Health
Dangote, GBCHealth Partner to Boost Wellbeing of Africans

By Dipo Olowookere
Dangote Foundation has partnered with GBCHealth to forge a new model of partnership, African Business Coalition on Health (ABCHealth) in Africa.
Chairman of Dangote Foundation, Mr Aliko Dangote, shared plans to build ABCHealth during the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, he was co-hosting, and which took place alongside the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York.
According to him, the African-led coalition of companies and philanthropists, will seek to improve the health and wellbeing of Africans, both within the workplace and within the broader communities.
He stated that the partnership will develop and deploy impactful health programs across Africa, deepening knowledge, building evidence for future investment and strengthening coordination among African philanthropists, business leaders, companies and local business networks.
The Coalition is building on the leadership, reputation and convening power of the Aliko Dangote Foundation and the experience, reputation and global reach of GBCHealth. Critical issues that will be the focus of the partnership ranges from nutrition to malaria, with priorities identified and agreed by local leadership.
Through his Foundation, Dangote has made an unprecedented grant and seed contribution to GBCHealth of US$ 1.5 million over three years as a call to action and a signal to the African business community of the importance of working together and investing in health.
“The time is ripe for the private sector to proactively demonstrate its value in partnering to lead a new era in development,” said Mr Dangote. “The coalition can provide much needed guidance to ensure activities and investments are driving results in areas where the private sector can have real impact, focusing on holistic and integrated solutions that cross borders. We look forward to working with other business leaders as partners in development to drive this impact.”
Co-chair of GBCHealth’s Board of Directors, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede said, “This coalition brings together two heavyweights in the health and development arena”.
“Together we have an opportunity to demonstrate how investing in health and creating healthier populations, can help business maximize shareholder value, accelerate economic growth and make entry into new markets more feasible.”
The coalition will have five primary objectives over its first three years incubate partnerships on priority health programs to enhance and accelerate results; work directly with companies to optimize workplace and community health programs; advocate for policies and initiatives that drive system-level changes; create a hub of data and insights specific to Africa and African business; and curate leadership events to convene and drive action around common health issues, across sectors.
The program will kick off in Nigeria and roll out through business regions in Africa and beyond over the next three years.
The continent currently has 400 companies with revenue of more than $1 billion per year, and these companies are growing faster, and are more profitable in general, than their global peers. Coupled with these fast-moving regional leaders, small and growing businesses create 80% of the continent’s employment and are stoking the engines of growth.
Against this backdrop, according to Dangote, there’s a new cadre of responsible business leaders and philanthropists who understand the value and promise of sustainable large-scale investments in African countries, and are poised to make an even bigger impact on the continent’s people and economies.
Investments in better training, healthcare and supply chain accountability have demonstrated direct financial return through gains in productivity and efficiency, while support for social programs has accelerated economic growth and raised incomes which in turn unlocks a wider consumer base and makes entry into new markets more feasible.
In her comments, CEO of the Dangote Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou, said “GBCHealth has a strong track record of bringing diverse groups together to improve the health wellbeing of communities. We look forward to collaborating to build an African business community united as a force for healthier and more inclusive development.”
“What is needed now is an approach that combines the value of local insights and trusted networks with the leverage of a global platform and expertise to support the more coordinated and impactful involvement of the African private sector across the continent and within the global development community,” commented Mr Aig-Imoukhuede.
“The coalition builds on the local-to-global business approach we have developed in Nigeria through our work with the Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa (CAMA). The Aliko Dangote Foundation has demonstrated expertise in implementing result-oriented health programs in Nigeria and across Africa. We look forward to our collaboration to bring insights from this work to a global audience,” said Nancy Wildfeir-Field, President of GBCHealth.
Immediate plans include hiring an African based CEO for ABCHealth, and building a support base for the coalition working towards a launch in early 2018.
The foundation is generously providing office space and support for coalition staff over the first three years of development.
“It’s an ambitious and bold project,” said Dangote, “but the only way to move Africa forward is to take bold moves, to think big, dream big and do big things together – breaking down silos, working across borders and working across sectors– with government and with each other.”
Health
Nigeria Tightens Surveillance at Entry Point Amid Fresh Ebola Outbreak

