Tangier: The Chief of Staff of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Aboubakri Diaw, presented on Friday in Tangier the Initiative on Sustainable Health Financing in Africa, which includes eight commitments aimed at strengthening the resilience and sustainability of health systems across the continent.

According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, Diaw emphasized that this initiative seeks to drive a structural transformation in health financing in Africa by mobilizing political and technical leadership in support of the 2030 and 2063 agendas. The eight commitments focus on strengthening domestic resource mobilization for autonomous and sustainable health system financing, improving coordination between the Ministries of Health, Finance, and Planning, and promoting a shift in perspective to view health as a strategic economic investment.

These commitments also target enhancing health systems’ resilience to shocks and promoting regional integration under the African Continental Free Trade Are
a (AfCFTA) as a financing mechanism. There is also an emphasis on garnering sustained support from African and international partners. Diaw noted the structural challenges, highlighting that less than 41% of health expenditures are financed by African governments, and over 40 million people are excluded from national health coverage.

He further pointed out the failure of most African countries to meet the Abuja Declaration target of allocating 15% of public budgets to health, with the sector’s annual financing gap estimated at $66 billion. Diaw stressed the importance of innovative financial instruments such as debt-for-health swaps, product levies, diaspora-targeted bonds, and blended finance mechanisms to reduce investor risk.

Diaw underscored the urgency of concrete implementation, noting that existing tools should be deployed at scale through stronger coordination and increased financial discipline. The initiative’s presentation builds on work from the high-level forum on sustainable health financing in
Africa, recently held as part of COM 2026, with participation from African government officials and leaders of international institutions.

This major continental event, under the theme ‘Investing in Africa’s Health,’ aims to accelerate resource mobilization and drive structural reforms for sustainable health system financing in Africa.