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Lagos, Interswitch Partner to Build Digital Medical Records Platform

The Lagos State Ministry of Health has partnered with Eclat, Interswitch’s healthcare subsidiary, to develop a digital medical records platform to enhance healthcare delivery efficiency across Lagos.
The Lagos State Health Information Platform (Lagos SHIP) is designed to consolidate patient clinical data from various healthcare levels and provide accessible information to relevant stakeholders for expert care management.
The goal is to facilitate flexible information exchange among clinicians, hospitals, diagnostics centres, pharmacies, insurance companies, and medical associations.
Akin Abayomi, Lagos Commissioner for Health, announced on Thursday at a stakeholders’ forum that the solution will be rolled out across public healthcare facilities in six months.
This will follow the establishment of a practical level of interconnectivity between these facilities in various locations.
Private facilities will eventually be able to access the platform after a two-year pilot phase in the public system.
Abayomi explained that the solution provides the opportunity to drive healthcare with real-time data, enabling patients to access improved quality services.
He also assured that the data would be protected under intense security.
“By embracing the platform, we can streamline healthcare operations, reduce administrative burdens, and make more informed decisions. These improvements translate into cost savings and better resource allocation, ultimately enhancing the quality of care and improving patient outcomes,” Abayomi said.
“We are living in a time of rapid transformation in healthcare, driven by advancements in technology and a shift towards more informed and involved patients.
“The Lagos SHIP initiative, a joint effort by the Lagos State Government and Interswitch Group, is designed to revolutionise healthcare services in the state by connecting patients to doctors, streamlining patient care through electronic medical records, and solving operational challenges.”
Before this, healthcare information management was fragmented due to a lack of seamless data sharing between facilities. Consequently, most patients’ records were confined to their initial treatment location.
This causes inefficiency, deprives the government of the database it needs to understand its citizens’ health-seeking patterns, and ultimately leads to discontinued care.
Wallace Ogufere, managing director of Eclat, asserts that technology can transform healthcare efficiency and effectiveness, despite myriads of challenges including access to essential care, clinical workforce exodus, rising costs, ravaging epidemics, and the burden of chronic disease.
To address these challenges, the firm has leveraged advanced technology such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, wearables, data analytics, and the Internet of medical things to refine healthcare delivery and experience.
“We will support the Lagos State government in unlocking the potential of electronic medical records, securely leveraging data from public and private hospitals and allied locations. This will facilitate improved experience for stakeholders across the board from healthcare administrators to medical professionals and patients. Moreover, it will enable data-informed decision making, driving better healthcare planning policy development and outcomes,” Wallace said.
The managing director further noted that digital health is not solely about technology but also about people. It empowers patients to take control of their health, enables healthcare professionals to deliver more effective care, and ultimately improves health outcomes for all.
“The Lagos SHIP solution is not an end in itself. We will keep improving the platform to suit our local nuances as they present themselves,” Wallace said.
Speaking on the transformative potential of the solution, Kemi Ogunyemi, special adviser to the Governor on Health, said the goal is to establish a unified health ecosystem where various stakeholders including healthcare providers and government agencies can seamlessly collaborate, share information and work towards health objectives.
With real-time data and advanced analytics provided by the platform to support informed decisions, optimize resource allocation and operational efficiency, she envisions reduced errors and patients’ safety.
“It is not just a technological advancement. It is a testament to our unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence in healthcare. It aims to enhance data management. The platform will enable us to manage health records, more efficiently, ensuring accuracy, accessibility, and security of patient’s information,” she said.
Olufemi Olapegba, managing director, Digital Health Platform, Interswitch, provided key insights into the technological backbone of the SHIP initiative. He explained that SHIP is fundamentally a health information exchange platform that seamlessly connects the demand and supply sides of healthcare.
“SHIP will comply with various regulations and standards, particularly adopting the FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standard, which is the globally recognized best practice for exchanging health information,” Olapegba stated.
He added that SHIP will expose a variety of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to enable the secure and efficient sharing of health data across different touchpoints within the healthcare ecosystem.
