EIB Global, the European Investment Bank’s development arm, has committed €10 million for a technical assistance programme aimed at supporting sub-Saharan African countries develop national health projects that can attract wider domestic and international financing. Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia and Zambia are the first four African countries to join this programme.
The technical assistance aims to accelerate investments in primary healthcare and progress towards universal health coverage by strengthening the planning, prioritisation and design of relevant projects.
The assistance is being offered through an initiative of EIB Global, Islamic Development Bank and World Health Organisation known as the Health Impact Investment Platform (HIIP). The three institutions together are providing an initial €30 million to support technical assistance and capacity building and aim to attract more funding for health projects.
“Our partnership with global partners to support Africa’s health illustrates what coordinated action can achieve when public and private actors work together around nationally defined priorities,” said EIB Vice-President Marek Mora. “By joining forces, multilateral development banks, global health organisations and philanthropic partners can help reduce risks, crowd in private capital and align investment with local needs and priorities as well as broader initiatives such as global health policies.”
Investments in African health systems have been constrained by capacity gaps, regulatory complexities and a longstanding aversion to debt financing in a sector shaped by grants. A limited pipeline of bankable, sizeable projects has also curbed project financing.
Overcoming these factors calls for coordination. EIB Global and other partners aim to align interested parties behind a single investment plan in each country and mobilise concessional financing for high-impact, prioritised actions that strengthen health systems.
The HIIP offers a country-led approach that reduces fragmentation of resources, accelerates project readiness and maximises limited funds. It is also working with low and medium income countries in Asia including Kazakhstan, the Maldives and Tajikistan.
