The Center for Global Health and Development (CGHD) and the Health Electrification and Telecommunications Alliance (HETA) Announce Partnership to Advance Sustainable Finance for Telecommunications, Electrification, and Data for Health
New York City, New York, September 25th, 2024 – The Center for Global Health and Development (CGHD) and the Power Africa Health Electrification and Telecommunications Alliance (HETA) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to expand health electrification and connectivity on the African Continent. The new MOU reaffirms both organizations’ commitment to develop sustainable financing mechanisms that take a holistic approach to addressing gaps in telecommunications, electrification, and data for health. The announcement was made alongside leaders and decision makers from G20 governments, development finance institutions (DFIs), foundations, investment firms, philanthropy, and academia on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly.
Access to reliable electricity in a health care setting can mean the difference between life and death. Nearly 100,000 public health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to reliable electricity, leaving an estimated 250 million people across the continent without access to electrified and digitally connected health care facilities. The estimated cost to bring health care facilities up to a minimal or intermediate level of electrification in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) is $4.9 billion, requiring commitments that are not feasible for most governments alone.1 HETA’s first 2 years of implementation electrified and connected more than 800 facilities, however the financial gap to reach the scalable number of facilities is significant and there are no identified financial mechanisms to support these interventions and bring them to scale beyond initial development aid contributions.
Under this MOU, CGHD and HETA will collaborate on the development of an Impact Finance Platform that will catalyze private investment and multiply the impact of development aid into the region.
“When Power Africa started in 2013, 600 million people on the continent lacked access to electricity. Although Power Africa has connected more than 208 million people over 10 years, the number of Africans without access to power remains at 600 million given the continued population growth. Today, 24 percent of health clinics and 34 percent of hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa have access to reliable electricity demonstrating a significant gap in the health infrastructure landscape. With advances in technology and the decreased cost of solar energy in the last 10 years, it is a real and viable option to expand access to healthcare. At Power Africa and through HETA, we are excited to partner with CGHD to drive investment into the African
continent to close the electrification gap, expand healthcare access, and empower women,” stated Richard Nelson, Power Africa Coordinator, USAID.
Despite renewed interest from the global development community in expanding health system services, investments in the health sector have traditionally existed in siloes. Challenges such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, and cancer care have seen targeted interventions that fail to address the systems-level investment needed for sustainable impact. Through the Impact Investment Platform, WHEN and HETA will coordinate private and donor communities to streamline investments and develop opportunities for co-investment creating a strong pipeline of projects that will demonstrate financial sustainability and productive use.
“HETA is working towards its goal of solarizing 10,000 health facilities across Africa, but there remains substantial work to be done” stated Gina Cady, Health Electrification Lead at USAID. “Solarization goes beyond powering critical health devices and equipment like Point of Care (POC) Viral Load Testing for HIV and Early Infant Diagnosis (EID), it is essential to provide health workers with the ability to track and refer patients, digitize the pharmaceutical value chain, access capacity development tools, and support general communications among providers and clients,”
“This MOU signifies a commitment to take on the interconnected challenges that are faced within the health electrification ecosystem. The Impact Finance Platform will provide an opportunity and framework for increased technical and financial cooperation between the public and private sector, and strengthened local economies,” stated Joanne Manrique, President of the Center for Global Health and Development. “At CGHD, we are excited for the future of our partnership with HETA and to drive capital investment into telecommunications, electrification, and data for health on the African Continent.”
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1 . Energizing health: accelerating electricity access in health-care facilities. Executive summary. Geneva: World Health Organization, the World Bank, Sustainable Energy for All and the International Renewable Energy Agency; 2023. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
