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Review
. 2025 Mar 29;13(7):762.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare13070762.

Telemedicine Adoption and Prospects in Sub-Sahara Africa: A Systematic Review with a Focus on South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria

Abayomi O Agbeyangi  1 , Jose M Lukose  1
Affiliations
Review

Telemedicine Adoption and Prospects in Sub-Sahara Africa: A Systematic Review with a Focus on South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria

Abayomi O Agbeyangi et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Telemedicine has emerged as a transformative solution to healthcare access challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa, where many populations remain underserved. This systematic review focuses on the adoption, implementation, and technological prospects of telemedicine in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, three countries leading the region in healthcare innovations. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, guided by PRISMA protocols, identified 567 studies published between 2014 and 2024, of which 53 met the inclusion criteria with a focus on telemedicine adoption, implementation, and technological prospects in the selected countries. A structured critical appraisal was used to assess potential biases in the included studies' design, selection criteria, and reporting, while findings were thematically analysed to provide actionable and comparative insights. Results: The findings reveal that South Africa has the highest adoption rate, focusing on specialist teleconsultations, chronic disease management, and mental health services. Kenya demonstrates strong mHealth integration and advanced mobile applications, particularly in maternal health, HIV care, and sexual and reproductive health. While facing infrastructural and regulatory constraints, Nigeria is advancing innovations for remote diagnosis and teleconsultation. Conclusions: By synthesising evidence from peer-reviewed literature, the review identifies adoption trends, enabling factors, and opportunities for scaling telemedicine in these contexts. Despite these advancements, challenges persist, including regulatory gaps, digital literacy limitations, and infrastructure constraints. Addressing these barriers requires targeted investments in broadband expansion, policy harmonisation, and healthcare workforce training to optimise telemedicine's impact and ensure its sustainability as a healthcare delivery model in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: Sub-Saharan Africa; digital health solutions; healthcare technology; telemedicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA statement flow diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The search source by year of publication, database sources and document types.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bibliometric map of included studies (Tool: RStudio, method: keyword Co-occurrence network).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparative insights: adoption and prospects across South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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