‘Nigeria, others need $2.5bn to power healthcare facilities’

A joint report from the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the International Renewable Energy Agency, and Sustainable Energy for All has highlighted the urgent need for investment in electricity access for healthcare facilities in several African countries. Specifically, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania require approximately $2.5 billion to accelerate electricity access in their healthcare systems. The report, titled “Energizing Health: Accelerating Electricity Access in Health-Care Facilities,” indicates that at least 25,000 healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan Africa lack any electricity access. Furthermore, 68,350 facilities have only unreliable electricity, while only half of the hospitals in the region benefit from a reliable power supply.

The findings reveal that nearly one billion people in low- and lower-middle-income countries rely on healthcare facilities with either unreliable electricity or no electricity at all. Alarmingly, around 15 percent of healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan Africa have no access to electricity whatsoever. A needs analysis conducted by the World Bank, which is included in the report, shows that almost two-thirds (64 percent) of healthcare facilities in low- and middle-income countries require urgent intervention. This could involve establishing new electricity connections or implementing backup power systems, with an estimated $4.9 billion needed to bring these facilities up to a minimal standard of electrification.

The report underscores that sub-Saharan Africa has the highest investment requirements for improving electricity access in healthcare facilities, reflecting the significant energy insecurity faced by the region’s healthcare systems. It states, “Geographically, sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest investment requirements (about $2.5 billion), with countries including Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania ranking high in terms of the total investment required.”