Driving Growth in Africa's Health Sector Through U.S. Partnerships

Infectious disease outbreaks are not only public health emergencies. They can disrupt trade, weaken workforces, discourage investment, strain government budgets, and reverse years of economic progress. Strengthening Africa's capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to epidemics is therefore essential to the continent's economic growth and to the health and economic security of the United States.

The U.S. government has accelerated a longstanding discussion about transitioning from traditional aid toward a more private-sector-led approach to health security and sustainable health systems. This high-level roundtable will highlight how the U.S. government is already working with American companies, investors, and African partners to advance this transition. Speakers will reflect on lessons from existing partnerships and consider how emerging models can be strengthened and expanded to mobilize additional investment, introduce American technology and innovation, and create commercially viable partnerships that respond to African priorities.

This approach aligns with broader efforts already underway across Africa to create stronger conditions for sustainable health-sector growth and private investment. These include the operationalization of the African Medicines Agency to strengthen regulatory coordination and AUDA-NEPAD's Programme for Investment and Financing in Africa's Health Sector (PIFAH), which supports health-financing reforms, mobilizes diverse sources of capital, and helps develop a pipeline of investable, country-led health projects.

The conversation will examine how African countries can build sustainable health systems that are increasingly led and financed by national governments while creating stronger conditions for private investment and commercial growth. Participants will consider what greater African health self-reliance requires, including sustainable financing and durable partnerships with the private sector.

The discussion will seek to identify practical approaches that advance three connected goals: stronger protection against infectious disease threats, greater African health self-reliance, and mutually beneficial economic growth.

DRIVING GROWTH IN AFRICA’S HEALTH SECTOR THROUGH U.S. PARTNERSHIPS

DRIVING GROWTH

IN AFRICA’S HEALTH SECTOR THROUGH U.S. PARTNERSHIPS