By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria has tightened surveillance measures at entry points in the country owing to a fresh outbreak of Ebola disease in Uganda.
Last week, the Ugandan Ministry of Health confirmed the outbreak of the disease with one death and has now followed up with forty-four contacts.
With the latest development, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Mr Jide Idris, in an advisory said although Nigeria has not recorded any outbreak of the disease, it is putting in place preventive measures.
“There are no cases of Ebola virus disease in Nigeria. However, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), in collaboration with relevant Ministries, Departments, Agencies, and Partners through the National Emerging Viral Hemorrhagic Diseases (EVHD) Technical Working Group, continues to monitor disease occurrence and has initiated measures to strengthen our preparedness in the country.
“These include the update of our EVD emergency contingency plan, heightened surveillance especially at the points of entry, and optimizing diagnostic capacity for EVD testing in designated laboratories in cities with international airports of entry and the National Reference Laboratory. In addition, all Lassa Fever testing laboratories can be activated to scale up testing if the need arises.”
According to the NCDC DG, there are no Ebola vaccines in Nigeria at the moment.
“There are vaccines and therapeutics available for some strains of the Ebola virus. The approved vaccine for the Zaire species (EBV) is not currently available in the country but can be obtained from the WHO Afro and does not protect against the Sudan virus,” he said.
However, the NCDC boss said, “Early recognition, isolation of patients, and initiation of supportive treatment, implementing infection and control measures in health facilities and homes, tracing and monitoring of contacts, and safe burial practices, significantly reduce morbidity and the probability of death.”
Ebola disease is a severe, and often fatal disease caused by the Ebola virus. It is transmitted to humans via contact with wild animals and spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact with bodily fluids of infected individuals or contaminated surfaces.
Symptoms may include fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea, internal and external bleeding. It may appear 2 to 21 days after infection. Medical expertise are advised by the NCDC, in regard to this disease.
Health
i3 Shifts 3rd Cohorts Focus to Growth-Stage Healthtechs After Trump’s Orders

By Adedapo Adesanya
Investing in Innovation Africa (i3), a pan-African initiative to support African health-tech startups to commercialise and scale their offerings has decided to make a pivotal change to its third cohort selection to prioritise the immediate support for 5-7 growth-stage companies building the future of pharmacy care in Africa.
This comes after the US State Department’s “stop-work” directive for foreign aid issued on January 25, which is anticipated to impact the distribution of essential medicine in Africa’s healthcare supply chains.
President Donald Trump issued the executive order freezing US foreign development assistance for 90 days upon assuming office.
One of the affected by the order is the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which offers humanitarian and development assistance to other countries, primarily by giving fundings to non-governmental organisations, governments, and others. USAID is crucial in combating HIV/AIDS and other health matters.
According to a statement shared with Business Post on Monday, i3 says the order highlights and intensifies the need for locally-driven, market-creating approaches to health product distribution and service delivery across Africa.
So now the programme funded by the Gates Foundation, MSD, Cencora, Endless Foundation, HELP Logistics (a subsidiary of the Kühne Foundation), Sanofi’s Global Health Unit and Chemonics, will concentrate its immediate efforts on helping innovative growth-stage startups unlock major partnerships to rapidly expand access to patient care.
Fifteen leading startups will be selected for this cohort including 10 early-stage startups innovating in healthcare delivery or product distribution and five growth-stage startups building the future of pharmacy care.
Early-stage startups will receive a $50,000 grant and growth-stage startups will receive a $225,000 grant to unlock major partnerships that can expand patient access across the continent.
For startups in the cohort, i3 aims to facilitate at least 150 relationships with key healthcare organizations, worth at least $30M, which will expand patient access while creating valuable local jobs.
Entries for the 3rd cohort are open until February 28 after which the selected startups will be announced on April 30.
Launched in 2022, i3 has empowered 60 African health innovators across 16 countries, exceeding expectations with 43 per cent women-led and 20 per cent Francophone-led ventures.
Health
Augusta Ikpea-Enaholo Heads Edo State Health Insurance Commission

By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Edo State Health Insurance Commission (EDHIC) has a new Director General and is a dynamic and results-driven leader, Ms Augusta Ikpea-Enaholo,
With a vision for transformative healthcare and a deep sense of duty to Edo residents, Ms Ikpea-Enaholo is expected to lead the organisation into a new era of innovation and impact.
Her leadership is anticipated to not only strengthen the commission’s role in the state but also serve as a model for healthcare reform across Nigeria.
Before joining EDHIC, the new DG has built an outstanding career in maritime law, corporate governance, and legal advisory.
She has held key positions including Principal Legal Officer at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Executive Director at Lee Engineering and Construction, and CEO of Royal Oaks Events Limited. She also served as Lead Managing Partner at August Jury and a Board Member at Davex Limited.
With an academic foundation in law, she holds an LLB from the University of Kent, an LLM from the University of Bristol, and a Doctorate in Maritime Law from the International Maritime Law Institute in Malta.
Ms Ikpea-Enaholo is a distinguished expert in corporate governance, contract negotiation, dispute resolution, and organizational leadership.
She is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, International Bar Association, and Nigerian Maritime Lawyers Association, and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, London.
Her transition to healthcare administration reflects her deep commitment to public service and health equity.
As the DG of EDHIC, she will prioritize transparency, innovation, as well as foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement to position Edo State as a leader in sustainable healthcare delivery.
She brings a wealth of experience spanning law, public administration, healthcare reform, and corporate governance. Her leadership will be instrumental in driving EDHIC’s mission to make quality healthcare accessible and affordable for all, especially vulnerable populations.
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