The Director-General of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr Kelechi Ohiri, says Nigeria must take charge of its health financing research agenda to sustain reforms, strengthen evidence-based policymaking and improve health outcomes nationwide.

Ohiri said this at the inaugural Nigeria Health Financing Research and Learning Forum in Abuja, themed: “Evidence and Learning for Nigeria’s Health Financing Future: Building a Locally Led Research and Learning Ecosystem.

He said the forum was designed to leverage evidence to advance Nigeria’s health financing agenda while addressing limitations associated with episodic research and strengthening institutional capacity for continuous learning and reform.

“For too long, our health financing initiatives in Nigeria have been shaped by well-meant studies designed, commissioned, analysed, reported, synthesised, and presented to us at the finish line,” he said.

Ohiri said although such studies had provided valuable insights, episodic research could not establish the enduring policy foundation needed to sustain reforms and inform long-term decision-making effectively nationwide.

He said research sovereignty did not mean isolating Nigeria from global support but placing the country “in the driver’s seat” in defining questions, commissioning studies and embedding learning implementation.

“International partnerships remain vital, and the work must focus on building domestic capacity and also supporting domestic priorities,” Ohiri said, emphasising the importance of balancing collaboration with national ownership.

He said the NHIA would review five commissioned studies on embedded learning during the two-day forum and examine lessons from Ethiopia, Ghana and India to strengthen policy implementation.

Ohiri said evidence must serve reforms, noting that Nigeria’s health financing agenda focused on mandatory health insurance coverage, equity, quality healthcare delivery and long-term sustainability across the country.

He said Nigeria’s health insurance landscape remained fragmented, comprising 37 government insurance schemes and more than 95 private health insurance schemes operating across different segments of the population.

According to him, the fragmentation raises important questions about sustainability and highlights the need for robust research to generate evidence capable of guiding future reforms effectively nationwide.

Ohiri said the NHIA had identified 15 studies linked to its strategic priorities and was working to build research ecosystems involving national institutions, universities and other stakeholders.

He said the authority was also pursuing a national health financing observatory, 15 research action plans, a national research agenda and regional collaboration frameworks to strengthen evidence generation.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Nigeria, Dr Pavel Ursu, said health financing remained foundational to Universal Health Coverage and required implementation research to support reforms.

Ursu said global commitments on sustainable health financing and Universal Health Coverage must translate into concrete and transformative actions capable of improving healthcare access and outcomes at country level.

He said establishing the Nigeria Health Financing Research and Learning Forum provided an institutional opportunity to unpack research questions and increasingly drive national policy and implementation processes.

Ursu said WHO hoped the forum would mark the beginning of a sustained and nationally owned health financing research and learning movement capable of influencing future reforms.

Executive Director of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, WHO, Dr Kumanan Rasanathan, said research and learning should not be treated as luxuries in health systems.

“If you don’t have your own knowledge, if you don’t know your own problems, if that is not preserved for future generations, you cannot be sovereign,” Rasanathan said.

He said many institutions across Africa remained heavily dependent on external funding, warning that shrinking financial support could weaken organisations responsible for generating critical knowledge and evidence.

Rasanathan said countries needed domestically driven learning agendas capable of connecting knowledge, communities and decision-makers while strengthening national ownership of research and policy development processes.

He said researchers should move beyond identifying problems and focus on developing practical solutions that could be implemented effectively within the contexts under investigation and evaluation.

According to him, countries also require domestic institutions that are sustainably financed and linked to national processes while retaining the independence to provide objective advice.

Dr Yetunde Aluko, representing the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), said Nigeria needed more locally developed and relevant evidence to guide health financing reforms.

Aluko said Nigeria should establish an enduring national system where policymakers, researchers, implementers, communities and practitioners jointly identify priority questions and continuously learn from implementation experiences.

“Health financing research should therefore not be viewed simply as a production of reports or academic publications,” she said.

She said such research should function as part of a national learning system capable of showing what worked, for whom, under what circumstances and at what cost.

The system, she added, should also generate evidence on implications for equity, sustainability and effectiveness, helping policymakers make informed decisions that improve healthcare financing outcomes nationwide.

Fatima Zannah, Cluster Manager and Head of Programme, German Development Cooperation (GIZ), said locally generated evidence was critical for designing health financing approaches reflecting Nigerians’ realities and needs.

Zannah said health financing decisions could not be made in isolation from factors influencing healthcare-seeking behaviour, including culture, religion, geography, income, education, gender and social networks.

“This is why locally generated evidence matters. It allows us to move beyond assumptions, and better understand the diversity of experiences across Nigeria,” she said.

She said Nigeria could also learn from countries facing similar challenges, adapt relevant lessons and build on their experiences to strengthen health financing reforms and implementation.

