HealthCap Africa has called for greater investment of pension funds in Nigeria’s healthcare sector, saying institutional capital could help bridge funding gaps in the industry.
The call was made at a Private Markets and Healthcare Roundtable organised by HealthCap Africa in Lagos, where pension fund managers and other institutional investors overseeing more than $5bn in assets discussed ways to increase private investment in healthcare.
The meeting, held alongside HealthCap Africa’s Annual General Meeting, focused on healthcare as an investment asset class, particularly amid reduced foreign aid funding.
Participants included representatives of the Securities and Exchange Commission, National Pension Commission, Africa Finance Corporation, International Finance Corporation, World Bank, pension fund managers and investment firms.
HealthCap Africa said Africa accounts for about 22 per cent of the world’s disease burden but receives only about 1 per cent of global health spending.
Nigeria, despite accounting for about 14 per cent of Africa’s population, attracted only 8 per cent of the $4.2bn invested in African healthcare since 2016, according to figures presented at the meeting.
Healthcare spending accounts for 3.7 per cent of Nigeria’s 2026 federal budget, the lowest level since 2020, according to the figures cited at the roundtable.
Participants identified pension funds as a largely untapped source of long-term capital for healthcare investment but said investment products would need to be structured to meet pension funds’ regulatory and fiduciary requirements.
They called on the SEC and PenCom to work with fund managers and institutional investors to develop investment products that could channel pension assets into healthcare while meeting required risk and return standards.
The Africa Finance Corporation also agreed to share the structure of its new $100m venture capital fund, which has already been deployed through two underlying funds, as a possible model for pension-backed healthcare investment.
Speaking at the event, World Bank representative Chishamiso Mawoyo said government policy and the regulatory environment remained important to attracting private capital into healthcare.
HealthCap Africa founder and general partner, Dr Ola Brown, cited India as an example of how specialised healthcare investment could contribute to the expansion of private healthcare infrastructure.
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She said Quadria Capital, an Asian healthcare-focused investment firm, had raised more than $1bn and managed over $4bn in assets.
Brown said Africa could consider how similar pools of specialised capital could be developed to support healthcare infrastructure and services on the continent.
The roundtable also highlighted existing private-sector investment in Nigeria’s healthcare system.
Humphrey Oriakhi of PAC Capital said the firm had financed a 250-bed multi-speciality tertiary hospital in Abeokuta, Ogun State, without public funding.
HealthCap Africa said its portfolio companies had created more than 1,000 direct jobs and reached more than two million patients and users across 10 African countries.
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Cecilia Attah is a tech analyst with a degree from Benue State University. She covers tech news and startups at TechRegard with a focus on how technology is transforming Africa and shaping the global landscape.
