WHEN-Kenya Government Roundtable

Leveraging Financing for Nuclear Technology and Health Electrification to
Improve Women’s Healthcare, Environmental Sustainability and
Pandemic Preparedness for Africa

November 27th, 2024

The chronic underinvestment in health electrification, nuclear technology, and women's health in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) underscores a critical barrier to achieving equitable global health and economic outcomes. Despite the transformative potential of reliable energy infrastructure for health facilities, many LMICs remain burdened by power deficits, compromising the functionality of life-saving equipment and essential services. Nuclear technology, which offers innovative solutions in diagnostics, radiotherapy, and vaccine development, is similarly underfunded, often sidelined due to perceived complexity, regulatory hurdles, and geopolitical concerns. Women's health faces systemic neglect, further exacerbated by gender disparities in healthcare prioritization and resource allocation.

These interconnected challenges perpetuate cycles of inequity, stalling progress in health system resilience and undermining the potential for technological and financial innovations to transform care delivery. Addressing these barriers, requires a holistic approach, requiring capital commitments that extend beyond the capacities of governments and multilaterals.

At the 2024 IAEA Ministerial Conference in Vienna, the Women’s Health and Economic Empowerment Network (WHEN) and the Government of Kenya convened an expert consultation on shaping the future of women’s health through a dedicated blended finance vehicle for health, electrification, and nuclear science being structured by WHEN.

It was commonly agreed upon that additional financing for telecommunications, electrification, data and health is required – and emphasized that these investments can have a generational effect for entire economies.
“When we think of empowerment, there is power in the word itself – power in electricity, energy and light; power in the body, in saving women’s lives; and power in the pocket, in enhancing the economic standing of women and entire regions. When women are empowered, communities are empowered,” opened Ambassador Maurice Makoloo, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kenya to Vienna.
WHEN co-chairs, Joanne Manrique, President of the Center for Global Health and Development (CGHD), and Dr. Ted Trimble, Senior Advisor for Global HPV and Cervical Cancer Control at the US National Cancer Institute built upon Ambassador Makoloo’s comments. They discussed the WHEN Blended Finance Platform for telecommunications, electrification, data and health (TED-H), highlighting the catalytic role that concessionary and private finance can play in unlocking access and improving the lives and livelihood of women, particularly as it relates to women’s cancers. The importance of political and financial support from governments and multilateral institutions was emphasized as a key de-risking mechanism to drive private investment into these sectors.

Dr. Najat Mokhtar, Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, discussed the profound impact that the Rays of Hope initiative has had in expanding access to radiotherapy in LMICs, however, highlighted that additional support was required to bring projects to scale. She further emphasized the need to strengthen investments into monitoring and evaluation of cancer outcomes at health facilities in order to understand where additional support is needed, and outline the successes of the lifesaving impact that radiotherapy brings. She further highlighted the monumental returns on investment in medical imaging - $120 for every $1 investment - and called for further collaboration between actors to expand access to care.  IAEA and WHEN will continue to work collaboratively on the establishment of strong metrics for women’s cancer outcomes, through the launch of a dedicated working group in early 2025.
Maggie Sprenger, General Partner at Audere Capital, highlighted the immense potential of private investors in supporting the development of comprehensive mechanisms of impact measurement through investments in data, AI, and technology capabilities. She further discussed her excitement to be partnering with WHEN on the blended finance platform, citing the exponential potential for growth.  To signify their confidence in the vehicle, Audere Capital announced their $5 million commitment to the Telecommunications, Electrification, Data and Health (TED-H) Blended Finance Vehicle that is being actively structured by WHEN.

Discussions turned to the importance of ensuring sustainable and accessible technical assistance capital to support the health, electrification, and nuclear technology ecosystem. Jacob Thorup Cohn and Petar Ivanovic presented an innovative model for the WHEN Blended Finance Platform, by which the Investment Managers of the equity facility will reinvest 25% of their annual management fee, and 2% of total carried interest into the technical assistance facility. This structure will allow high-impact, non-return generating projects to continue to receive capital as equity investments receive commercial yield. Gemcorp will continue to work with WHEN on the establishment and management of the vehicle as both a partner and an investor, having committed to reinvesting a portion of their fees into the technical assistance vehicle.

Access to reliable electricity in a health care setting can mean the difference between life and death – and yet over 100,000 health facilities in sub-Saharan fail to meet even a minimal level of connectivity. However, local governments are beginning to make the necessary investments. His Excellency, Alex Wachira, Principal Secretary of the State Department of Energy of Kenya, announced a $4.5 million Social Health Fund being launched by the Government of Kenya to electrify and digitally connect over one thousand health facilities across the country. He expressed his excitement to continue working with WHEN’s network and blended finance platform, and called on development actors to work collaboratively to support Kenya in reaching these ambitious targets. Inspired by the discussion and Kenya’s ambitious goals, participants took action. Joanne Manrique, co-chair of WHEN, committed to matching financing to support data and AI integration of health facilities in Kenya through the WHEN Blended Finance Platform.

WHEN’s commitment catalyzed momentum among stakeholders at the table. Ambassador Annika Markovic, Swedish Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative of Sweden to the UN Agencies in Vienna, reinforced Sweden’s commitment to supporting the expansion of cancer diagnostics and treatment in Africa and the need for private sector participation.

Ambassador Azzeddine Farhane, Ambassador of Morocco to Austria, supported these comments, noting the need for political will and collaboration, such as demonstrated through this roundtable, between governments, the private sector and implementors to measure the success of initiatives.

Darien Laird and Dr. Pat Price of the Global Coalition for Radiotherapy noted that advocacy and politics, service and maintenance, education, data, and safety are essential standards that need to be included in a sustainable measurement framework. GCR expressed their commitment to continuing to work with WHEN on the development of comprehensive metrics and expanding the overall accessibility and affordability of nuclear health technology.

Partners committed to continuing to collaborate to drive investment into telecommunications, electrification, data, health, and nuclear science through blended finance mechanisms, including the WHEN Blended Finance Platform. Specific next steps include:

• Continue active collaboration between WHEN, the Government of Kenya, IAEA, HETA, and private investors including Gemcorp and Audere Capital among other partners, to develop and deploy the WHEN Blended Finance Platform in early 2025.
• Formal launch of a Working Group to outline metrics and indicators of the impact of investments in nuclear technology and renewable energy on women’s health outcomes.