In response to the growing leadership and management gaps in Africa’s healthcare sector, The Lagos Business School Healthcare Initiative (LBS-HCI) has officially been launched.

The LBS-HCI Initiative, coming from the stable of the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan-Atlantic University, is a platform designed to strengthen leadership, management, and operational capacity across the healthcare ecosystem in Africa.

Reports have shown that despite ongoing investments in infrastructure and financing, Africa’s healthcare crisis runs deeper. From Nigeria to the broader continent, weak systems, poor execution, and capacity challenges have continued to undermine access to quality care.

At the core of the problem is a widespread gap in management practices: clinicians without managerial training, public health professionals leading large programmes without business support, and innovative ventures stalling due to poor operational systems.

Based on experts’ positions, the problem of the African healthcare system is not just about infrastructure or money. It’s about management practices, mindset, and innovation.

According to the initiators, the initiative aims to address capacity gap through four key pillars: Capacity Building – Tailored business education programmes for healthcare professionals; Thought Leadership & Research – Generating evidence and insights to guide better decision-making and influence policies; Collaborative Platforms – Fostering cross-sector partnerships and peer learning; Advisory Services – Supporting healthcare organisations with strategy, diagnostics, guide execution and performance improvement.

Recall that the initiative recently announced advisory board members, made up of professionals from the healthcare sector, academia and the business sector. It is led by Dr Kunle Hassan, Founder and Chief Medical Director of Eye Foundation Hospital Group.

Other members include, Prof. Olusola Kushimo, retired supervising consultant at Federal Medical Centre, Lagos; Prof. Stephen Sammut, Professor of Healthcare Management at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and Chairman, Industry Advisory Board, Alta Semper Capital LLP; and Dr. Tunde Salako, Co-Founder and CEO of Hadiel Health. The remaining members of the board are Prof. Uchenna Uzo, LBS Faculty Director and Professor of Marketing; Dr. Monica Eimunjeze, a regulatory Expert, Healthcare Consultant and an Executive-in-Residence at Lagos Business School; and Dr Arinze Nwokolo, the Director of the Initiative.

The inaugural meeting of the board, held recently, demonstrated strong alignment among academic, clinical, and business leaders. The Board Chair, Dr Hassan, noted that identifying and admitting the wide gap in healthcare in terms of management and business understanding is imperative if healthcare is essential to achieving an effective and efficient healthcare system.

Prof. Kushimo noted the urgent need for managerial upskilling among doctors and healthcare professionals while Dr. Salako raised concerns about brain drain and advocated for tailored leadership development based on different career stages of the professionals.

To him, healthcare in Africa is at a crossroads: “we can continue to react to crises, or we can start building systems that anticipate and prevent them. Leadership is at the centre of that shift.”

On his part, Prof. Uzo urged an initial focus on top-level leaders who can become champions for the Initiative within their institutions.