming healthcare access for marginalized communities. A prime example is the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which have been instrumental in mapping and identifying missed or hard-to-reach settlements. Over the years, this technology has played a crucial role in ensuring that children, regardless of location, receive life-saving vaccines, significantly improving immunization coverage in remote areas.

While technology and innovation are well recognized as enablers and indeed, key drivers of growth across sectors, their impact in health can only be sustained if solution developers, partners, and implementers fully understand and engage with local cultural, social, and regulatory contexts. Only then can digital health solutions be tailored to meet ground realities and deliver meaningful, lasting impact.

Over the last three years, eHealth Africa has consistently convened industry experts to drive discussions and chart pathways for digital health, data-driven solutions, and innovations in public health practice. The event, tagged Insights Learning Forum (ILF), has served as a platform for professionals in both the digital and public health sectors to share their experiences, insights, and innovative solutions.

A key takeaway from digital health discussions has been the need to ensure that solutions are community-driven and developed with local realities in mind. This insight informs the theme of the 2025 Insights Learning Forum:
“Local Investments for Connected Communities: The Power of Digital Health Networks in Public Health Transformation.” The third edition of ILF, scheduled for 30th July 2025, will go beyond rhetoric, focusing on implementing strategies to ensure that communities remain at the heart of digital health interventions.

Abdulhamid Yahaya is the Deputy Director, Global Health Informatics at eHealth Africa. He has over 20 years of extensive expertise and experience in Information Technology (IT) operations, IT management, corporate policy and governance, information/cybersecurity, IT project deployment, health informatics, digital health solutions, corporate strategy, and strategic leadership.

Data Accountability – a road map to building Connected Communities

Posted on July 24, 2025July 24, 2025 by Moshood Isah

By Dr. David Akpan

It may interest you to know that the community leaders in our village, the caregiver in a remote hamlet, and the primary healthcare providers serving in our primary healthcare facility are all essential to the success of achieving universal health coverage with digital health at the central connecting point. The same goes for government actors and stakeholders across every level of the public health system making valuable inputs in creating the enabling environment to improve local coordinated efforts to deliver ease to access integrated health care. The possibility lies with building a connected community where everyone is not left behind. This confirms the power of the digital data system.

Remember the days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when healthcare systems across the globe were stretched to their limits? During that period, there was an urgent and coordinated effort to test individuals exposed to the virus, contain its spread, and provide timely care. In Nigeria, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Federal Ministry of Health played pivotal roles, delivering daily updates on the prevalence of the virus across various states. At this moment, communities were connected, enforced and energised to respond to one health need. This confirms that a connected community is possible and the target to achieve UHC relies squarely on this.

We have seen where pilot data-driven innovations significantly informed by the deployment of digital solutions for contact tracing, testing coordination, and public awareness campaigns has significantly connected communities to demanding for health services Critically, the success of these efforts hinged on the mutual cooperation of communities, individuals, patients, and development partners, demonstrating the power of collective action enabled by transparent and accessible data.

We are moving from the days when innovators relied on general assumptions about community needs and expectations based on mere observations of behavior. Today, successful innovation requires in-depth engagement with key stakeholders to gather accurate and timely information. Interestingly, data sharing swings both ways between the underserved communities and development partners.

Before diving into the development of digital health solutions, data provides important insights into trends, patterns, and critical concerns that need to be addressed. Therefore, local investment both in terms of time, financing, and data accountability remains crucial to ensuring that development partners and governments at various levels prioritize meaningful resource allocation. Thus, investing time and resources in gathering meaningful local data lays the foundation for more effective, inclusive, and sustainable digital health solutions.

Beyond the numbers, connecting communities through accurate and timely data stems largely from creating mutual relationships between the communities, its people and information they can make meaning from.

It is however important to mention that while data offer tremendous potential to create value by improving programs and policies, the misuse of it can lead to abuse which can harm citizens. Data is a resource that can be used and reused repeatedly to create more and more value, but the more data is misused, the higher is the risk of misinterpretation.

As mentioned in a 2021 World Bank report, the deployment of data system is growing at an unprecedented rate and is becoming an integral part of daily life for people around the world. However, there are critical questions we must ask: how can millions of people living in extreme poverty and poor health conditions make sense of and connect to this ubiquitous data? More importantly, how can communities understand and harness the use of data to improve their lives? As we pursue these goals, we must also ensure that low- and middle-income countries are not left behind, which would only widen the gap between those who benefit from this new data-driven world and those who do not.

In this vein, the localization and visibility of data increases the likelihood of communities to connect and relate with each other while understanding what binds them together. In order to achieve this, digital literacy gaps must be bridged via direct engagement of community gatekeepers, Community Based Organisations and other stakeholders within the community.