It will offer key services, including the Patient Demography Service, which will uniquely identify every patient presenting at health facilities.
“This service allows for seamless tracking of patients as they move across different healthcare providers, ensuring continuity of care,” he explained. The platform will also empower patients to own and manage their personal health information.
Another critical feature of SHIP is the Summary Care Records API, which facilitates the exchange of clinical data, ensuring that vital details required for continuous care are easily accessible to healthcare providers.
Additionally, the platform will offer an e-prescription service, enabling patients to receive prescription services beyond the confines of the health facilities they visit. “For example, a patient could visit a hospital in Ikoyi and pick up their medication in Epe if it’s not available at the original location,” Olapegba noted.
News
NIA Questions Legality of Reps’ Financial Probe

The Nigerian Insurers Association has urged the House Committee on Capital Market and Institutions to respect the constitutional separation of powers as it carries out a probe on over 20 insurance firms.
In a statement on Tuesday night, the Director General/Chief Executive Officer of NIA, Mrs Bola Odukale, said the decision of NIA and the affected firms to approach the court was to seek clarity on the constitutional limits of the House Committee’s probe.
It would be recalled that the House of Representatives on Monday is investigating no fewer than 25 insurance companies operating in the country for various financial infractions spanning financial reporting, claims settlement, premium remittance, and issuance of policies.
The Chairman, House Sub-Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, Kwamoti Laori, during a meeting with the management of the insurance companies at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, said the meeting was convened following the receipt of a petition on infractions by the insurance companies.
In the statement, Odukale said, “The Association wishes to state unequivocally that all actions taken by the NIA and the affected member companies in response to the Committee’s invitations and pronouncements were based entirely on legal advice by its Solicitors. It was on the firm instruction of legal counsel that recourse was made to the courts.
“The objective of approaching the Court is to seek judicial guidance on the legality, propriety, and constitutional limits of the Committee’s intervention in order to safeguard institutional integrity, uphold regulatory independence, and ensure that legislative oversight remains within the bounds of law.
“The Court action seeks to determine whether the current posture of the Committee reflects an exercise of legislative judgment, which, by constitutional design, is the exclusive province of statutory regulators, such as the National Insurance Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigerian Exchange, Financial Reporting Council, Nigeria Data Protection Commission, and the National Information Technology Development Agency.
“This raises serious questions about legislative overreach and an erosion of the doctrine of separation of powers, a cornerstone of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.”
Odukale maintained that the NIA was committed to lawful and constructive engagement with all arms of government, provided that such engagement respects the autonomy of statutory regulators and the boundaries established by the Constitution.
“The NIA will continue to provide its full support to all member companies while upholding the principles of legal compliance and sector-wide integrity,” Odukale concluded.
17 of the companies that went to court were represented by their lawyer, Mr Abimbola Kayode, at the meeting with the committee.
News
Horn of Africa Leaders Seek Enhanced Digital Integration for Increased Regional Growth

Finance ministers and development partners from the Horn of Africa have called for enhanced digital integration to boost trade, drive economic growth and promote regional stability during the 25th Ministerial Meeting of the Horn of Africa Initiative (HoAI).
Held in Nairobi, on July 14, the meeting was co-chaired by the African Development Bank’s Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, Nnenna Nwabufo and Somalia’s Minister of Finance, Bihi Iman Egeh. Discussions underscored the critical role of digital integration in reducing trade barriers, boosting government service delivery and creating employment — particularly for the region’s youth.
“Digital technologies are shaping today’s economy and tomorrow’s industries. By embedding these technologies into our programs, we can not only improve inclusion but also leapfrog outdated development models,” said Nwabufo.
She called for digital integration a “central enabler” in each of the Horn of Africa Initiative’s pillars – trade, infrastructure, resilience, and human capital,
Learning through experience
Drawing from global and regional success stories, speakers highlighted the transformative potential of technology-led development. The ministers pointed to the Philippines as a strong example, where ICT has generated millions of jobs in business process outsourcing. Similarly, Kenya’s fintech innovation—especially the success of M-PESA—was cited as a model for scaling digital financial services across the region.
