In Africa, we have often lived with an unspoken script about women in leadership—a quiet checklist that determines when they enter the room, how loudly they speak, and how far they are allowed to rise. But every so often, a story emerges that disrupts this logic. A story that is intentional, unafraid, and deeply rooted in purpose. The story of Dr. Nazila Ganatra is one such narrative—a reminder of what becomes possible when the right woman is placed in the right position, and when her leadership is nurtured rather than constrained.
A lunch date with Dr. Nazila is not the sort of invitation anyone casually declines. Not when she carries a professional portfolio that reads like a blueprint for strengthening health systems in Africa. With a Bachelor of Pharmacy, an MBA, and a Master of Health Supply Chain Management, she now serves as Director of the Department of Health Products and Technologies (DHPT) at Kenya’s Ministry of Health. From essential medicines and vaccines to diagnostics and emerging health technologies, her work sits at the heart of Kenya’s public health outcomes.
Yet the power of her story is not in her titles—it is in the journey.
We met in a quiet Nairobi restaurant, the kind where the clinking of cutlery becomes background music to conversations that matter. She didn’t open with her résumé. Instead, she began with a reflection that seemed to set the tone for everything that followed: “Technical knowledge can get you a seat at the table,” she said, “but leadership determines what you do once you are there.”
Years before she became Director, Dr. Nazila enrolled in the Leadership, Management, and Governance (LMG) Programme, under the ELEMMINATE Project. At the time, she was transitioning into more strategic roles in the health system and recognized that while her technical background was solid, she needed deeper tools for influence, policy engagement, and systems transformation. She was seeking a framework to make sense of the chaos she witnessed daily in Kenya’s health system. The LMG Programme was not just another course to her. It was a turning point. She recalls coaching sessions that challenged her to confront self-doubt, expand her leadership identity, and understand the power of reflection. “LMG was where I learned that leadership is not about having all the answers,” she said, “it is about asking better questions—questions that make people think, collaborate, and own the solutions.”
The programme’s practical structure meant she applied classroom insights directly to her Ministry work, particularly in supply chain governance and strengthening decision-making processes. The Institutional Improvement Project she implemented helped streamline coordination among technical teams, demonstrating immediate value and reinforcing her confidence.
One of the most profound shifts LMG catalysed in Dr. Nazila’s thinking was around resource mobilization and strategic partnerships. Kenya’s health sector, like much of Africa’s, operates in a context of perpetual scarcity. The default response is often to wait for the next donor grant or government allocation. But LMG challenged participants to think entrepreneurially about health financing and to understand that sustainable health systems require domestic resource mobilization alongside external support.
Leadership, however, has not been without its costs.
When asked about the challenges she faced—especially as a woman leading in a sector historically dominated by mostly male voices—she paused before answering. It was not hesitation; it was honesty searching for language. “There were moments,” she shared, “when I had to be braver than I felt. When I had to speak in rooms that were not used to women leading policy direction. I learned that sometimes, you do not raise your voice to be heard—you raise your value.”
There were late nights, high-stakes decisions, days filled with negotiations, and seasons of scrutiny. But she grew. She developed resilience, learned to build alliances, and mastered the delicate balance of firmness and diplomacy. LMG mattered here too. The programme taught her how to work through resistance, manage power dynamics, and build coalitions that outlast individuals and political cycles.
When the conversation turned to the transformation of Kenya’s healthcare space, her voice carried a new intensity. “Transformation is not just improvement,” she mentioned. “It is when healthcare responds to people, to dignity, to equity. It is when a child in Garissa has the same right to lifesaving medicines as a child in Nairobi. It is when we rely on our own manufacturing, our own regulatory strength, our own innovation.”
She envisions a Kenya where the health supply chain is not merely functional, but sovereign; where technology and data drive smarter decisions; and where strong governance ensures resources reach the last health facility shelf. “When people ask me what transformation in Africa’s healthcare context means to me, I tell them to look at the basics,” she says with characteristic pragmatism. “Can a mother in Turkana access the hepatitis B vaccine for her newborn? Can a TB patient in Mombasa get their medications without stockouts interrupting treatment? Can a county health facility forecast its needs and have those needs met reliably? That’s transformation—not the big policy documents and strategic plans, but whether the health system actually works for the people who depend on it.”
Dr. Nazila’s story is ultimately not just about one woman’s career trajectory, but about the transformative power of strategic investment in leadership development. The ELEMMINATE Project’s LMG Programme represents a model that Africa desperately needs more of; contextual, intensive, network-building leadership development specifically designed for health systems strengthening.
Dr. Nazila’s appointment to lead DHPT validates the LMG approach. She’s not just a programme graduate who happened to get promoted; she’s someone whose leadership capacity was fundamentally expanded by the programme, who now applies that expanded capacity to tackle some of Kenya’s most critical health systems challenges. When she convenes county pharmacists to redesign forecasting systems, when she negotiates with KEMSA on supply chain reforms, when she makes the case for domestic manufacturing to sceptical policymakers—she’s drawing on the frameworks, skills, networks, and confidence that LMG cultivated.
As Dr. Nazila settles into her role as Director of DHPT, she’s conscious that her appointment represents both an opportunity and a responsibility. The opportunity is to implement the kind of strategic, transformational leadership that LMG advocates—to move beyond incremental improvements to systemic reforms that fundamentally strengthen Kenya’s health products and technologies systems. The responsibility is to succeed in ways that open doors for other women leaders, to demonstrate that investing in women’s leadership development yields tangible results, and to mentor others as she was mentored.
Her advice to young women health professionals navigating their own leadership journeys reflects the wisdom gained through her experiences: “Seek out transformational leadership development opportunities like LMG that challenge you to think bigger about your role and your potential. Build networks of peers who will support you during difficult times. Don’t wait for permission to lead—find ways to demonstrate leadership wherever you are, even before you have the title. And remember that leadership development is a journey, not a destination. I’m still learning, still growing, still figuring out how to navigate complex challenges. The difference is that now I have frameworks, skills, and a support network that help me navigate more effectively.”
As Kenya works toward universal health coverage and the ambitious goals of its health sector strategic plan, leaders like Dr. Nazila Ganatra will be critical to success. Her story demonstrates that when we move beyond tick-box mentalities about women in leadership and make genuine investments in developing transformational leaders, we don’t just advance individual careers—we strengthen entire health systems and improve health outcomes for millions of people.
The conversation with Dr. Nazila ends as it began, with a reminder that her story isn’t just about her. It’s about what becomes possible when we intentionally invest in leadership development, when we place the right people in the right roles at the right time, and when we recognize that strong health systems require strong leaders. In Dr. Nazila’s hands, the Directorate of Health Products and Technologies isn’t just an administrative unit—it’s a vehicle for the kind of transformational change that Kenya’s health system urgently needs. And that transformation, built on the foundation of programmes like LMG, offers hope not just for Kenya but for health systems across Africa.
Once again, congratulations Dr. Nazila Ganatra on your appointment as Director, Department of Health Products and Technologies (DHPT), Ministry of Health!
Article by: Judith Adhiambo Amolo
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