Kenya is positioning health security and self-reliance as priorities in its upcoming engagements with global investors and policymakers, seeking to shift Africa’s health agenda from aid dependence towards investment and economic transformation.
Principal Secretary for Medical Services Dr. Ouma Oluga held a strategic planning meeting with the chairperson of Kenya Vision 2030, the chief executive of the Kenya BioVax Institute and Rinah Ondego from the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary to prepare for the engagements.
The discussions focused on positioning Kenya’s health security and sovereignty agenda on high-level capital, investment and diaspora platforms, with an emphasis on mobilising financing and skilled talent.
The government also aims to strengthen local manufacturing, advance health innovation and build strategic partnerships that can improve Kenya’s capacity to respond to health threats while supporting broader African self-reliance.
The engagements will feature a series of high-level roundtables under the theme, “Capital and Talent to Advance Africa’s Health Security and Sovereignty Agenda.”
The meetings are scheduled to take place in Nairobi, Washington, D.C., and New York from Sept. 7 to 23, alongside engagements around Africa Capital Markets Week and the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
Kenya’s push comes as African countries seek to reduce vulnerabilities exposed by disruptions to global supply chains, particularly for medicines, vaccines, medical technologies and other essential health products.
The initiative seeks to use international investment and diplomatic platforms to attract capital and expertise into Africa’s health sector, while strengthening domestic production and innovation.
For Kenya, the strategy places health security within a broader economic development agenda, linking investment in manufacturing and research with stronger health systems, job creation and reduced dependence on imported products.
The government also expects diaspora engagement to play a role in attracting expertise and investment into the health sector.
The planned roundtables will bring together policymakers, investors, development partners, industry stakeholders and members of the African diaspora to explore opportunities for financing health manufacturing, innovation and resilient healthcare systems.
Kenya’s approach reflects a growing emphasis across Africa on health sovereignty, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, when countries faced significant challenges accessing vaccines, medicines and other critical medical supplies.
By placing capital and talent at the centre of the agenda, Kenya aims to promote a model in which health security is treated not only as a public health priority but also as an investment and economic development opportunity.
The government said the engagements will seek to build partnerships capable of supporting sustainable health manufacturing, innovation and resilient health systems in Kenya and across the continent.
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