By Jennete Ugo Anya
Nigeria’s efforts to improve the wellbeing and productivity of its population will depend on how effectively governments translate policy commitments into better health, education and economic opportunities, according to a Gates Foundation presentation on Human Capital Development (HCD) in Nigeria.
The presentation, titled Human Capital Development in Nigeria: A Shared Vision for Impact, was delivered on April 30, 2025, by Ekenem Isichei, Deputy Director of Policy Advocacy and Communications at the Gates Foundation. It outlines an integrated approach to human capital development that places health, agricultural development and economic opportunity at the centre of national development.
The foundation defines its vision for human capital development as ensuring that every Nigerian has the opportunity to live a healthy and productive life. Achieving this, it argues, requires coordinated interventions across sectors rather than isolated programmes.
Under its health systems priorities, the foundation identifies realistic state primary healthcare service delivery plans, stronger performance management and improved coordination as essential measures. Its family health priorities include maternal and newborn health, family planning, nutrition, immunisation and disease control.
The presentation also highlights interventions such as multiple micronutrient supplementation and the postpartum haemorrhage prevention bundle as potential tools for addressing maternal health challenges. It further identifies vaccine financing, malaria control and efforts to reach children who have not received routine immunisation as areas requiring attention.
Beyond healthcare, the foundation’s framework links agricultural productivity to human capital development. Its priorities include biofortified seeds, strengthening Nigeria’s rice value chain, advancing the Nigeria Cassava Investment Accelerator and implementing a national livestock investment plan covering dairy, poultry and animal feed.
The framework also identifies financial inclusion, women’s economic empowerment, digital public infrastructure and improved access to cooperative markets as important components of economic opportunity.
Building institutions for sustained progress
The presentation traces the Foundation’s involvement in Nigeria’s first Human Capital Development programme, HCD 1.0, to concerns arising from the country’s poor ranking on the Human Capital Index.
According to Isichei, the foundation partnered with the federal government and other stakeholders to shape and execute HCD 1.0. Its grant supported the programme’s secretariat through the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), including the establishment and operationalisation of the HCD Secretariat.
The foundation also supported the creation of national and subnational structures for cross-sector engagement and the development of the national human capital agenda.
These institutional arrangements provide a foundation for coordination, but the presentation’s recommendations point to the need for stronger implementation, accountability and financing.
It calls for human capital data and evidence to be embedded in governance systems, with scorecards institutionalised across the National Economic Council (NEC) and other governance platforms. It also recommends regular public updates on progress and the integration of human capital analytics into national and subnational policy frameworks.
Financing and accountability remain central
The foundation identifies increased budgetary allocation, stronger state-level capacity and improved domestic resource mobilisation as key enablers of better outcomes.
Its proposed priorities include raising federal and state health allocations from 5 percent to 7 percent, while increasing education allocations from 7 percent to 9 percent at the federal level and from 13 percent to 15 percent at the state level.
The presentation also emphasises the role of private-sector partners in mobilising domestic resources to scale interventions addressing child survival, stunting, immunisation, learning poverty, school exclusion and youth unemployment.
Ultimately, the foundation’s position is that sustainable human capital development requires more than policy formulation. Realistic planning, reliable evidence, adequate financing and public accountability must work together to improve the quality of life and economic prospects of Nigerians.
