First National Symposium · Abuja · 20 to 21 July 2027

30 million waiting.
Time to close the gap.

Fewer than 3,000 transplants have happened in Nigeria since 2000, in a country where over 30 million people live with chronic kidney disease. That gap will not close on its own. So we are bringing government, clinicians, faith leaders, funders and patients to one table to build the system that closes it.

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until the table is set. 20 July 2027, Abuja
A fully equipped operating theatre in a Nigerian hospital
"Every transplant begins with a decision to give."
Convened in partnership with
Ibrahim Impact Foundation
Host & convener
Federal Ministry of Health
Aliko Dangote Foundation
Zenith Medical & Kidney Centre
Cedarcrest Hospitals
St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos
Why we convene

A national need. A shared answer.

Nigeria already has surgeons and hospitals ready to do this work. What is missing is everything between them: a donor registry, a referral pathway, regulation, a trained workforce and public trust. Nobody can build that alone. So we have partnered with the key stakeholders to bring everyone to the table.

30M+
Nigerians estimated to be living with chronic kidney disease.
<3,000
Transplants performed nationwide since 2000.
1st
Time every stakeholder group sits at one national table.
One room · every stakeholder

Find your seat at the table.

Government & policymakers
Set the national framework

Shape the regulatory and ethical architecture a national programme will need, backed by a costed roadmap.

Hospital & clinical leadership
From pilots to a pathway

Connect isolated transplant efforts into one coordinated national donor pathway, with the workforce to sustain it.

Funders, sponsors & partners
Lead at the inception

Back a national flagship at its founding, alongside government and the country's leading institutions.

Faith & community leaders
Shape consent & trust

How donation is understood at community scale will be decided by the voices in this room. Yours belongs here.

Diaspora professionals & investors
Bring expertise home

Direct world-class skills and investment into a system being designed now, so care can stay in Nigeria.

Patients, families & advocates
Set the agenda

Lived experience sits at the centre of this convening. Your testimony grounds the data and keeps every decision honest.

What the room leaves with

We do not adjourn with good intentions. We adjourn with a plan.

01
A costed national roadmap

A practical, financed pathway from convening to programme.

02
A standing coalition

A named coalition that carries the work beyond the two days.

03
Commitments on record

MoUs and pledges from government, partners and institutions.

04
A national communiqué

A shared statement that frames the issue for the country.

Voices at the table

Every stakeholder, one table.

All speakers →
IIF
Convener
Ibrahim Impact Foundation
Host
MH
Government
Federal Ministry of Health
Keynote address
TS
Hospitals
Transplant Surgeons & Medical Professionals
Confirmed
DF
Funders & partners
All partners
Invited
IC
Faith & community
National Interfaith Council
Confirmed
DX
Diaspora
Diaspora Operators, Clinicians and Investors
Invited
PA
Patients & advocates
Living donor advocates & civil society groups
Confirmed
MED
Media
National press corps
Accredited

Two days,
one direction.

Full programme →
01
Tue 20 July
The State of the Nation

The data, the gaps and the lived reality of waiting. Government frames the picture. Clinicians and patients ground it. The room speaks openly about donation, culture and trust.

02
Wed 21 July
From Dialogue to Direction

Faith, ethics and regulation take the floor. Patients lead. Breakouts turn conversation into commitments, and the room closes with a costed roadmap in hand.

Partner with the founding

Lend your name to the moment a national system begins.

Partners take visible leadership on a defining national health issue, in the company of government and the country's leading institutions. We will build a partnership that fits your mandate.

See the partnership prospectus →
01
Founding visibility

Be named on the first national convening of its kind, across stage, press and the communiqué.

02
Serious company

Stand alongside government, leading hospitals and medical bodies.

03
Measurable impact

Your support produces a costed roadmap and a coalition. Outcomes you can report against.

Ibrahim Impact Foundation
Host & convener
Who convenes this

A neutral host. A shared table.

