SPARC Appoints New Executive Director – Nkechi Olalere, M.D.

Amref Health Africa and Results for Development are pleased to announce the appointment of Nkechi Olalere, M.D. as the Executive Director of the Strategic Purchasing Africa Resource Center (SPARC), effective 2nd September 2019. Dr. Nkechi Olalere takes over from Nathaniel Otoo who served as interim Executive Director.

Dr. Nkechi Olalere joins SPARC from the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) where she served as the Regional Technical Advisor (East & West Africa) Sustainable Health Financing. Most recently, she also led CHAI’s support to the Rwanda Social Security Board as the Technical Advisor to the Community Based Health Insurance Scheme. In her previous assignments, Dr. Nkechi Olalere served as the Chief Operating Officer – Hygeia HMO, Chief Executive Officer – Northbound Consults Limited (a Wellness Company) and Managing Director Redcare Health Services Limited (an HMO) in Lagos-Nigeria. She has had an extensive career spanning general medical practice, wellness, health insurance and more broadly, health financing. Dr. Nkechi was nominated in 2015 for the Nigeria Healthcare Excellence Awards for Healthcare Media Excellence-Electronic (Special Awards Category) and received the Excellence Award in the Nigerian top Executives in the Financial Services and Insurance Industry (2015) publication.  Dr. Nkechi is a highly accomplished and innovative physician, with an MBA from Lagos Business School (Pan Atlantic University) and MPH from the University of Liverpool. Dr. Nkechi brings on board her over 17 years of health financing experience as well as expertise in cross-functional areas of health in sub-Saharan Africa.

As the Executive Director based at Amref’s Office in Nairobi-Kenya, Dr. Nkechi Olalere will continue to steer SPARC’s vision to empower countries with knowledge and practical tools to make access to affordable and quality health care a reality for all.

SPARC notes the efforts of Nathaniel Otoo in establishing and building SPARC’s initial structures within its institutional home at Amref. Within 1-year of its establishment, SPARC has successfully matched country demand for strategic health purchasing with regional expertise and built partnerships to facilitate better use of resources for health. The combination of Nathaniel’s experience, drive and work culture has helped position SPARC as a recognised resource that can be leveraged to support the strategic health purchasing reforms countries require on their journey to Universal Health Coverage. Nathaniel reverts to his role as Senior Fellow at R4D, a role in which he will provide Advisory Services to SPARC, among other responsibilities.

Kindly join SPARC in welcoming Dr. Nkechi Olalere into her new role and to appreciate Nathaniel’s contributions to SPARC.