Health and finance ministers from across Western and Central Africa have endorsed a joint action framework for improving healthcare access and financing across the subregion, following a high-level meeting in Accra that saw the World Bank Group (WBG) formally launch its new regional health strategy.
The one-day meeting, held on May 4, 2026, brought together approximately a dozen ministers alongside representatives from the private sector, civil society, regional institutions, and youth leaders to advance the health, nutrition, and population agenda for the region.
At the heart of the event was the unveiling of “Fit to Prosper: Investing in Health for Jobs and Development in Western and Central Africa,” a country-driven roadmap built on three strategic priorities: Frontlines First, which targets stronger primary healthcare delivery; Fixing Finance, which focuses on securing sustainable investment; and Future Fit, aimed at building long-term health system resilience.
Ghana’s Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, reaffirmed the country’s commitment to implementing the strategy, framing health investment in explicitly economic terms. “By investing in health, we are investing in jobs, in stability, and in the future of Western and Central Africa. Ghana stands ready and committed to the successful implementation of this Regional Strategy,” he said.
The strategy is aligned with the WBG’s regional ambition to support countries in reaching 200 million people with quality, affordable health services by 2030, contributing to a global goal of 1.5 billion people. It also advances the Africa Initiative for Medical Access and Manufacturing (AIM2030), which promotes private sector participation and local production of essential health commodities.
World Bank Group Vice President for the People Vice Presidency Mamta Murthi noted that between now and 2050, approximately 200 million children are expected to be born in the region, representing almost one in every five young people on the planet, making robust health system investment an economic as well as a developmental imperative.
A key policy instrument endorsed at the meeting is the National Health Compact model, described as a high-level agreement through which individual countries outline national commitments to expand affordable, quality healthcare. The compacts are designed to align Ministries of Health and Finance, development partners, and all domestic resources around a single country-led plan, one budget, and one reporting system.
In a joint statement endorsed by ministers and heads of delegation, participants stressed that investing in health today is the foundation for the next generation being fit not only to survive but to prosper. They called on governments to optimise existing resources while mobilising additional domestic financing to sustain long-term development gains.
The strategy aligns with Ghana’s own health agenda, including the government’s Free Primary Health Care programme and the GH¢11 billion allocation to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in the 2026 budget, which Chief of Staff Debrah cited as evidence of the government’s commitment to sustainable health financing.
The meeting was attended by development partners including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
