$25 Million Push For New Maternal Health Digital Initiative In Nigeria

MTN Group Foundation and the Gates Foundation have launched a $25 million partnership aimed at expanding digital access to maternal health services in Nigeria, seeking to reach 500,000 women, 5,000 frontline health workers and 500 primary healthcare facilities by 2030.

The four-year Nigeria Maternal Health Multiplier will combine artificial-intelligence-enabled decision-support tools, affordable smartphones and mobile data, and improved connectivity at healthcare facilities, the organizations said.

The program comes as Nigeria faces one of the world’s largest maternal mortality burdens.

The latest estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other United Nations (U.N.) agencies show that about 75,000 women died from maternal causes in Nigeria in 2023, accounting for 28.7% of estimated maternal deaths worldwide. Nigeria’s maternal mortality ratio was estimated at 993 deaths per 100,000 live births, with an uncertainty interval of 718 to 1,540. The estimated lifetime risk of maternal death for a 15-year-old girl in Nigeria was one in 25.

Globally, about 260,000 women died during pregnancy or childbirth in 2023, while the global maternal mortality ratio has fallen about 40% since 2000. Progress has slowed, however, and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) accounted for about 70% of global maternal deaths in 2023, according to WHO.

Nigeria’s latest Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) also highlights gaps in access to care. The 2024 DHS found that 52% of pregnant women aged 15 to 49 had four or more antenatal-care visits. The figure varied sharply by location and socioeconomic circumstances, indicating differences in access to maternal health services.

The Maternal Health Multiplier is designed to build on Nigeria’s existing maternal and neonatal health reforms, including the Federal Ministry of Health’s Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative, or MAMII, the organizations said.

The platform will give frontline health workers connected devices with access to real-time guidance intended to help identify pregnancy and childbirth complications. Pregnant women will receive access to health information and digital tools through affordable phones and data, while primary healthcare facilities will receive improved connectivity.

Uche Amaonwu, Director of the Gates Foundation’s Nigeria office, says the partnership is not intended to rely indefinitely on philanthropic subsidies.

“The sustainability question is not simply, ‘Who replaces the subsidy?’” Amaonwu says to FORBES AFRICA. “It is, ‘What combination of infrastructure, affordability, service value and financing can sustain these tools without long-term dependence on philanthropy?’”

The foundation said the program will test models involving affordable devices, enterprise connectivity, sponsored or zero-rated access, digital literacy and AI-enabled services. Successful approaches could eventually move toward government, commercial or blended financing, it said.

The partnership brings together MTN’s telecommunications infrastructure, mobile financial services and device-distribution capabilities with the Gates Foundation’s expertise in maternal and newborn health, digital health, responsible AI and evidence-based scale-up, according to the companies.

Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Bosun Tijani said the partnership reflects the government’s push to strengthen the digital infrastructure needed for adoption of new services.

Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said the initiative would complement government efforts to strengthen primary healthcare and frontline health workers.

MTN Group President and Chief Executive Ralph Mupita said the company aimed to demonstrate a model that could eventually be used to improve maternal and child health outcomes elsewhere in Africa.

Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, said philanthropy could play a catalytic role in ensuring AI-enabled health technologies reached populations that might otherwise be excluded by affordability and access constraints.