The African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA), a pan-African network for social investors led by Kenyan executive Frank Aswani, has agreed to launch the African Healthcare Funders Forum in collaboration with Ashoka and the Social Innovation Circle, which is sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim.
The forum, the first-of-its-kind year-long gathering of leading African funders and social entrepreneurs, will focus on driving the transformation of the African healthcare sector and bridging the present healthcare funding gap.
The African Healthcare Funders Forum, which will launch in September 2022 with a three-month Impact Leadership Program spread across 12 touch points, will offer a year-round program of networking events and learning opportunities for impact leaders where funders across the capital spectrum will meet to network and learn about the latest innovations in impact investing and healthcare.
The forum will also focus on advancing innovative financing models and providing funders and social entrepreneurs with the tools and networks that they need to catalyze sustainable growth at the speed and scale that are required to ensure the greatest potential impact on the continent.
According to Frank Aswani, CEO of AVPA, connecting, collaborating, and scaling innovative healthcare solutions is critical to the growth of Africa’s health sector.
As a result, the forum will provide a collaborative space for funders and founders to meet, discuss, and learn from peers on how to best mobilize and deploy capital into African healthcare ventures and overcome funding challenges.
“Partnering for impact is a key component of our strategy,” Christian Bausch, project lead at Boehringer Ingelheim Social Engagement, said, “and it is even the theme of this year’s Making More Health (MMH) Convention on Oct. 4-5, 2022.”
“Both MMH and Boehringer Ingelheim Social Engagement, our impact investment vehicle, are founded on the idea that we can accomplish much more together,” he added. “As a result, we are delighted to sponsor this Forum, participate in it, and collaborate on the development of the SSA Impact Investing Ecosystem.”
AVPA, founded in late 2018, is a pan-African network of social investors committed to increasing the flow of capital mobilized and deployed for maximum social impact.
Under the leadership of Aswani, a leading executive with extensive experience in the public and private sectors, AVPA has brought together communities of response in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria to contribute to supporting efforts to combat the negative effects of COVID-19.
