Tangier, Morocco, 1 April 2026 - "Health is not expenditure; it is investment - in people, in productivity and in prosperity," said Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), as he opened the High-Level Forum on Sustainable Health Financing, on the margins of the 58th Session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (CoM2026).

Addressing ministers, senior officials and development partners gathered in Tangier under the theme "Investing in Africa's Health", Mr. Gatete urged African governments to "act at the scale and speed this moment demands" to redesign health financing and build resilient systems capable of sustaining progress amid tightening fiscal conditions.

"We meet at a moment when the foundations of health financing in Africa are shifting, rapidly and irreversibly," he said. "Rising health needs and narrowing fiscal space make it imperative that we not only finance health differently, but transform how our systems are structured, scaled and sustained."

Mr. Gatete emphasized that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers a decisive opportunity to reimagine Africa's health systems at scale. "Too often, the AfCFTA is viewed as a trade agreement. But it is far more than that; it is a development architecture," he stated.

With a projected market of 1.5 billion people and a combined GDP of US$3.4 trillion, the AfCFTA, he noted, could move Africa "from fragmented national systems to integrated continental solutions." He highlighted growing momentum in regional pharmaceutical manufacturing, including in Morocco, Algeria, Rwanda, and South Africa and called for harmonized regulatory standards, pooled procurement, and connected value chains.

"Through the AfCFTA, isolated gains can become a continental system - linked, scaled and competitive," he said. "We can build regional value chains, pool procurement, and reduce costs. The question is not whether the opportunity exists - it is whether we will act."

The ECA Executive Secretary spoke against the backdrop of a sobering fiscal landscape. In 2022, Africa spent approximately US$145 billion on health, less than half of which came from public sources. "Households and external assistance continue to bear a disproportionate share of costs," he said, warning that in several countries, debt servicing now exceeds health spending.

"This is the reality we confront: rising health needs in the midst of shrinking fiscal space," he said.

Mr. Gatete outlined four priorities for repositioning Africa's health financing architecture that include redesigning health financing systems, expanding health insurance and risk profiling; deepening private sector engagement and investing in capacity and resilience.

He called for innovative approaches to mobilize capital, through blended finance and debt-for-health swaps and risk-sharing instruments - noting that "we cannot finance 21st-century health systems with 20th-century models."

Drawing on the experiences of Ghana and Rwanda, he underscored that "when risks are pooled at scale, systems become more affordable, predictable and equitable."

Mr Gatete stressed that the private sector must become a full partner in sustaining Africa's health agenda, adding that "public financing alone will not meet the scale of our needs; the AfCFTA creates the predictability and market size needed to attract investment.

He also underscored that financing without capacity yields limited outcomes and called for greater investment in health workers, institutions, infrastructure, and digital technologies such as telemedicine and data systems. "Preparedness is not optional; it is indispensable," he said, recalling lessons from Ebola and COVID-19.

Reaffirming ECA's support for Member States through policy advisory, partnerships and financing solutions, Mr. Gatete launched the #InvestInHealthAfrica campaign to mobilize continental and global focus on health as a cornerstone of sustainable development.

"Africa's greatest asset is its people," he concluded. "If we invest in their health, we unlock their potential. If we fail, we constrain our own future."

Present at the side event were various dignitaries, including the AUC Chairperson, Mr Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, E. Amine Tahraoui, Minister of Health and Social Protection, Kingdom of Morocco, Dr. Tewodros Bekele, Senior Director, Global Programs, Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (STBF), Dr Delese Mimi Darko, Director General, African Medicines Agency (AMA), Dr Jean Kaseya Director General, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa

CDC), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO) (Video Remarks), Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa-Onochie, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Africa, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Minister of Economy and Finance, Kingdom of Morocco

Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: [email protected]