Participants urged governments to proactively foster digital ecosystems by capitalizing on the demographic dividend, identifying infrastructure upgrades, tighter regulatory reforms, and digital skills trainings as priorities to enable broader participation in the digital economy.
Minister Egeh reiterated the need for more coordinated regional efforts to create the enabling environment required for accelerated digital integration and expansion. He referenced the HoAI Digital Policy Matrix, adopted in 2023 which provides a blueprint on how to address key obstacles to achieving effective digital integration across the region.
Barack Makokha, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury, underscored the importance of regionally-aligned public private partnerships and advocated for blended financing to reduce investment risk and expand digital access in underserved areas.
World Bank Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, Ndiame Diop, called for a comprehensive multi-pronged approach, combining cross-border coordination, large-scale financing, robust policy support, and digital infrastructure investments. He pointed out that such measures could transform digital integration into, “a powerful engine of economic transformation” for the Horn of Africa—ensuring no one is left behind in the digital era.
The meeting concluded with a shared recognition that sustained political will and the determination to implement a multifaceted approach are essential to unlocking the region’s economic potential and driving long-term growth.
The event also welcomed observers from the East African Community, Agence française de développement, and Shelter Afrique, reflecting strong regional and international backing for the HoAI in the development community.
News
CSCS Inaugurates Custodian Portal to Enhance Digital Access, Operational Efficiency

Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), Nigeria’s capital market infrastructure provider, has launched its Custodian Portal, a user-centric digital solution designed to optimise custodian operations through intuitive, secure and efficient features.
Haruna Jalo-Waziri, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), CSCS, announced this in a statement on Monday.
The CSCS is a Public Limited Company with a diversified shareholder base, which serves as the Central Securities Depository for the Nigerian Capital Market.
It serves as the Central Depository for Equities, Commercial Papers, Corporate Bonds, Sub-National Bonds, certain Sovereign Bonds like the FGN Sukuk and the FGN Savings Bond, Equity-traded Funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts, Mutual funds and Commodities.
Jalo-Waziri said that the custodian portal offered a streamlined experience for market participants with powerful tools that facilitate comprehensive portfolio and trade management, document tracking, share transfer operations, client symbol search, and real-time access to vital data.
He explained that the portal, designed to operate through a flexible subscription-based model, empowered users to manage their records effortlessly and securely through convenient payment channels such as GTPay and Paystack.
According to him, “Digital transformation remains at the core of our strategy to enhance the efficiency, transparency and accessibility of Nigeria’s capital market services.
“The custodian portal is a significant leap in that direction, offering custodians a centralised platform to manage critical processes in real-time.
“We are excited about the value this innovation brings to our stakeholders, and we will continue to evolve the platform in line with users’ needs and industry trends.”
The CEO also explained that the portal was designed with user experience in mind with feature tools like portfolio viewing and downloads in PDF or Excel format.
He further said that it also featured tracking of stock movements across date ranges, inbox messaging and request tracking, as well as robust user management capabilities including role assignment and status tracking.
Similarly, the Divisional Head, Business Technology and Digital Innovation, CSCS Plc, Tobe Nnadozie, said that the portal aligned with CSCS’s drive to automate the market.
“In addition to the normal features, the platform is a part of an omnichannel platform for custodians, and includes API services.
“It also connects to the market-wide workflow, which CSCS has built to ensure secured communication and approvals across all major stakeholders in the market.
“The platform is well secured with best-of-breed cybersecurity solutions and our SOC,” he said.
The Custodian Portal reinforces CSCS’s commitment to leveraging technology to streamline back-office functions and support a more agile, data-driven capital market ecosystem.
All custodians in the Nigerian capital market have now been successfully on-boarded on the Custodian Portal, marking a significant milestone in CSCS’s ongoing drive to enhance collaboration, standardise operational processes, and promote digital adoption across the market.
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