Lagos Accelerator Helps 5 Child Health Solutions Scale Up

At Gbagada General Hospital in Lagos, a young girl named Sherifat took her first independent steps toward a shelf of toys. Those few strides marked a breakthrough moment for a child who had struggled to walk on her own.

Sherifat was visiting Lluvia Health's play and psychosocial support hub, where therapeutic play helps children with chronic health conditions and developmental challenges. The program has since supported hundreds of pediatric patients through its Play and Thrive Project.

Lluvia Health is one of five solutions in the first cohort of the Better Access for Babies and Young Children (B.A.B.Y.) Scale Accelerator, launched in April 2024 in Lagos. The program takes a fresh approach to African innovation by focusing on one critical question: how do we help solutions that work reach more people who need them?

The other four solutions tackle different pieces of the child health puzzle. VitaBRIDGE Technologies makes healthcare financing and insurance easier to access for underserved Nigerians. MamaSafe AI in Kenya supports maternal care and follow-up after hospital visits. JoyeDapp focuses on maternal mental health and postpartum depression. OASIS by DAWN AI STUDY uses technology to diagnose developmental needs in neurodivergent children earlier.

Together, these five represent a shift in thinking about African innovation. Good ideas are plentiful across the continent, but many never move beyond small pilot programs to reach the people who need them most.

Adebayo Adekola, Managing Director of Ade Adeks Global Consulting, which runs the accelerator, calls this the gap between invention and impact. "The B.A.B.Y Scale Accelerator stems from a need to redefine the business model for innovation programmes in Africa," he said.

The program introduces the concept of "scalepreneurs," innovators who have proven their products work and are now focused on making them affordable and accessible to larger communities. Rather than one-time training sessions, the accelerator provides ongoing support as new challenges emerge during growth.

The Ripple Effect

The accelerator's approach looks beyond individual products to entire value chains. Growth often depends on relationships with institutions, strategic partners, supportive policies, and access to new markets. By building these connections, one successful health solution can inspire similar models across different regions and health challenges.

The program measures progress through real-world outcomes: Are more people being reached? Are partnerships forming? Are customers willing to pay? These concrete markers help distinguish genuine scale from simply running a program.

For Sherifat and hundreds of children like her, the difference between a good idea staying small and growing large could mean access to care that changes lives.