Health experts and industry stakeholders have raised concerns over the high failure rate of pilot healthcare projects across Nigeria and Africa. They revealed that nearly 98.5 percent of these initiatives never progress beyond the pilot stage due to poor sustainability, inadequate funding and weak integration into national health systems.
The experts made the disclosure during a roundtable focused on strengthening digital healthcare systems. The event highlighted the urgent need to ensure that promising innovations move beyond small-scale trials and achieve lasting impact. Health innovations fail to scale when governments, investors and development partners do not create pathways for long-term adoption.
Stakeholders Call for Sustainable Digital Health Solutions
Participants at the roundtable, themed “From Pilot to Scale: Shaping the Future of Health Innovation,” examined strategies for expanding successful digital health projects across Nigeria and other African countries.
They noted that billions of naira and donor funds have gone into digital healthcare initiatives over the years. However, many of these projects disappear after the pilot phase despite producing positive results.
Technical Director of the Network for Health Equity and Development (NHED), Dr. Jerome Mafeni, said excessive investment in short-term pilot programmes has limited progress across the health sector.
According to him, many innovations demonstrate clear benefits but fail to attract the financial backing needed for wider implementation.
Mafeni explained that the objective of the gathering was to encourage stakeholders to focus on scalable solutions rather than continuously launching new pilot programmes.
He stressed that healthcare systems across Africa require sustainable technologies that can operate effectively at national and regional levels.
Nigeria’s Health System Requires Greater Efficiency
Mafeni described Nigeria’s healthcare system as fragmented and inefficient. He argued that the system has struggled to deliver expected outcomes despite ongoing interventions.
According to him, poor health indicators highlight the need for stronger supervision, improved service delivery and better resource management.
He noted that countries around the world increasingly rely on digital technologies to strengthen healthcare planning, disease surveillance and programme management.
As a result, he urged policymakers and development partners to accelerate the adoption of proven digital tools.
Mafeni also highlighted the importance of collaboration among governments, technology companies, healthcare providers and international partners.
He said stronger partnerships could help build responsive, data-driven health systems capable of improving healthcare outcomes across Africa.
Furthermore, he expressed confidence that coordinated efforts would generate practical recommendations for scaling successful innovations and strengthening public health infrastructure.
Funding Challenges Continue to Limit Growth
Managing Director of Health Technologies, Paul Bhuhi, echoed concerns about the low success rate of pilot health programmes.
He revealed that research shows around 1,000 pilot health initiatives operate across Africa at any given time. According to him, nearly half of those projects are located in Nigeria.
Bhuhi stated that approximately 98.5 percent of these programmes fail because they cannot secure the funding required for large-scale deployment.
He warned that enormous resources are wasted on projects that never reach the people who need them most.
“The problem we are trying to help solve today is that there are so many pilots going on across Nigeria and Africa, when only one percent of them succeed, and it’s actually between 1 and 1.5 percent across Africa,” he said.
Bhuhi argued that organisations should design projects with long-term implementation in mind instead of focusing only on pilot results.
He explained that lessons learned during small-scale trials often become less relevant when programmes expand nationally. Therefore, developers should plan for scalability from the beginning.
AI-Powered Data Systems Could Transform Healthcare
Speaking at the event, Mr. Chibueze Adirieje of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) highlighted the role of innovation in healthcare planning.
He said Nigeria has made significant progress in collecting health-related data. However, the challenge remains how to convert that information into effective policy decisions.
Adirieje revealed that IHVN has developed an artificial intelligence-powered platform known as AIM250.
According to him, the system aggregates, monitors and analyses healthcare data through advanced AI technology.
“What this initiative has done since 2024 is provide a single platform where data is aggregated, monitored and analysed through an AI-enabled system,” he said.
He explained that accurate and harmonised data remains essential for healthcare planning, resource allocation and policy development.
The AIM250 platform also focuses on improving data quality while ensuring information remains useful for decision-making.
Adirieje said stronger data systems could support smarter decisions, improve coordination and drive better health outcomes across Nigeria.
Health innovations fail to scale across Nigeria and Africa largely because of inadequate funding, poor sustainability planning and weak integration into health systems. Experts believe the solution lies in designing projects for long-term adoption, strengthening partnerships and embracing digital technologies that can operate at scale. As healthcare challenges continue to grow, stakeholders say sustainable digital solutions and AI-driven systems could play a critical role in transforming health outcomes across the continent.
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