The Ibrahim Impact Foundation works across health, education and economic empowerment in Nigeria, from maternal health programmes in Lagos to microloans that turn one sewing machine into a small business in Kaduna.

We convene this symposium as a neutral host, in partnership with the key stakeholders in Nigerian healthcare. Our job is to set the table. What happens at it belongs to everyone in the room.

0 days until Abuja · 20 to 21 July 2027

Be in the room where
it starts.

Come to lead, to fund, to report or to be heard. The gap closes faster with you in the room.

Register your interest → Partner with us
Why it matters

The need is national. So is the moment.

More than 30 million Nigerians live with chronic kidney disease. Fewer than 3,000 transplants have happened in the country since 2000. Sit with those two numbers for a moment.

For most families the options are stark: dialysis that is scarce, travel abroad that few can afford, or going without. Behind each number is a household holding its breath, waiting on a system that does not yet exist.

The barriers are not only clinical. They sit across the donor pathway, financing, regulation, ethics, the workforce, and public trust. No single hospital or ministry can resolve them alone. That is why this conversation has to happen together, and in the open.

By the numbers
30M+
living with chronic kidney disease
<3,000
transplants since 2000
1st
national convening of its kind
Our goal

Turn fragmented conversations into one national dialogue, and leave with a shared sense of what Nigeria does next.

1
Surface the truth

Put the real data and the patient experience on the table, without minimising and without blame.

2
Connect the actors

Bring hospitals, government, faith, partners and patients into direct, equal conversation. For many, a first.

3
Chart a direction

Agree the practical next steps, owned by the room rather than handed down by the host.

Who is in the room

Every stakeholder, one conversation.

Government & policymakers
Set the national framework
Shape the regulatory and ethical architecture a national programme will need.
Hospital & clinical leadership
From pilots to a pathway
Connect isolated efforts into one coordinated national donor pathway.
Funders, sponsors & partners
Lead at the inception
Back a national flagship at its founding, in serious company.
Faith & community leaders
Shape consent & trust
Bring belief into the room. Community trust is built by the voices here.
Diaspora professionals & investors
Bring expertise home
Direct skills and investment into a system being designed now.
Patients, families & advocates
Set the agenda
Lived experience grounds the data and keeps every decision honest.
Media
Tell the story
Carry the national conversation beyond the room.
Programme · 20 to 21 July 2027 · 10:00 to 16:00 daily

Two days, built around listening.

Plenary Government address Keynote Featured presentation Town hall Breakout
Day One
Tue 20 July · The State of the Nation
10:00
Opening & national welcome
Plenary
Board Chairman, Ibrahim Impact Foundation
10:30
A national framework for organ donation
Government address
Federal Ministry of Health
11:15
The transplant gap: what the data tells us
Featured presentation
Dr. Deji Awotundun · National Hospital, Abuja
12:00
Town hall: donation, culture and trust
Town hall
Open floor · all delegates
12:45
Lunch & connection
14:00
Keynote · Building a national programme: lessons from abroad
Keynote
Kevin Lee · CEO, Mid-America Transplant, a leading US organ procurement organization
14:45
Breakouts: hospitals · policy · faith & community
Breakout
Three parallel rooms
15:45
Day one reflections
Plenary
Rapporteurs & convener
Day Two
Wed 21 July · From Dialogue to Direction
10:00
Recap & framing the second day
Plenary
Programme Convener
10:30
Faith leaders in dialogue: donation & belief
Town hall
Interfaith panel · confirmed
11:15
Patient voices: living with the wait
Featured presentation
Patients & advocates · confirmed
12:00
Regulation, ethics & oversight
Government address
Federal Ministry of Health
12:45
Lunch & connection
14:00
Breakouts: financing · workforce · public trust
Breakout
Three parallel rooms
15:00
Town hall: what should Nigeria do next?
Town hall
Open floor · all delegates
15:45
Closing: a costed roadmap & communiqué
Closing
Programme Convener
Speakers & participants

The people at the table.

