Medics Need Business Skills, Lagos Conference Hears

Healthcare leaders at the maiden H-LEMP Africa Conference 2026 called for leadership, entrepreneurship and management training to become a formal part of medical education, arguing that clinical competence alone cannot run a hospital or attract investment.

The conference, held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, on October 28 and 29, was organised by Harley and Wall Business and Healthcare Consulting. It drew healthcare professionals, policymakers, hospital executives, academics and entrepreneurs to discuss improving healthcare delivery across Africa. Participants urged medical and allied health institutions to build regular sessions on leadership, financial management and entrepreneurship into their training programmes.

The stakes are practical, not academic. Poor management and limited entrepreneurial skills can undermine the sustainability of healthcare institutions, participants said, and professionals need to understand both the clinical and the business sides of healthcare delivery. They also challenged medical practitioners to stop attributing the sector's challenges solely to government failures, stressing the responsibility of healthcare professionals and institutional leaders in building a more sustainable system.

What did the agenda cover?

The sessions spanned healthcare leadership, institutional governance, management capacity, entrepreneurship, financial intelligence and the application of artificial intelligence in healthcare. The mix reflects a simple argument: doctors who can diagnose a patient but cannot read a balance sheet will struggle to build institutions.

The N500,000 scholarship programme

The conference produced concrete outputs beyond debate. Fifty-five scholars graduated from the D'BusinessDoctor Mentorship Academy's The Business of Healthcare Programme. ProvidusUnity Bank funded scholarships valued at N500,000 each for the scholars, in a programme that equips healthcare students and professionals with business and entrepreneurial skills.

Deoye Ojuroye, Executive Director of Providus Unity Bank, delivered a keynote address. Iziaq Salako, Minister of State for Health, was represented at the event by the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research.

What does the founder story show?

Babatunde Okewale, Chief Executive Officer of St. Ives Specialist Hospital, offered the room a template drawn from his own record. He returned to Nigeria in 1996 after resigning as a consultant gynaecologist in the United Kingdom, and started with almost nothing: one house converted into a medical facility, one consulting room and a nurse.

Three decades on, the numbers tell the growth story. The St. Ives Group now runs six hospitals on its own land and three urgent care clinics, and more than 1,000 staff have worked with the organisation. Okewale urged healthcare entrepreneurs to build institutions that can operate sustainably beyond the involvement of their founders — a point that cuts at the heart of a sector where many clinics collapse when their founder steps back.

Who was honoured?

The conference also presented the inaugural D'BusinessDoctor Legacy and Hall of Fame Award to Dr Sonny Folorunsho Kuku, co-founder of Eko Corp Plc and owner of The EKO Hospital. The award recognised his contributions to medical practice, private healthcare development, mentorship and institutional leadership.

The event was convened by Ademolu Owoyele, popularly known as D'BusinessDoctor.

What comes next?

The call now sits with Nigeria's medical and allied health institutions: whether they act on integrating leadership, financial management and entrepreneurship into curricula will determine whether the conference's 55 graduates remain an exception or become the norm.