Within the final one 12 months, two Nigerian expertise start-ups – Paystack and Flutterwave have collectively raised almost half a billion {dollars} in exterior finance, considerably pushed by expertise, willpower, and personal capital.
For a very long time, well being expertise advocates have spoken passionately concerning the potential of knowledge and communication expertise (ICT) for healthcare supply. It has taken the COVID-19 pandemic for this to be put in stark aid. As nations began to expertise energetic and widespread neighborhood transmission of SARS-CoV-2, it grew to become obvious that to keep away from a whole halt within the supply of healthcare providers, expertise needed to be utilised to bridge the hole. So, in wide-ranging healthcare sectors equivalent to psychological well being, youngster well being, ear/nostril/throat surgical procedure, and dermatology, telemedicine has began disrupting the supply of healthcare.
Moreover, expertise has huge potential to vary the way in which people achieve monetary entry to healthcare, and even the way in which purchasers of healthcare guarantee affected person information availability and accessibility. Nevertheless, for this to develop and change into sustainable, there’s a have to deliberately shut the digital divide which is the hole in entry to ICT between rural/city and poor/wealthier populations in African nations and supply an enabling atmosphere for well being expertise corporations as regards to insurance policies, financing, and funding. The success tales in Nigerian tech house have been considerably pushed by expertise, willpower, and personal capital. To develop this house universally would require extra public sector help.
