In Nigeria’s rapidly evolving health landscape, geospatial data is becoming an essential tool for improving disease surveillance, planning health services, and responding to outbreaks. Over the past eight months, Solina, in collaboration with the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), has been implementing the Geospatial Landscaping Insights in Priority Geographies Project to strengthen the use of geospatial data for health planning and decision-making in Nigeria.
Supported by the Gates Foundation, the Umbrella Fund, and Dev-Afrique Development Advisors, the initiative was designed to address persistent gaps in geospatial capacity across health institutions.
These gaps include limited access to structured training, fragmented data systems, and weak coordination between institutions responsible for health data and spatial analytics.
Over the course of four implementation phases, the project focused on building sustainable institutional capacity through three key pillars: developing a national geospatial training curriculum[1], establishing a centralised knowledge platform[2], and strengthening institutional pathways for long-term capacity building.
A major milestone in this journey was reached on February 24, 2026, when Solina and NASRDA convened government agencies, implementing partners, and development stakeholders for a national project close-out workshop.
The meeting provided a platform to share key achievements, reflect on lessons learned across the four project phases, and present the roadmap for institutionalizing geospatial training within government systems.
Understanding the Challenge: Why Geospatial Capacity Matters
Geospatial technologies have become an important tool for improving disease surveillance, health service accessibility, resource allocation, and emergency response. Yet despite these opportunities, the use of geospatial data in Nigeria’s health sector remains limited. The 2023 Nigeria Geospatial Value Pipeline Landscape Assessment[3] identified several barriers, including limited access to structured training programs, fragmented data systems, and weak collaboration between government agencies, universities, and development partners. These challenges have made it difficult for institutions to fully leverage spatial data for health planning and service delivery.
To address these gaps, the project focused on developing a portable and replicable geospatial training curriculum and institutional learning pathways that equip health data teams with practical GIS skills.
Laying the Groundwork: Stakeholder Engagement and Needs Assessment
The initiative began with an extensive stakeholder engagement and needs assessment phase, bringing together national institutions and development partners involved in geospatial and health data systems. Between July and August 2025, the team conducted a comprehensive needs assessment with 28 stakeholders across government agencies and development organizations to identify priority capacity gaps, training needs, and opportunities for collaboration.
The assessment revealed that while institutions were already using tools such as QGIS and ArcGIS, adoption was uneven and often constrained by limited technical expertise, software costs, and insufficient collaboration across institutions. These insights helped shape the design of the national geospatial data for health programs tailored to the real operational needs of Nigeria’s health sector.
The assessment revealed that while institutions were already using tools such as QGIS and ArcGIS, adoption was uneven and often constrained by limited technical expertise, software costs, and insufficient collaboration across institutions. These insights helped shape the design of the national geospatial data for health programs tailored to the real operational needs of Nigeria’s health sector.
Developing the Geospatial Data for Health Program
Building on the assessment findings, the project team developed the National Geospatial Data for Health Program curriculum, a modular training program designed to strengthen geospatial capacity across health institutions.
The curriculum was structured into three progressive learning tiers:
- Introductory level: foundational geospatial concepts and mapping
- Intermediate level: applied spatial analysis and visualisation
- Advanced level: integrating geospatial analysis into policy and strategic planning
To ensure quality and relevance, the curriculum underwent multiple technical reviews with NASRDA, NPHCDA, and DevAfrique, followed by validation at a national stakeholder workshop involving 26 institutions from government, academia, UN agencies, and implementing partners.
Launching the National Geospatial Knowledge Hub
To support continuous learning and long-term access to training resources, the project also established the National Geospatial Knowledge Hub, hosted by NASRDA. The hub serves as a central digital gateway for geospatial health capacity development, providing access to curriculum materials, datasets, recorded training sessions, and curated geospatial resources.
Structured around the same three learning tracks as the curriculum, the platform enables both self-paced learning and structured institutional training, while also connecting users to national GIS datasets and global geospatial repositories. NASRDA serves as the technical custodian of the hub, responsible for hosting, maintenance, and ongoing content updates. (https://nationalgeospatialhub.nasrda.gov.ng/)
Testing the Model: Pilot Training for National Health Agencies
To evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum and the knowledge hub, the project implemented a hybrid pilot training program between November 24 and December 5, 2025. The training combined two weeks of self-paced online learning with a one-week in-person GIS laboratory session at NASRDA. Participants were drawn from key national health institutions, including NPHCDA, the Federal Ministry of Health, NCDC, and NAFDAC.
Participants also completed capstone projects applying geospatial analysis to real health challenges, including disease surveillance mapping, health facility accessibility analysis, and immunization planning.
From Pilot to National Platform
In the final phase of the project, the focus shifted to institutionalization and sustainability. Working closely with NASRDA and health sector partners, the team developed a roadmap for embedding the curriculum and learning hub within existing government training systems. As part of this process, NASRDA is leading engagement with key national health institutions, including the NPHCDA, FMoH, NACA, NCDC, and NAFDAC to explore pathways for integrating geospatial training into their staff development and capacity-building programs.
NASRDA has been positioned as the national technical custodian, responsible for maintaining the hub, updating training materials, and coordinating geospatial capacity development across institutions. The sustainability approach also identifies multiple pathways for long-term implementation, including integration into Health MDAs training budgets, partnerships with donor-funded health programs, and collaboration with academic institutions.
Looking Ahead
As Nigeria continues to strengthen its health data systems, initiatives like the Geospatial Data for Health Program demonstrate how partnerships between government agencies, technical institutions, and development partners can unlock the power of data for better health outcomes.
With continued collaboration and investment, the foundations laid through this project will support a new generation of health professionals capable of using geospatial intelligence to guide smarter, faster, and more equitable health decisions across the country.
[1] National Geospatial Data for Health Programs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CRnrQf5QCH5dIhjX_dkOEQWcSQHQsQtrgSlr_-LbZjI/edit?tab=t.lu0ja55xnhxz
[2] https://nationalgeospatialhub.nasrda.gov.ng/
[3] https://devafrique.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Official-Brief-of-Nigerias-Geospatial-Value-Pipeline-Assessment-1.pdf
