Today, CABRI, in collaboration with ODI Global, launched a Network of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health. Supported by The Global Fund, the primary objective of the network is to facilitate collaborative peer-learning between ministries of finance and ministries of health. Ultimately, the network seeks to strengthen coordination for health financing across Africa by promoting practical, demand-driven reforms.

Recent studies show that, although African countries pledge to allocate 15% of their budgets to health under the Abuja Declaration, none have reached this target by 2022. Most countries spent between 5% and 8%, which is far below the $90 per person required for basic universal coverage. This makes efficiency, not just more money, the critical frontier. Therefore, the network aims to address these gaps by combining the fiscal discipline of the Ministry of Finance with sectoral expertise from the Ministry of Health. 

Today’s session served as a forum for open ideas and was a working launch to introduce the purpose of the network and its structure. We heard country discussions from the National Treasury of South Africa, as well as the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Nigeria. 

Each country will now identify a point of contact from each ministry to form the official network. The hope is that the network will expand to 22 countries in Africa, driving discussions and agendas while identifying priority topics to address bottlenecks and ensure the fiscal sustainability of health systems.