Alternative Bank
Nigeria’s healthcare challenge is not a shortage of promising ideas. The harder task is finding the capital, partners, and delivery structures that can move those ideas from pilot projects into systems that serve more communities, The Alternative Bank has said.
The bank made the point at the 2026 Insights Learning Forum in Abuja, where government officials, funders, business leaders, health-tech innovators, and development organisations discussed how to move health solutions from small trials to wider adoption.
Speaking during a session on financing scalable solutions for inclusive health systems, Chukwuemeka Agada, Divisional Head, Commercial Banking at The Alternative Bank, said many health solutions struggle to grow because they lack the right funding model after the pilot stage.
“Good ideas do not become health systems by themselves,” Agada said. “They need patient capital, credible partners, and structures that can move them from pilot sites into communities where people need care.”
He said health projects that serve low-income and underserved communities often require more than short-term funding. According to him, they need financing models that connect capital to real assets, shared risk, and long-term delivery.
Agada said The Alternative Bank sees non-interest finance as one route for supporting health projects that can serve communities while remaining financially sound.
“Healthcare will not scale on goodwill alone,” he said. “We need capital that understands the problem, partners who can execute, and structures that make the solution last beyond the first funding cycle.”
The two-day forum was convened by eHealth Africa in collaboration with The Dala Group. It focused on partnerships, investment, and the adoption of digital health solutions across wider health systems.
The forum also examined how government, funders, private-sector players, and implementing organisations can work together to support health projects that can grow beyond donor cycles and limited pilot locations.
Participants discussed the gap between health innovation and system adoption, especially in communities where access to care remains limited by infrastructure, funding, data gaps, and weak last-mile delivery.
For The Alternative Bank, the discussion aligned with its push to connect finance with practical development needs across health, education, agriculture, infrastructure, and climate resilience.
At the closing session, Solomon Okonkwo, Head of Corporate Social Investment at The Alternative Bank, spoke on the bank’s work across digital financial services, financial inclusion, community investment, and the Mata-Zalla initiatives.
Okonkwo said financial inclusion becomes more useful when it opens access to practical opportunities for people and communities.
“Finance must connect to real needs,” he said. “When we talk about inclusion, we are talking about access, dignity, and the ability of communities to take part in economic growth.”
The bank also noted the five-pathway framework presented by the Kano State Commissioner for Rural Development, covering health, education, agriculture, infrastructure, and climate resilience.
Okonkwo said the framework showed why development efforts must work across sectors instead of treating health as a standalone issue.
“Health does not stand alone,” he said. “It connects to education, agriculture, infrastructure, and climate. Any serious development plan must treat these areas as linked.”
Organisers said ILF 2026 aimed to strengthen cross-sector partnerships, promote inclusive digital health solutions, and mobilise investment for scalable health systems.
The Alternative Bank said it remains open to partnerships that can turn practical frameworks into funded interventions with measurable community value.
Agada said the next phase for health innovation in Nigeria must focus on execution.
“The question is no longer whether Nigeria has good health ideas,” he said. “The question is whether we can fund, structure, and deliver them at the scale people deserve.”
