The quest to transform Nigeria’s health innovation landscape gained new momentum on Thursday as the Society for Family Health (SFH), through its enterprise arm, SFH Access, officially launched the CoElevate Catalytic Fund, a mechanism designed to accelerate homegrown solutions in HealthTech, WASH, Pharmaceutical R&D, and Non-Communicable Diseases.
Speaking at the launch, Managing Director of SFH Access, Pharm. Dennis Aizobu, described the initiative as “the beginning of a new chapter in West Africa’s innovation history,” noting that brilliant ideas in Nigeria often fail not due to lack of competence but because innovators lack exposure, capital, systems, and support.
He said CoElevate was intentionally designed to close these gaps.
Aizobu stressed that no health system can thrive without continuous innovation, adding that the new fund provides “access to mentorship, access to support, access to capital, and access to platforms that will ensure scale.” He said SFH Access was investing in the next generation of solution providers tackling urgent challenges in digital health, WASH innovations, emerging infectious diseases, and non-communicable diseases.
He further highlighted that the catalytic fund combines grants, mentorship, and access to SFH’s vast 40-year infrastructure, emphasizing that “Africans must invest in Africa.” Aizobu also announced that CoElevate will run two funding streams annually, offering multiple opportunities for startups to plug into an ecosystem deliberately built for long-term success.
Chairperson of SFH Access Board of Directors, Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai, described the launch as a landmark step toward strengthening equitable access to healthcare and empowering the next generation of innovators.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of SFH, Dr. Omokhudu Idogho, outlined the extensive infrastructure the organisation has built across its technology, logistics, supply-chain, regulatory, and brand-development systems; assets he said are now available to innovators under the CoElevate programme.
Representing the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Director of Disease Control, Dr. Victoria Egunjobi, praised SFH for decades of impactful work and for introducing a catalytic fund at a time when innovators struggle with limited opportunities. She said innovation drives progress in every functional health system but remains expensive and often difficult without enabling structures.
