High-Level Launch Event of the Collaborating Center for Health Market Development in Africa

This forum is reserved for CCA members and select invited stakeholders, and will bring together senior leaders across government, the private sector, and development institutions to officially unveil the Collaborating Center. It will also set the stage for future initiatives that will attract sustainable investments and transform Africa’s health economy.

The Collaborating Center is envisioned as a dynamic hub that blends the roles of a think tank, a policy implementation accelerator, and a catalyst for institutional strengthening. Its core objectives are to:

Shape Policy and Set Priorities: Bring together diverse stakeholders from government, business, academia, faith communities and civil society, to craft forward-thinking policy options that align with Africa’s broader health development agenda.
Mobilize Investment and Innovation: Attract private sector investors and international financiers, while incubating innovative models for health market creation and scalable, fundable initiatives.
Drive Knowledge Exchange and Evidence-Based Decisions: Foster robust cross-sector dialogue and research by establishing a comprehensive data hub that aggregates critical insights.
Enhance Institutional Capacity: Focus on building long-term development by strengthening institutional frameworks, enhancing capacity, and providing technical support to ensure effective implementation of national health strategies.
Monitor and Enhance Impact: Develop and update performance measurement frameworks and metrics to continuously track progress and assess the impact of the PIFAH programme across target countries.

Background

AUDA–NEPAD, the African Union Development Agency, is a key driver of Africa’s development in line with Agenda 2063, the African Union's strategic framework for inclusive and sustainable development, integration, peace and security. The Agency’s mandate includes enhancing health systems, promoting sustainable health financing, and strengthening institutional resilience across African nations. By mobilizing resources and fostering cross-sectoral collaboration, AUDA–NEPAD plays a pivotal role in transitioning African health systems from aid dependency to sustainable, domestically driven financing models.

This strategic orientation is central to implementing transformative initiatives like PIFAH (the Program for Investment and Financing in Africa's Health), which targets hitherto untapped new investment from the private sector, regional, continental and multi-lateral development institutions plus philanthropic organizations in targeted strategic areas including: health care infrastructure (hospitals, diagnostic, imaging networks & pharmaceutical networks), healthcare value chain and logistics, digital health & Artificial Intelligence, and research & development. PIFAH’s vision is an African Health Economy whose mission is to generate wealth through health. This new future envisions the health sector playing a dual role – contributing to economic development of the continent and ensuring a healthy population.

Georgetown University is renowned for its commitment to global health excellence. Through its portfolio of global health initiatives, that include its Center for Global Health Practice & Impact and the Georgetown University Global Health Institute, the University advances evidence-based policy solutions and innovative research to advance innovation and bold solutions to improve health and well-being of people around the world. In addition, Georgetown is renowned for its wider expertise relating to economic and health markets development in Africa and other parts of the world that includes the McDonough School of Business, Georgetown Law, the School of Foreign Service, and the McCourt School of Public Policy, amongst others. Georgetown’s interdisciplinary approach and robust networks make it an ideal partner to support Africa’s journey toward enhanced health resilience and economic development.

The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) plays a key supporting role in this initiative. CCA’s health program is centered on engaging the private sector and strategic partners—including AUDA–NEPAD and Georgetown—to advance health system strengthening across the continent. Through its U.S.-Africa Health Security and Resilience Initiative (HSRI), CCA serves as a key platform for driving private sector

engagement from both the United States and Africa to help foster a more agile and robust African health market.

HSRI works with member companies and governments to showcase practical models for public-private collaboration, expanding trade and investment, addressing pressing health challenges, and improving health security. As a supporting partner of the Collaborating Center, CCA will help facilitate private sector engagement, ensuring that the voice, innovation, and resources of the private sector are effectively integrated into Africa’s health development strategies.