Martins Ifijeh
For better healthcare across board, Dangote Foundation, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), GBCHealth, among other stakeholders have advocated for Public Private Partnership (PPP).
This will be focal point when top African leaders including heads of states, ministers, chief executive officers, as well as representatives from the African Union and United Nations converge on the inaugural Africa Business: Health Forum (AB:HF) during the 32nd African Union Summit taking place in Ethiopia on February 12, 2019.
The forum, according to the organisers, will unify Africa’s key decision makers in exploring opportunities for catalysing growth in the continent’s economy, through business partnerships to invest in the health sector.
Sharing his thoughts on the summit, a renowned financier and co-Chair, GBCHealth, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede said from a business standpoint, there were opportunities that could be created by focusing on improving and investing in health.
The inter-relationship between the health of employees and economic growth is increasingly taking center stage in many African countries, and business is being pushed to exploring how to maximise shareholder value as a complex interplay between financial, human, social and environmental return.
He added; “There is a need to close the gap on the inequality of life in Africa from a healthcare standpoint and we must look to develop a universal plan that shifts the needle as far as healthcare in Africa is concerned. Health must cease being a source of pain, and become a source of prosperity instead.”
The AB:HF is the vision of GBCHealth, UNECA, and Aliko Dangote Foundation, with the objective of driving business leadership, strengthening partnerships, and facilitating investments to change the face of healthcare in Africa.
He said the forum will culminate in the launch of the African Business Coalition for Health (ABCHealth), a coalition that will mobilise a core group of private sector champions through a coordinated platform to advance health outcomes and shape health systems across Africa.
“ABCHealth will serve as the regional platform to unlock synergies that will contribute more directly to a healthy and prosperous Africa, enabled by collaboration and business partnerships,” he said.
Reiterating the need for business leaders to key into this vision, Group President, Dangote Group and Chairman, Aliko Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote said: “The best way to move Africa forward is for businesses to step up in healthcare and take bold action.
“We must work together, across industries and with governments and communities, to foster innovation and drive more strategic investments that benefit us collectively.
“The time is now for a new era of cooperation in Africa that will position its people, communities and businesses for success, now and in the future. Good health is not only an outcome of, but also a foundation for development.”
The Executive Secretary, UNECA, Vera Songwe said; “The commission will play a role in the design and implementation of policy frameworks around the financing of healthcare through Public Private Partnerships and the private sector.
“Building on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), this will also encourage regional trans-boundary health investments especially in the pharmaceutical sector.”
