President John Dramani Mahama has called on African governments to fundamentally change the way they finance healthcare, arguing that health must be treated as an investment and not merely a social expenditure.
According to President Mahama, African countries have for decades regarded healthcare as a line-item cost to be funded only when resources are available.
Speaking at the Health Plenary of the Alamein Africa Forum in Egypt, he said the approach was outdated and could no longer support Africa’s ambition of achieving health sovereignty.
“Health is not a charitable cause. It is an investable, high-growth economic sector,” President Mahama stated.
He explained that strategic investment in healthcare could stimulate human capital development, manufacturing, job creation and macroeconomic stability across the continent.
President Mahama cited research by the Copenhagen Consensus, which he said showed that targeted investment in basic emergency maternal and newborn care could generate significant economic and social returns.
He also referenced findings by the Lancet Commission indicating that declining mortality rates accounted for nearly a quarter of total income growth in developing economies in the early 2000s.
The President argued that African countries must therefore view healthcare spending as an investment capable of strengthening national economies rather than depleting public resources.
His comments come amid growing concerns over declining traditional donor support for healthcare.
President Mahama disclosed that Ghana had been forced to reconsider its health financing arrangements following the withdrawal of US$154 million in annual support, including US$74 million previously allocated to the health sector.
He said the funding gap highlighted the urgent need for African countries to develop more sustainable domestic financing mechanisms.
President Mahama maintained that governments alone could not finance the continent’s health transformation.
He therefore called for stronger collaboration between governments, private investors, commercial banks, industrial developers and sovereign funds to build resilient health systems.
He said the ultimate objective must be to achieve health sovereignty for Africa’s 1.4 billion people while ensuring that citizens have access to quality and affordable healthcare.
President Mahama urged African leaders and businesses to leave the Alamein Forum with concrete plans for mobilising capital, expanding health infrastructure and developing local production capacity.
“Let us stop treating health as a line-item expense in our budgets. Let us build the factories, integrate supply chains, fund innovators and secure our citizens’ future,” he said.
Story by: Emmanuel Romeo Tetteh(#RomeoWrites✍️) Presidential Affairs Correspondent | Ghana 🇬🇭