Building Resilient Health Systems in Africa through Improved Leadership, Management, and Governance: An evaluation of Niger's Ministry of Health Transformative Training Program

Background Effective leadership within the healthcare sector is imperative to address the evolving challenges faced by Africa, including climate change, pandemics, resource constraints, and a growing population. Moving beyond traditional supervisory roles, transformative leadership, with its focus on empowering and motivating others, is essential. To address this need, the Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Niger conducted a transformative training for leadership in health targeting senior officials of the Ministry of Health. Objective In this evaluation study, assessed the impact of the training program, particularly its influence on managing and leading health organizations, teams, and programs, promoting self-leadership, and fostering staff cohesion and solidarity through virtual and face-to-face sessions. Methods This was a descriptive study that used each component of the Leadership for Health Transformation training in Niger from November 2 to 5, 2022. Results Out of 28 participating managers and senior executives, the majority reported a better understanding of their leadership weaknesses and acquired tools to enhance their leadership effectiveness. Notable areas of improvement included listening skills, self-control, self-confidence, feedback exchange, objective clarification, peer coaching, change management, innovation for health transformation, negotiation skills, and a win-win approach. Conclusion Given the crucial role of this leadership training in transforming healthcare in Niger and across Africa, additional training programs are judged necessary in the future to strengthen this sector.