Honourable Ministers, Distinguished Delegates, Excellencies,

I am honoured to address you at this critical session on Health Financing. Health is the cornerstone of Africa’s development—driving productivity, resilience, and inclusive growth. Yet financing for health remains fragile, fragmented, and too often impeded by volatility and out-of-pocket burdens. Today, I present a focused, implementable path for strengthening health financing across our continent, anchored in ATIDI’s instruments and collaborative action with AU member states and our wider alliance.

A Clear Diagnosis

Limited and volatile domestic resources for health, particularly at district and rural levels.
Financing fragmentation and high out-of-pocket expenditures undermine financial protection.
Gaps in preventive and primary health care, health information systems, and resilient supply chains.
Health emergencies expose budgetary weakness and demand rapid, coordinated responses.

Our Shared Vision

A resilient, equitable health financing architecture that pools risks, pools funds, and incentivizes value-for-money.
Greater domestic resource mobilization complemented by smart concessional finance and innovative instruments.
A health-financing foundation that supports universal health coverage (UHC) and broader development objectives.

How ATIDI Will Help, in Three Focus Areas

1) Resource Mobilization and Financial Access
Advise on health-focused fiscal space, revenue mobilization, and progressive taxation aligned with public health goals.
Expand innovative financing: health bonds, blended finance, and results-based financing to mobilize new funds for essential services, vaccines, and infrastructure.
Provide concessional facilities and risk-sharing to lower the cost of capital for health investments.

2) Risk Pooling, Financial Protection, and Efficiency
Design and expand national and sub-national health insurance pools to cut out-of-pocket spend.
Facilitate regional or inter-country risk pooling where appropriate to enhance equity and resilience.
Strengthen procurement and supply chain financing to reduce costs and stockouts.
Invest in health information systems and performance-based financing to boost transparency and impact.

3) Strategic Investment, Coordination, and Implementation
Align health financing with national plans, AU health objectives, and SDGs for coherent action.
Build capacity for budget tagging, fiscal-risk analysis, and macro-fiscal modeling under health shocks.
Foster public-private collaboration to de-risk investments in infrastructure, digital health, and supply chains while protecting public interests.
Support regional coordination for data harmonization and pooled procurement to unlock scale advantages.

Added Momentum: Global and Regional Support

ATIDI has immensely benefited from the G20 Compact with Africa, leveraging a framework that accelerates private investment and reform momentum on the continent.
Our collaboration with KfW and BMZ has mobilized over $80 million to support countries in joining ATIDI and to back the Renewable and Low-Carbon Skills Facility (RLSF), dedicated to renewable energy projects and grid resilience.
We have deepened cooperation with the African Union Commission (AUC), BMZ, and KfW on energy and development finance, expanding our toolkit for health through cross-cutting financing and risk management.
Recently, we launched the SME Risk Sharing Facility for Banks, enabling greater access to finance for small and medium enterprises—critical for health supply chains, digital health startups, and local manufacturing of essential health products.

Welcome to CWA Expansion

We applaud the ongoing and anticipated expansion of the G20 Compact with Africa membership. An expanded CWA pledge strengthens reform momentum, mobilizes private capital, and enhances policy credibility across more countries. ATIDI stands ready to leverage CWA synergies to accelerate health financing reform, improve project pipelines, and scale bankable health initiatives.

Call for G20 Common Framework Reforms (Inclusive for Africa)

We urge reforms to the G20 Common Framework to be more inclusive of African multilateral and regional institutions (AMIs) in governance, implementation, and benefit-sharing.
Key reforms should include:
Visible AMI participation: formal channels for AMIs to engage in restructuring, debt treatment, and development programs under the framework.
Country-led sequencing: support for country-owned reform agendas with flexible timing, recognizing Africa’s diversity in fiscal capacity and health needs.
Data and transparency: robust, timely data sharing, impact evaluation, and accountability mechanisms to track health financing outcomes.
Local currency and blended finance options: greater use of local currency instruments and AMI-led blended finance to reduce currency risk and crowd in local capital.
Technical assistance and capacity building: enhanced access to AMI technical resources for ministries of finance and health, including joint missions and regional hubs.

Priority Actions for Immediate Impact

Establish a Regional Health Financing Task Force under AU leadership, co-designed with ATIDI, to deliver a Harmonized Health Financing Framework (financing, risk pooling, procurement).
Launch a continental Health Financing Accelerator Program to pilot results-based financing with blended finance and targeted TA.
Create a continental health data and analytics hub within ATIDI to monitor funding flows, track outcomes, and inform decisions.
Prioritize funding for primary health care and essential public health functions as the backbone of UHC, with emphasis on digital health, human resources, and essential medicines.
Accelerate the expansion of CWA membership and synergy with health-financing initiatives, recognizing the shared opportunity to mobilize private capital for public health outcomes.

ATIDI Instruments at a Glance (Key Tools)

Health Improvement Bonds and Social Impact Bonds: Mobilize private capital for outcomes-driven health programs.
Blended Finance Facilities: De-risk investments in health infrastructure and supply chains.
Contingent and Catastrophe Risk Financing: Stabilize health budgets against epidemics and shocks.
Regional Pooled Procurement: Lower costs and secure quality through economies of scale.
Health Information Systems Financing: Strengthen budgeting accuracy and data-driven decisions.
Capacity Building and Advisory Services: Build governance, budgeting, and implementation capacity.

A Note on Our Wider Alliance: AAMFI

ATIDI is proud to be part of the Africa Alliance for Market-Driven Financial Interventions (AAMFI), a coalition that brings together premier African institutions ready to mobilize and concentrate resources for health financing. Members include:
Afrieximbank (African Export-Import Bank)
AFC (African Finance Corporation)
TDB (Trade and Development Bank)
ZepRe (regional reinsurance peers)
Africa Re (African Reinsurance Corporation)
Shelter Africa Development Bank
And other regional development finance institutions and partners

Together, AAMFI members stand ready to support health financing in Africa through:
Concessional finance and risk-sharing facilities
Pooled procurement and supply chain financing
Health-focused insurance pools and universal health coverage acceleration
Data, analytics, and risk management capabilities
Public-private partnership models and blended finance solutions

A Call to Action

Excellencies, the time is now to elevate health financing as a strategic fiscal priority. By leveraging ATIDI’s instruments and collaborating with AU member states, regional communities, and partners—including our AAMFI colleagues and the momentum from the G20 Compact with Africa—and by embracing inclusive reforms to the G20 Common Framework, we can build a financing ecosystem that is predictable, equitable, and resilient.

ATIDI commits to:
Align our portfolio with AU health and development priorities.
Deliver rapid, scalable financing solutions tailored to country contexts.
Provide ongoing learning, data, and accountability for impact and value for money.

Let us seize this moment to redefine health financing in Africa—not as a peripheral expense, but as a strategic investment in people, prosperity, and the continent’s future. Thank you.