FG Targets Steady Power in One-Third of Health Facilities by 2027 — Salako

 

By Pan Afric Reporters

 

The Federal Government has set a target of achieving steady electricity supply in at least 30 per cent of Nigeria’s health facilities by the end of 2027, declaring that sustainable power infrastructure is critical to improving healthcare delivery and saving lives.

 

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, disclosed this on Wednesday at the launch of the Renewable Asset Management Company (RAMCO) of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), held at the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

 

In a statement signed by Ado Bako, Assistant Director, Information and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Salako called for stronger collaboration between RAMCO and the Nigeria Power-for-Health Initiative, stressing that reliable electricity in healthcare facilities should be treated as a clinical necessity rather than merely an infrastructure requirement.

 

Speaking as a physician and minister, Salako said electricity was indispensable to critical healthcare services, including vaccine cold chains, oxygen concentrators, operating theatres and neonatal incubators.

 

He warned that power failures in health facilities could lead to delayed treatment, reduced quality of care and, in severe cases, loss of lives.

“Electricity in healthcare facilities is not merely an infrastructure requirement but a critical clinical input,” Salako said.

 

The minister acknowledged interventions by the Federal Ministry of Power and REA in electrifying health facilities, noting that federal tertiary health institutions, including teaching hospitals in Maiduguri and Calabar, had benefited from renewable-energy interventions under the Energising Education Programme.

 

He added that 100 health facilities had also received 50-kilowatt containerised solar hybrid systems under the Nigeria Electrification Project, while a second phase was targeting 400 Primary Health Care Centres (PHCs).

 

60–70% of Health Facilities Face Power Challenges

Despite the interventions, Salako said energy poverty remained a major obstacle to Nigeria’s healthcare system.

 

According to him, between 60 and 70 per cent of primary and tertiary health facilities experience frequent power outages or have no electricity, while about 40 per cent of functional PHCs lack electricity access.

 

He further disclosed that many of the remaining facilities receive only about six to 10 hours of electricity daily.

 

Teaching hospitals, he said, require between three and eight megawatts for optimal operations but receive only about five hours of grid supply daily in many cases, forcing them to rely heavily on diesel.

 

According to the minister, some teaching hospitals spend as much as 40 to 50 per cent of their operating expenditure on energy, underscoring the financial burden of unreliable electricity.

 

Tinubu’s Power-for-Health Initiative

Salako recalled that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the establishment of the Nigeria Power-for-Health Initiative following the first National Stakeholders’ Dialogue on Power in the Health Sector held in September 2025.

 

The dialogue culminated in a Compact for the Sustainable Electrification of Public and Private Health Facilities, signed by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Power, sub-national governments, the Committee of CMDs/MDs, private-sector operators, development partners and civil society organisations.

 

He said the Compact established a target of ensuring that at least 30 per cent of health facilities nationwide have steady power supply by the end of 2027.

 

Salako stressed that achieving the target would require substantial private capital, development finance, climate finance and innovative financing mechanisms because government alone could not fund the scale of energy infrastructure required across the health sector.

 

Why Solar Projects Fail

The minister said the challenge was not simply installing solar panels and batteries but ensuring that renewable-energy infrastructure remained functional over the long term.

 

He cited evidence indicating that more than 30 per cent of solar systems installed in Nigerian PHCs become non-functional within three years of commissioning.

 

According to him, the problem is often linked to inadequate preventive maintenance, unavailable spare parts, lack of dedicated budgetary provisions and unclear ownership or responsibility for the assets after project completion.

 

He said RAMCO’s proposed asset-management model — build, operate, optimise, aggregate, refinance and reinvest — could help convert renewable-energy installations from short-term projects into professionally managed national infrastructure assets.

 

Salako Proposes RAMCO-Health Sector Partnership

Salako outlined four areas of collaboration between RAMCO and the Nigeria Power-for-Health Initiative.

 

He called for health facilities to be recognised as a distinct asset class within RAMCO’s portfolio, beginning with teaching hospitals and facilities already solarised under Federal Government programmes.

 

He also advocated integrating RAMCO’s professional asset-management system with Facility Energy Management Teams being established in hospitals.

 

The minister further proposed integrating RAMCO’s asset register with health-facility energy audits to improve data for planning and investment.

 

He also urged RAMCO to dedicate part of its recycled capital to PHCs, particularly facilities that may not be commercially attractive but are essential to improving maternal and newborn health outcomes.

 

“For our part, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare commits to offering RAMCO a seat within the Inter-Agency Technical Committee of the Power-for-Health Initiative,” Salako said.

 

He pledged that the ministry would advance electricity as a dedicated budget line across all tiers of healthcare, regularly update facility energy audits, enforce certification and installation standards, including NEMSA certification, and coordinate partner and private-sector interventions under government leadership.

 

Salako said a credible asset-management framework would make healthcare electrification more attractive to long-term investors by ensuring professional management of renewable assets, transparent performance data, predictable maintenance and credible payment structures.

 

“We will reach it by building assets that last, and by managing them as the national infrastructure they are,” he stated.

 

The minister congratulated the REA, the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) and InfraCorp on the launch of RAMCO, expressing confidence that sustainable renewable-energy infrastructure would help keep the lights on in healthcare facilities where reliable power is most critical to the lives and wellbeing of Nigerians.