Accra, Ghana//-The World Bank Group and its partners today unveiled a groundbreaking regional strategy to avert health and economy crisis in Western and Central Africa.
The World Bank Group’s Western and Central Africa region (AFW), which comprises 22 countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Cameroon, and several others spanning from Mauritania to the Democratic Republic of Congo, is bedevilled with numerous health challenges.
Challenges
The regional strategy titled “Fit to Prosper”: Investing in Health for Jobs and Development in Western & Central Africa outlined some of the challenges, including:
-One 200 million children will be born in Western & Central Africa between 2025 and 2050, a major addition to today’s total regional population of 534 million;
-By 2050, almost one out of every five young people globally will be living in Western & Central Africa.
-As they look to the future beyond 2050, their prospects- and that of their countries will depend heavily on the investments that they and their governments make between now and then;
-Health and nutrition outcomes during a child’s early years fundamentally matter for later life prospects yet;
Solutions
Speaking at the launch of the strategy in Accra, the World Bank Group Vice President for People, Ms Mamta Murthi said: “The World Bank Group has set an ambitious global target: to provide quality, affordable health services to 1.5 billion people by 2030”.
To achieve this, she explained that their goal is to reach at least 200 million people across Western and Central Africa.
To get there, Ms Murthi said their Target Implementation Plan identifies six concrete solutions that together form the backbone of what a functioning primary health care system actually requires: service-ready facilities with energy, water, and digital connectivity; diversified delivery platforms — from pharmacies to community health workers to telemedicine; an expanded, digitally enabled health workforce; service packages designed around each country’s own disease burden, not external financing priorities; sustainable domestic financing; and reliable access to affordable medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics — including through local and regional manufacturing.
These six solutions are not a wish list. They are the operational levers we know move the needle, she stated.
“But a global plan only delivers if it is grounded in a regional reality. That is exactly what Fit to Prosper provides — the roadmap that translates those six solutions into action across Western and Central Africa, organised around three interlocking priorities.
Our goal is that every woman in a rural village can deliver her baby safely. Every child can grow up healthy, well-nourished, and protected from malaria and other highly preventable diseases. And no family is pushed into poverty to access the care they need”.
The strategy they launched today is their regional roadmap to reach this target by 2030. It is a shared blueprint to make health systems resilient, sustainable, and “Fit to Prosper” in the face of three key challenges:
First, frontline: Health and growth start with investing in primary health care, the backbone of a well-functioning, cost-effective, resilient health system.
This means expanding delivery of essential health and nutrition services for women, children, and their families, and ensuring that health facilities have the basics, such as reliable energy, clean water, and digital connectivity. It also means supporting a cadre of community health workers who are the first line of defence.
Second, financing: We must spend better, but we must also spend more. We need to move away from fragmented, “vertical” donor funding and disease programs and toward integrated national systems for service delivery.
We must improve budget execution so that every dollar intended for a clinic reaches that clinic, and explore every opportunity to increase and sustain domestic resource mobilisation for health.
Third, future readiness: This region faces 100 outbreaks a year, compounded by climate change, food insecurity, and global shocks. We need to continue building “Emergency-Ready Primary Healthcare” that remains open and resilient even when a crisis hits.
Two key tools
Two key tools to help the Bank and its partners deliver on this strategy, she mentioned, are the Global Financing Facility — the GFF — and the Accelerating Impact on Medicines and Supplies initiative, AIM2030.
With grant co-financing and technical support, the GFF works in tandem with the World Bank Group to enable countries across the region to scale up proven solutions and reduce preventable maternal and child deaths.
Beyond the GFF, our partnerships with philanthropic organisations allow us to blend public and private resources — bringing additional financing and expertise to accelerate impact where it is needed most.
AIM2030 supports local medical manufacturing — so that Africa can produce life-saving medicines right here on the continent. The COVID-19 pandemic taught us a hard lesson: Africa cannot remain at the end of the queue for life-saving products.
By improving regulatory standards and helping mobilise the financing needed for local pharmaceutical production, AIM2030 seeks to build a resilient industrial base and create high-quality jobs across the continent.
Ms Murthi used the launch to extend a direct invitation to all development partners, the private sector, and philanthropic organisations to join this initiative.
“ By pooling our technical expertise, our financial resources, and our social capital, we can ensure that every country in the region has the tools it needs to protect its citizens”.
Ministers of Finance, the numbers make the case plainly. This region currently bears 33% of global child deaths, 44% of maternal deaths, and nearly 60% of malaria deaths.
One-third of children under five are stunted, limiting their future educational and economic opportunities. This is an enormous drain on our economies, according to her.
Delivering the keynote address, Ghana’s Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, noted:” The future of our economies will not be determined only by what we extract from the ground but by what we invest in our people. Health is an economic strategy”.
He added that a healthy population is more productive, more innovative, and more resilient. It is the foundation upon which jobs are created, industries grow, and nations prosper.
“This is why the theme “Fit to Prosper” is not just timely, it is transformative. It challenges us to reframe health as a driver of growth, not merely a cost to be managed”.
Laudable
Ghana’s Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, who performed the launch, said the World Bank Regional Health, Nutrition and Population Strategy is both timely and welcome.
It provides a coherent framework for addressing shared challenges through evidence-based investments in health systems strengthening, nutrition, population dynamics and human capital development.
“We commend the World Bank for emphasising results, equity, sustainability and regional collaboration. These are not abstract principles. They are the very conditions required to accelerate progress towards healthier, more productive and more resilient societies”.
He added: “For Ghana, this strategy strongly aligns with our national health priorities and with the broader vision of His Excellency the President to build a more inclusive, resilient and self-reliant health system. Ghana remains committed to Universal Health Coverage, guided by our UHC Roadmap 2020–2030, which envisions a country where all people have timely access to high-quality health services, without financial hardship at the point of use”.
The World Bank Group Division Director for Western and Central Africa, Dr Robert R. Taliercio, thanked President John Dramani Mahama for honouring the event with his patronage.
He added that they at the World Bank welcome the opportunity to support this agenda, and that is why they are here today, saying that they are deeply grateful for H.E’s leadership and what it reflects about Ghana’s leadership not only here at home but also across the continent.
