Kaduna State PHC Management Capacity Strengthening Plan

Timeline: Mars 2020 – Septembre 2021 | Status: Completed

Kaduna State, Nigeria

Project Overview

Strong leadership and management are essential for effective primary healthcare systems. Even where policies, funding, and technical resources exist, weak management capacity can limit the ability of health institutions to plan effectively, coordinate services, and deliver sustainable improvements in health outcomes.

To address these challenges, the Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation (HSDF), with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through DAI, implemented the Kaduna State PHC Management Capacity Strengthening Plan between Mars 2020 and Septembre 2021.

The project was designed to assess, strengthen, and institutionalise management capabilities within Kaduna State's primary healthcare system. Building on previous health systems strengthening initiatives in the state, the programme focused on enhancing the capacity of health managers and institutions responsible for planning, oversight, coordination, and performance management.

By investing in management systems and leadership development, the project sought to create a stronger foundation for the delivery of high-quality primary healthcare services across the state.

Primary healthcare managers operate in increasingly complex environments that require strong leadership, effective coordination, and data-informed decision-making. However, many health systems face gaps in management capacity that affect programme implementation, resource utilisation, supervision, and accountability.

In Kaduna State, strengthening managerial competencies and institutional systems was critical to ensuring that ongoing investments in primary healthcare translated into measurable improvements in service delivery and health outcomes.

HSDF worked closely with state stakeholders to design and implement a structured approach to management capacity strengthening. The project focused on:

Assessing existing management capabilities within the primary healthcare system.
Identifying institutional and operational capacity gaps.
Developing a comprehensive management capacity strengthening plan.
Supporting leadership and management development initiatives.
Strengthening systems for planning, coordination, and performance monitoring.
Promoting sustainable institutional practices that could be maintained beyond the life of the project.

The initiative recognised that strengthening health systems requires not only technical expertise but also capable leaders and managers who can translate policy into action.

Weak health information systems often limit governments’ ability to monitor programme performance, identify service delivery gaps, and allocate resources effectively. Inconsistent data quality and limited use of routine health information reduced the ability of health managers to make timely, evidence-informed decisions.

There was a need for stronger systems that could improve data quality, institutionalise performance monitoring, and promote accountability across the health sector.