Nigeria’s Healthtech Sector Expands as Startups Tackle Systemic Gaps

Nigeria’s healthcare system faces long-standing structural challenges. Hospitals across the country rely heavily on paper-based records, contend with intermittent electricity, and struggle with unreliable internet connectivity.

Administrative bottlenecks and staff shortages further slow patient care, creating a system where inefficiency and error are commonplace.

In recent years, Nigeria’s healthtech sector has grown, driven by startups aiming to modernise healthcare delivery. Early waves of innovation focused on telemedicine platforms and electronic medical records, addressing discrete problems rather than systemic issues.

Today, a new category of healthtech companies is emerging, one that attempts to tackle the underlying infrastructural barriers preventing technology from working effectively.

One example is Lagos-based Axtute Digital Health Ltd., which developed a platform called LafiaLink. Unlike conventional healthtech products, the platform is not software-only.

It combines hospital management tools, enterprise resource planning modules, patient portals, custom-built computing hardware, and backup solar and internet connectivity into a single deployment package.

Analysts say this approach reflects a crucial reality: many digital health initiatives fail not because of software flaws, but because hospitals lack the infrastructure to support them.

By addressing electricity, connectivity, and hardware reliability alongside software deployment, platforms like LafiaLink aim to ensure digital solutions remain operational in both rural and urban facilities.

The platform’s modules span hospital administration, patient engagement, and public health coordination. Integration with systems such as SORMAS allows health authorities to monitor disease outbreaks in near real-time. In theory, this creates a bridge between individual facilities and national health systems, enabling more coordinated responses to public health challenges.

Hardware has become a strategic focus for companies attempting this kind of systemic intervention. LafiaLink produces low-power computing units designed to function reliably where conventional machines fail. These devices, paired with solar energy installations and redundant internet connections, highlight a broader lesson: infrastructure cannot be assumed when designing technology for Nigerian healthcare.

The urgency is clear. Nigeria has more than 200 million people but only about 35,000 doctors, far below the World Health Organization’s recommended staffing levels. Meanwhile, perceptions of poor service and unreliable facilities drive an estimated $2 billion annually in outbound medical tourism.

Technology that functions reliably in local conditions is increasingly seen as a lever to improve both efficiency and public trust.

Investor interest in Nigeria’s healthtech ecosystem is also rising. Startups are attracting funding for solutions spanning telemedicine, electronic medical records, drug distribution, and diagnostics. But scaling infrastructure-intensive platforms presents new challenges.

Deployment complexity, long-term maintenance, and institutional adoption are hurdles that software-only solutions rarely face. Analysts caution that systemic interventions carry both higher risk and higher potential reward, depending on execution.

Despite these challenges, startups are showing a shift toward systems-level thinking. Instead of designing for idealised conditions, founders are building around the realities of Nigeria’s healthcare environment. This includes unreliable power, spotty internet, and limited IT expertise, factors often overlooked in early digital health initiatives.