Odunayo Sanya, Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, recently said that a major challenge with the Nigerian healthcare sector is that healthcare in Nigeria is treated as one thing rather than a long value chain with different components that need to be strengthened.
Odunayo made this assertion during a panel session on “Healthcare, Funding Access and Equity in Nigeria” at the second edition of the Africa Social Impact Summit (ASIS) held on Friday, August 11, 2023, at the Eko convention centre in Lagos.
The Africa Social Impact Summit organized by the Sterling One Foundation and the United Nations Global Compact, is a call for effective collaboration by all players in Africa’s development sector.
This includes the government, civil society organizations, the private sectors, and development communities to ensure an all-inclusive approach to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The summit enables impact investors to design market-led solutions and accelerate impact investment into Africa to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.
Odunayo also highlighted that the MTN Foundation is committed to complementing and contributing to government efforts in advancing Nigeria.
She said “The MTN Foundation was set up in 2003 and we commenced operation in 2004. Our singular aim is to advance Nigeria, to enable Nigeria and Nigerians hit the SDGs. For us, it is about complementing and contributing to government and private sector efforts, to ensure that we do well as a nation.”
“Over the years, we have emphasised stakeholder management and engagement and we recognise that SDG 17, that is partnership for the goals, is key.
“At the centre of everything we do is what we call the human-centred design mechanism. This is simply creating projects that are beneficial for people in different communities, where we operate.
“A lot of our projects have heavy community involvement because we carry out projects in rural communities. In all that we do, we consult with the government and certain private organisations, to ensure that we are providing exactly what the different communities need” she stated.
The second edition of the Africa Social Impact Summit was hosted in partnership with corporate and development partners like the MTN Foundation, British Council, UNDP, and Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), amongst others. The two-day event was a mix of workshops and roundtable discussions for civil society organisations, panel discussions on development issues in Nigeria, different sessions between private sector leaders and other players, and several other side events.