Zannah urged participants to view evidence as a tool for decision-making, policy development, transparency, equity and accountability within the health sector and broader governance systems.

She said development partners looked forward to supporting the initiative and seeing evidence generated through the process translated into better decisions and improved health outcomes nationwide.

The forum, which began on Monday, is expected to conclude on Tuesday after deliberations focused on strengthening health financing research, learning systems and evidence-informed reforms across Nigeria.(NAN)

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO) reported N603.03 billion Profit Before Tax (PBT) for the half year ended June 30.

The financial services group also declared an interim dividend of N1 per share for the period under review.

GTCO disclosed this in its audited consolidated and separate financial statements released to the Nigerian Exchange Ltd.

The PBT represented a marginal 0.4 per cent increase from the N600.6 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.

The group said the performance was driven by growth in interest and trading income, which increased by 7.

It, however, said a N46.2 billion fair value loss recognised during the first half moderated growth in earnings.

GTCO said its total assets rose to N18.6 trillion, while shareholders’ funds stood at N3.3 trillion at the end of June.

The group’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 34.9 per cent, compared with 29.2 per cent for its banking business.

It also reported improved asset quality, with IFRS 9 Stage 3 loans standing at 3.5 per cent at bank level and 4.6 per cent at group level.

The cost of risk also improved to 0.6 per cent, from 2.2 per cent recorded in the corresponding period.

The group’s net loan book grew marginally by 0.5 per cent to N3.15 trillion, from N3.13 trillion at the end of December 2025.

Deposits, however, recorded stronger growth, rising by 10.3 per cent to N14.19 trillion, from N12.87 trillion during the same period.

Commenting on the results, GTCO Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Segun Agbaje, said the results reflected the strength of the group’s business.

“Our half-year results speak to the strength of what we have built: a resilient franchise, a strong balance sheet and a business that no longer depends on banking alone.

“Fair value movements weighed on reported earnings, but the core business held firm. Interest and trading income grew, deposits strengthened, and asset quality improved at Group level,” Agbaje said.

He said the group’s priority was to execute with discipline, grow responsibly and use digital technology to scale its businesses.

“Digital is our lever for scaling across Banking, Payments, Pension and Funds Management, and for building a more diversified and resilient financial services group,” he said.

GTCO also reported a pre-tax return on equity of 35.9 per cent, pre-tax return on assets of 6.6 per cent and a cost-to-income ratio of 31.5 per cent.

The holding company operates banking and non-banking financial services across Africa and the United Kingdom. (NAN)

Music streaming platform, Spotify, has brought fans closer to Nigerian artistes, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, and Douglas Agu, popularly known as Runtown, through its Surround Sound live performance series in Lagos.

In a statement on Monday, the streaming platform said Surround Sound is a live performance format launched from Sub-Saharan Africa to bring artistes and fans together in close settings while capturing the performances as full-length music films.

The streaming platform said that the selected Spotify premium listeners were invited based on their listening behaviour to experience the artistes and their music in an intimate, in-the-round setting at the two-night event held at Livespot.

According to Rifumo Mdaka, Spotify’s Format and Video Strategy Lead, there was no public ticket sale for the event, as selected premium listeners were invited directly through the platform based on their listening behaviour.

Mdaka said the format was designed to create a close artist-fan experience while keeping the room suitable for the performances and film capture.

Tems performed songs from her debut EP, ‘For Broken Ears’, including ‘Ice T’ and ‘Damages’, alongside earlier releases such as ‘Mr Rebel’ and ‘Try Me’.

She also performed later songs including ‘Love Me JeJe’ and ‘What You Need’, taking fans through different periods of her music career.

During her performance, Tems invited the audience to sing along, making the fans part of the experience.

An attendee, @tmdmrv, also took to X to describe Tems’ performance of ‘Burning’ as a standout moment.

“Tems’ performance of Burning at Surround Sound is forever imprinted in my heart.

“That touched me,” @tmdmrv wrote on X.

According to Spotify, Runtown performed on the second night, opening with ‘Lagos to Kampala’ and ‘Gallardo’, before delivering renditions of ‘For Life’, ‘International Badman Killa’, ‘Unleash’ and ‘Kini Issue’.

The platform said his hit song, ‘Mad Over You’, became a major moment of the performance as he performed it before returning to the song a second time to close the show, with fans singing along.

Another attendee, @wysdavidd, shared the experience on X, describing Runtown’s return to ‘Mad Over You’ as a memorable moment.

“When Runtown came back and performed it for the second time to close out the show, it meant something to me,” @wysdavidd wrote.

Speaking ahead of his performance, Runtown said it was the first time in 10 years that he would perform with his band, adding that he looked forward to seeing his fans.

Spotify said that the performances were filmed and would be released as ‘Surround Sound presents Tems’ and ‘Surround Sound presents Runtown,’ with release dates to be announced.(NAN)