The programme is being assembled across every stakeholder group. Several voices are confirmed and others are marked to be confirmed.

Convening & clinical leadership

AI
Abraham Ibrahim Jr.
Board Chairman, Ibrahim Impact Foundation · Convener
Confirmed
DA
Dr. Deji Awotundun
Transplant Surgeon · National Hospital, Abuja
Confirmed
KL
Kevin Lee
CEO, Mid-America Transplant · Keynote
Confirmed
?
Chief Nephrologist
Teaching hospital faculty
To be confirmed

Government & policy

Federal Ministry of Health
Keynote government address
Confirmed
HR
National Health Research Ethics Committee
National regulatory body
Confirmed
NA
National Assembly
Health committee & honorable members
Confirmed

International faculty, faith & patient voices

?
Transplant Programme Director
International faculty
To be confirmed
IC
Interfaith Council
Faith & civil society panel
Confirmed
LD
Living Donor Advocate
Patients & advocates
Confirmed
Partnership prospectus

Back the founding of a national system.

For the first time, Nigeria is convening its whole transplant ecosystem in one room. Partnering puts your institution at the centre of that moment, with visible leadership and a real platform.

Why partner
01
Founding visibility

Be named on the first national convening of its kind, across stage, assets, press and the communiqué.

02
Serious company

Stand alongside government, leading hospitals and medical bodies on a defining national health issue.

03
Measurable impact

Your support produces a costed roadmap and a standing coalition. Outcomes you can report against.

150 to 400
senior invited delegates
7
stakeholder groups in one room
2
days, in person and livestreamed
1st
of its kind in Nigeria
Partnership tiers

Built around your mandate, not a price list.

Four ways in, each tailored in conversation. In-kind, programme and lead partnerships are all welcome.

Lead Convening Partner
Headline
  • Headline alignment and naming across the symposium
  • Plenary platform and a speaking role
  • Full delegation and reserved seats
  • Brand on all assets, stage, press and the communiqué
Programme Partner
Track
  • Sponsorship of a session, track or breakout
  • A speaking or chairing slot
  • Delegation of senior representatives
  • Logo on programme assets and on site
Supporting Partner
Support
  • Supporter recognition across the event
  • Delegate passes for your team
  • Inclusion on the partner wall and website
  • Acknowledgement in the communiqué
Community & In-kind Partner
In-kind
  • Venue, hospitality, media or production in kind
  • NGO, association and civil society support welcome
  • Recognition appropriate to contribution
  • A route in for mission-aligned partners
Let's design the right partnership.

Tell us your goals and we will send a tailored prospectus with delegate, branding and platform options.

Start a partnership conversation →
Logistics
Dates20 to 21 July 2027
Daily10:00 to 16:00
LocationBola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre
Garki, Abuja
FormatIn person + livestream
Contact
Ibrahim Impact Foundation · Abuja

Interest form

Tell us a little about you. This registers interest only. The committee will follow up with details for your group.

Please tell us your name.
Enter a valid email address.
Tell us which group you belong to.
Questions, answered

Frequently asked

Who can attend?

The symposium is an invited national convening across every stakeholder group: government, hospitals, funders and partners, faith and community, diaspora, patients and advocates, and media. Register your interest and the programme committee will confirm your place.

Is there a fee to attend?
+

Delegate terms are shared on confirmation. Supported places are reserved for patients, advocates and community voices so cost is never a barrier to being heard.

Can I nominate a speaker?
+

Yes. Use the speaker path above or note it on the interest form. The committee welcomes nominations across all groups.

Will the symposium be livestreamed?
+

Plenary sessions will be streamed so clinicians and communities nationwide can follow the proceedings. In-room participation remains by invitation and interest.

How do partnerships work?
+

Four tiers: lead, programme, supporting and in-kind. Each is tailored in conversation around your mandate. Start from the Partner page for a bespoke prospectus.

How do I get press accreditation?
+

Select the media path above or note "Media" on the interest form. The communications team will send accreditation details and the media kit ahead of the event.