Nigerian organisation using solar power to transform maternal health backed by Melinda French Gates’ health initiative

GEANCO Foundation, a Nigerian organisation building solar-powered maternal health clinics, conducting specialised surgical missions, and providing scholarships for young women survivors of gender-based violence, has been named an awardee of Action for Women’s Health — a landmark global women’s health initiative launched by Pivotal, a group of organisations founded by philanthropist Melinda French Gates.

In 2024, Pivotal, in partnership with Lever for Change, launched Action for Women’s Health: a $250 million global open call to support organisations working to improve women’s mental and physical health around the world. The call drew applications from thousands of organisations across more than 100 countries. In November 2025, GEANCO Foundation was one of just over 80 organisations selected worldwide to receive this recognition.

The recognition comes as Melinda French Gates announced an additional $215 million in global funding for women’s health in June 2026, bringing her total commitment to women’s health to more than $600 million in just the last two years. GEANCO Foundation’s selection as an Action for Women’s Health awardee places it among a distinguished global cohort of organisations advancing women’s health.

For French Gates, supporting organisations like GEANCO Foundation reflects a deliberate commitment to African-led innovation in women’s health. “Around the world, too many women and girls are missing out on the chance to live healthy lives—simply because they lack access to basic health care,” she said. “But organisations like the GEANCO Foundation are helping change that, one community at a time. They know where the needs are most urgent, and they’re meeting those needs with life-changing, life-saving care. Their success is inspiring—and proves what’s possible when people closest to a problem have the resources to solve it.”

GEANCO Foundation outreach

In Nigeria, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, access to critical reproductive and maternal health care remains deeply unequal. GEANCO Foundation targets these disparities directly—building and supporting high-volume family health centres in underserved communities that provide safe delivery, pre- and postnatal care, preventive health education, and family planning. Equipped with 24-hour solar power, these clinics serve thousands of underserved women across Nigeria — facilitating safe deliveries with a remarkable record of zero recorded mortalities of either mother or child. GEANCO also conducts free surgical missions bringing complex procedures to patients who could never afford them, and provides educational scholarships for young women who are survivors of terrorism and gender-based violence through the David Oyelowo Leadership Scholarship for Girls, co-created and supported by British-Nigerian actor and advocate David Oyelowo.

For Afam Onyema, CEO of GEANCO Foundation, the recognition marks a significant milestone for the organisation and the communities it serves. He says, “Being named an awardee of Melinda French Gates’ Action for Women’s Health initiative is a profound affirmation of what we have built in Nigeria. For too long, the women and girls we serve have been overlooked by the global health community. This recognition puts them — and the solutions being built for them — on the world stage where they belong.”

GEANCO Foundation’s recognition through the Action for Women’s Health initiative is a testament to the power of African-led innovation in women’s health — and to the growing global conversation about the solutions being built on the continent.