Nigeria’s private healthcare providers have raised concerns over what they describe as their exclusion from discussions on implementing a proposed $5 billion Nigeria–United States healthcare partnership, warning that the lack of transparency and stakeholder engagement could undermine one of the country’s most ambitious health sector reform initiatives.
The concerns come after BusinessDay reported that the U.S. Department of State is seeking project proposals for what could become one of its largest health transformation programmes in Africa’s most populous country. Under the initiative, up to $200 million will be made available to support Nigeria’s transition to a more self-reliant healthcare system over the next five years.
The funding opportunity, announced by the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy (GHSD), forms part of the implementation of a Health Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the U.S. government and the Federal Republic of Nigeria in December 2025.
The programme, expected to run through 2030, could support up to 20 projects, subject to the availability of funds. Unlike previous donor-funded interventions focused on specific diseases, the new framework seeks to strengthen Nigeria’s entire health system while gradually shifting responsibility for financing and programme delivery to Nigerian institutions.
