About the Award

Our mission

We support young health entrepreneurs across Africa to bring their innovations to life. We do this by providing financial and in-kind support to Africa Young Innovator for Health Award winners.

Our vision

To strengthen the African entrepreneurship ecosystem in the healthcare sector developing local capacity for healthcare innovation and supporting young people across the continent to realize their full potential as enablers of change.

The power of youth to deliver change

According to the African Development Bank, 22 percent of Africa’s working-age population are starting businesses – the highest entrepreneurship rate in the world. Yet, increasingly more investment in human capital is needed for this demographic potential to reap the development rewards it should. Through the Award, we want to support young entrepreneurs creating innovative solutions every day to shape safer, better, and healthier futures and build their capacity to make a difference – today.

2nd edition: Accelerate efforts to advance “Health for All. Everywhere”

Whilst many African countries have shown their commitment to achieving UHC by 2030, progress towards attaining this goal has stalled in the past year, with the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating already strained health systems. However, according to the AHAIC State of UHC in Africa Report:

Africa’s large youth population is an opportunity to improve labor productivity, which could have positive outcomes for the health sector.

Africa has a developed private sector that could be leveraged to complement the public sector in delivering health services across the continent.

Africa needs to leverage its innovation ecosystem, increasing mobile connectivity and a boom in digital technologies, and more broadly, the potential that broadband and digital technologies hold to transform health systems.

In a bid to accelerate efforts to reach global goals dedicated to providing healthcare to anyone who needs it, the 2nd edition of the Award program is searching for innovations that can help:

Extend population coverage (who receives services, linked to equity and non-discrimination)
Extend service coverage (what health services are available)
Ensure financial protection (ensuring health services do not lead to poverty).

“We are convinced young Africans are full of ingenious ideas that are locally adapted, and that can help more communities have better and affordable access to quality health products and services.“

About the partners

IFPMA represents research-based pharmaceutical companies and associations across the globe. Research-based pharmaceutical companies make a unique contribution to global health as innovators of lifesaving and life-changing medicines and vaccines, which improved millions of lives around the world. Based in Geneva, IFPMA has official relations with the United Nations and contributes industry expertise to help the global health community find solutions that improve global health.

Speak Up Africa is a policy and advocacy action tank dedicated to catalysing leadership, enabling policy change, and increasing awareness for sustainable development in Africa. Through their platforms and relationships and with the help of partners, Speak Up Africa ensures that policy makers meet implementers; that solutions are showcased and that every sector – from individual citizens and civil society groups to global donors and business leaders – contributes critically to the dialogue and strives to form the blueprints for concrete action for public health and sustainable development.