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African governments, funders and health innovators have made 10 commitments to accelerate digital health transformation across the continent.
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The commitments target healthcare financing, primary healthcare, maternal and child health, innovation and ethical health data sharing.
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Organisers say progress will be reviewed annually to determine whether the pledges are translating into measurable results.
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The initiative comes as African health systems grapple with fragmentation, limited financing, uneven infrastructure and weak digital integration.
August 10, (THEWILL) — Governments, development partners, funders, healthcare providers and technology innovators have made 10 commitments aimed at accelerating digital health development across Africa, with organisers pledging to track progress against them at future editions of the Insights Learning Forum (ILF).
The commitments were announced at the conclusion of the two-day ILF 2026 in Abuja, organised by eHealth Africa and the Dala Africa Group. More than 400 delegates attended the July 28–29 forum, which focused on partnerships, inclusion, interoperability and investment in Africa’s health systems.
The commitments cover areas including financing for scalable health innovations, strengthening primary healthcare, improving maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, supporting women-led enterprises, expanding access to healthcare and promoting ethical health data sharing.
Delegates also committed to strengthening locally led partnerships, supporting entrepreneurs and young innovators, improving knowledge-sharing, reducing fragmentation across digital health initiatives and linking policy discussions to measurable outcomes.
A key feature of the commitments is an annual review mechanism intended to assess what has been delivered, what has failed, and what lessons can be applied. This is aimed at addressing a persistent challenge in Africa’s digital health sector, where projects often remain at pilot stage without being integrated into national health systems.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, said Nigeria needed to move beyond isolated pilot projects and fragmented interventions towards integrated and measurable health solutions.
“Digital health is its nervous system,” Salako said, describing innovation as a driver of health system transformation.
Dr Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, National Coordinator of the Sector-Wide Approach Coordination Office, said sustainable transformation would require stronger institutions capable of coordinating investments and holding partners accountable.
“The future of healthcare depends on our ability to move from fragmented interventions to coordinated action,” he said.
Muyi Aina, Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, said technology and investment alone would not be sufficient to strengthen health systems, particularly in underserved communities.
“By bringing together government, the private sector, development partners and communities, and by using data to generate actionable insights, we can build more responsive, inclusive and resilient health systems,” Aina said.
Atef Fawaz, Executive Director of eHealth Africa, said the forum would use its annual reviews to assess whether commitments were translating into results.
“Our goal is not simply to make commitments, but to track them,” he said. “Each year, we intend to review what was promised, what was achieved, what worked, what did not, and what lessons can be carried forward.”
Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Chairman of the Africa HealthTech Summit and Chair of the Africa Digital Health Network, meanwhile called for greater continental integration to address donor dependency and fragmentation, while creating stronger pathways for startups to integrate their technologies into public health systems.
The commitments come as African countries seek to expand the use of digital technologies in healthcare while grappling with fragmented systems, uneven infrastructure, limited financing and challenges around data interoperability.
The effectiveness of the ILF commitments will ultimately depend on whether participating institutions can convert the pledges into funded, coordinated and scalable programmes rather than allowing them to remain isolated initiatives.
Progress is expected to be reviewed at subsequent editions of the forum.
Segun Adeyemi serves as the Associate Editor of THEWILL Newspaper, leveraging more than ten years of editorial expertise and a proven track record in mainstream journalism.
