Africa faces serious health challenges, from infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria to rising non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cancer amid weak health systems, limited infrastructure, and workforce shortages. In this context, innovation is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. The 2024 HealthTech Hub Africa (HTHA) Innovation Challenge has emerged as a powerful testament to the transformative potential of healthtech in addressing Africa’s most pressing health challenges.
Supported by catalytic funding from the Novartis Foundation and the Global Fund, the Challenge awarded $400,000 to seven startups across Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Ghana. These companies recognized not just for their technology, but for advancing three key public health priorities: improving access to care, enhancing service quality, and promoting client-centeredness.
Real Results and Key Lessons
Collectively, the seven companies reached 905,172 patients, engaged 2,865 healthcare providers, and integrated their solutions into 1,811 public health facilities. They also established 56 new partnerships and raised $1,947,042 in additional funding, demonstrating strong investor confidence and market validation.
Beyond the numbers lies a deeper narrative: one of resilience, adaptation, and systems-level learning. These companies didn’t just deploy technology; they integrated their solutions into the existing public health systems, navigating complex regulatory environments, establishing public-private partnerships, and generating evidence to inform policy and drive impact.
Innovation Meets Bureaucracy: A Double-Edged Sword
Despite their successes, the companies faced persistent challenges: bureaucratic delays, regulatory ambiguity, infrastructure gaps, and unpredictable funding cycles. These barriers, while not new, continue to hinder healthtech innovation at scale. For instance, while most countries have supportive digital health policies on paper, implementation remains inconsistent. Licensing processes are often opaque and time-consuming. Data governance frameworks are fragmented, with unclear ownership and limited interoperability. Although governments are eager to engage, formal agreements and funding commitments are slow to materialize. These systemic inefficiencies highlight a critical insight: policy design is not the problem—implementation is.
Blueprints for Change: From Insight to Action
The report doesn’t just diagnose problems—it offers a roadmap for reform. Drawing from the lived experiences of the seven companies, it validates the core pillars of the HTHA Policy Blueprint, which calls for:
- Streamlined licensing frameworks with digitized platforms and regulatory sandboxes to simplify compliance and accelerate market entry.
- Robust data governance, including harmonized standards (e.g., HL7 FHIR, ICD, SNOMED) and data co-creation forums to improve access, interoperability, and security.
- Value-driven public-private partnerships anchored in transparency and shared accountability to align innovations with national health priorities.
- Dedicated HealthTech Liaison Offices within Ministries of Health to reduce inefficiencies and improve coordination.
These recommendations are grounded in the real-world experiences of companies like Helium Health, Emergency Response Africa, and eFiche, whose journeys illustrate both the promise and pitfalls of scaling healthtech in Africa.
The Power of Partnerships and Evidence
A key takeaway from the challenge is the critical role of evidence generation in driving scale and sustainability. Companies like Aurora Health Systems and HealthX Africa, which invested in data collection, monitoring, and evaluation, were better positioned to influence policy, attract investment, and secure government buy-in. Their data-driven approaches strengthened integration into public health systems and informed national health strategies. Strategic partnerships were equally key. Through collaboration with Ministries of Health, integration with national health systems, and co-design with end-users, these startups showed that innovation thrives in ecosystems not silos.
A Call to Action for Healthtech Innovators, Policymakers, and Funders
The experiences and achievements of the 2024 HTHA Innovation Challenge companies present a compelling call to action. Healthtech innovators must engage early with public stakeholders, align solutions with national strategies, and prioritize evidence generation to drive scalability, sustainability and policy influence. Policymakers must create enabling environments that match the pace of innovation by streamlining regulations and operationalizing infrastructure. While funders and investors should provide flexible, long-term funding to support startups transitioning beyond the pilot phase.
Africa’s healthtech transformation is actively unfolding, but unlocking its full potential requires a shift from pilots to scalable solutions and from policy design to effective implementation. Through the 2024 HTHA Innovation Challenge, the real-world experiences shared by these companies have laid a strong foundation, demonstrating the impact of evidence-based innovation and strategic partnerships. Now, governments, funders, innovators, and communities must collectively collaborate to streamline regulatory frameworks, secure sustainable investments, and build collaborative ecosystems to advance Africa’s public health systems toward equitable, resilient, and client-centered care.
