HEALTH CONNECT FORUM EP4 - Development Funding in Nigeria: Challenges and New Opportunities

Health Connect Forum is a public engagement platform designed to connect development partners, healthcare stakeholders, policymakers, NGOs, INGOs, and communities through informed conversations around health, development, governance, and social impact. Our goal is to create public understanding, strengthen accountability, and encourage sustainable solutions that directly improve lives across Nigeria. Today’s conversation is both timely and important. For decades, Nigeria’s healthcare and development sectors have benefited significantly from international donor funding and development partnerships. From maternal healthcare to HIV response, immunization, nutrition, humanitarian support, and community outreach programmes, donor-backed interventions have shaped critical parts of our national development landscape. But across Africa, things are changing. Global funding priorities are shifting. International aid structures are evolving. Governments, NGOs, development institutions, and local communities are increasingly being forced to ask difficult questions about sustainability, ownership, accountability, and long-term resilience. How prepared is Nigeria for a future with reduced donor dependence? What are the biggest challenges currently facing development financing? And where are the new opportunities for innovation, local ownership, and sustainable growth? That is the focus of today’s discussion. “Development Funding in Nigeria: Challenges and New Opportunities.”