Last month, I spoke at the MENA Telehealth & Virtual Care Expo in Riyadh. The conference brought together some of the brightest minds shaping the future of virtual care, including tech innovators, global health experts, policy wonks and development partners. While the conversations were rich and the optimism contagious, I couldn’t help but feel that for Africa, especially countries like Nigeria, we are stuck in a loop.
Once again, we spoke about potential. Once again, we discussed infrastructure gaps, affordability barriers and the need for partnerships. Once again, we agreed that telehealth can change the game—but only if we design it to fit the communities it serves, the systems they navigate and the realities they face on the ground.
Nigeria’s Telehealth Story
In my session, I focused on Nigeria’s telehealth story. With over 200 million people and an overstretched health system, the case for digital health tools, including telehealth, is compelling. Our disease burden is high, but so is mobile penetration (around 87%). Access to digital devices stands at 44%, and there’s growing government interest. On paper, that’s a promising foundation.
But then, the cracks appear.
Nigeria spends around $83 per capita on health care. Out-of-pocket expenditure is the norm for most Nigerians, making telehealth an uphill climb for most citizens. You can’t just focus on infrastructure or digital skills and ignore the bigger issue of affordability. If we’re not addressing affordability and access together, we’re not solving the real problem.
Increasing Access in Hard-to-Reach Areas
VillageReach strengthens primary health care systems to be responsive for under-reached communities. We use technology, outreach and the community health workforce to increase access to health care to those normally left behind, recognizing that the primary health care of the future will be technology-enabled and ever more responsive to the needs of every person. By the end of 2024, we helped improve access to health care for over 111 million people across Africa, supported more than 675,000 health workers and facilitated health product delivery across 14,000 facilities. These numbers aren’t just stats—they are proof that we can build systems that work with the right partnerships.
Partnerships are essential to driving meaningful progress. That’s why I emphasized the Global Telehealth Community of Practice (GTCoP). This growing network connects governments, academics, private sector leaders and civil society to identify and share innovative telehealth interventions, best practices and tools that are making an impact both nationally and globally.
The GTCoP fosters vibrant, ongoing collaboration among national telehealth communities — enabling them to exchange knowledge, support one another and co-develop policies and regulatory frameworks that improve the quality and accessibility of telehealth services for all. Whether it’s supporting regulatory development, as seen in Nigeria, or mapping telehealth initiatives across Africa, GTCoP is a platform for coordinated action — not just more talk.
MENA Telehealth & Virtual Care Expo Key Takeaways
During the conference, Sean Blaschke from the United Nations Agency for Children (UNICEF) reminded us that “care must follow people, not borders,” calling for cross-border telehealth solutions that recognize the realities of disease migration and human movement. Salim Azzabi Zouraq from the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasized the need for global policy tools and regulatory sandboxes to test and adapt innovations. Dr. Waheed Arian challenged us to prioritize equity and community-driven design in building digital health platforms.
The message was clear: We can’t Ctrl + C (copy) and Ctrl + V (paste) what works in Saudi Arabia, the U.S., or even Kenya and expect them to work in Nigeria or Malawi. Africa’s telehealth journey must be built, not borrowed.
That means co-designing with users, not just consulting them. It means creating platforms that match local income, literacy and infrastructure levels. It means aligning technology with national health priorities, not donor agendas. Above all, it means investing in the trust that binds systems together: trust in regulation, partnerships and public health institutions.
Yes, the conversations can feel repetitive. But change, especially systemic change, is rarely linear. Platforms like the MENA Telehealth Expo allow us to challenge assumptions, share innovations and build alliances with those equally committed to local ownership.
There is real opportunity here—not for shortcuts but lasting solutions. The system isn’t broken; it’s being built, brick by brick, innovation by innovation. With the GTCoP expanding its footprint, governments like Nigeria pushing toward regulatory clarity and organizations like VillageReach continuing to do the hard work at the last mile, we’re not just talking anymore.
Ctrl + V won’t save us. Ctrl + Build will. Let’s keep building—locally, deliberately, together.