That’s why the 2025 Insights Learning Forum comes at such a critical and opportune moment. With the theme “Local Investment for Connected Communities: The Power of Digital Health Networks in Public Health Transformation,” this year’s Forum will serve as a vibrant platform for dialogue, collaboration, and strategic action. Taking place on July 30, 2025, it will convene policymakers, innovators, development partners, and investors around a shared conviction: Africa’s digital health transformation must be driven by local leadership.

During the forum, which will convene policymakers, innovators, development partners, and investors, I will be moderating a session on investing in health and underserved communities. This powerful panel discussion will provide a platform for multi-sector dialogue on building a thriving, locally driven digital health ecosystem through investment and partnerships.

Building a connected community using accurate and timely data isn’t just about making data-driven decisions but also about fostering engagement and building a digital equitable community. It also goes a long way in enhancing collaborations across various sectors, communities and development partners thereby ensuring faster response to public health emergencies as a result of transparency and trust.

Dr. David Akpan, Deputy Director Programs and Partnership (DDPP) eHealth Africa. Dr. David Akpan is an experienced social epidemiologist and development expert with 18 years of experience in public health programs and development assistance.

Digital Health Needs Local Investment to Thrive

Posted on July 7, 2025July 7, 2025 by Moshood Isah

Ota Akhigbe

It’s exciting to see how digital tools can be tailored to meet the unique health needs of communities across Africa. But this promise will only become reality if these tools are designed to fit the local context, and backed by sustained, long-term investment.

Critically, local investment in digital health goes beyond only financial commitments. It means investing in infrastructure, cultural understanding, and, perhaps most importantly, human capacity. These dimensions are essential to building ownership and, ultimately, ensuring sustainability. Without them, we’ll continue to witness multi-million-dollar digital health projects struggling to meet the needs of underserved populations.

Saadatu Atiku, 30 a house to house mobilizer shows off the GIS tracking app on her phone which she uses to track the areas she has covered in Yabo LGA, Sokoto state
December 10, 2023 — *Saadatu Atiku, 30 a house to house mobilizer shows off the GIS tracking app on her phone which she uses to track the areas she has covered in Yabo LGA, Sokoto state*

Why Digital Solutions Struggle to Scale

Too often, digital health interventions are designed without the direct input of end users, or they’re created for broad global application. This disconnect limits their real-world impact and stifles both scale and sustainability.

In places where infrastructure is weak, digital literacy is low, and cultural dynamics are misunderstood or ignored, even the most sophisticated tools will fall short. Moreover, when local communities lack the financial means, or a seat at the design table, they understandably hesitate to take ownership. That lack of buy-in has consequences; interventions become short-lived, donor-dependent, and disconnected from local priorities.

As someone working at the intersection of health systems and innovation, I’ve seen firsthand how solutions thrive when they are rooted in the lived realities of the people they aim to serve. This is why we must go beyond pilot programs and start investing in the full ecosystem that supports digital health, technical infrastructure, skilled local talent, and policy environments that encourage innovation and accountability.

The Case for Local Investment

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the success of digital health isn’t simply about access to tools, it’s about the intent and structure of the systems supporting them. When governments, donors, and private actors prioritize local funding and ownership, digital solutions become more relevant, adaptable, and impactful.

Local investment also fuels homegrown innovation. It supports research tailored to real community needs, and it helps bridge the persistent digital divide. When communities have reliable internet, basic infrastructure, and trained personnel, the effects are far-reaching; not only does healthcare improve, but economic opportunities expand and public trust deepens.

Data generated through these investments can also empower governments to make better decisions, designing evidence-based policies that reflect the realities on the ground, not assumptions from afar.

A Timely Call to Action

This is why the 2025 Insights Learning Forum could not be more timely, or more necessary.

Under the theme “Local Investment for Connected Communities: The Power of Digital Health Networks in Public Health Transformation,” this year’s ILF will provide a dynamic platform for collaboration, discussion, and action. Scheduled for July 30, 2025, the Forum will bring together policymakers, innovators, development partners, and investors to align around one core truth: that Africa’s digital health revolution must be locally led.

Since its launch in 2023, ILF has grown into a space where real solutions are shared, strategic partnerships are formed, and bold ideas are transformed into tangible outcomes. This year, it promises to be even more impactful, with case studies, keynotes, and workshops spotlighting how local talent, funding, and infrastructure are already reshaping health systems across the continent.

At eHealth Africa, we believe in solutions that scale, and we know they only do so when local communities lead the way. ILF 2025 is more than just another conference. It’s where vision meets action. We invite all stakeholders, governments, donors, innovators, and community leaders, to join us in shaping a digital health ecosystem that puts local investment at the heart of transformation.

Ota Akhigbe is the Director of Partnerships and Programmes at eHealth Africa. She writes at the intersection of health, equity, and systems innovation. Her weekly BusinessDay column explores practical paths for inclusive development and structural transformation in Africa.

Why Digital Solutions Struggle to Scale

The Case for Local Investment

A Timely Call to Action

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