Nigeria: FG Targets Steady Power for 30 Percent of Health Facilities By 2027 Amid PHC Electricity Gap

What the report says

Nigeria’s federal government says it wants to bring steady electricity to at least 30% of the country’s health facilities by the end of 2027, as officials warn that major gaps remain in primary healthcare centres and hospitals. The remarks were made in Abuja by Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare Iziaq Salako at the launch of the Rural Electrification Agency’s Renewable Asset Management Company (RAMCO).

Premium Times reported that Salako said about 40% of functional primary healthcare centres do not have electricity, while a larger share of primary and tertiary facilities experience frequent outages or no power at all. He said unreliable electricity affects essential services such as vaccine storage, oxygen delivery, surgery, and neonatal care, and that some hospitals spend a substantial portion of their budgets on diesel and other energy costs.

The government’s target is part of the Nigeria Power-for-Health Initiative, approved after a national stakeholders’ dialogue in 2025 and backed by a compact involving the health and power ministries, subnational governments, development partners, civil society and private sector actors. Existing efforts include solar hybrid systems at some health facilities and earlier electrification programmes for tertiary institutions, but Salako said long-term sustainability remains a concern.

He urged closer collaboration with RAMCO, including treating health facilities as a distinct asset class and directing some capital toward primary healthcare centres, which he said are hardest to finance but most important for maternal and newborn survival.