Eleven of Africa’s leading health economics researchers, including three from the University of Ghana, launched the continent’s first bilingual open-access peer-reviewed journal dedicated to health financing and policy on May 4, 2026, as development assistance for health across Africa fell from $80 billion in 2021 to under $40 billion by 2025.
The African Journal of Health Economics, Systems and Policy (AJHESP) publishes research in both English and French, charges no article processing fees to most researchers at African institutions, and accepts abstracts in African languages. Its founding editorial board spans 10 countries across the continent and the diaspora, with a combined output of more than 750 peer-reviewed publications.
The journal’s arrival is directly shaped by the contraction in global health aid. African governments now face mounting pressure to finance their own health systems at the precise moment donor funding is withdrawing, creating an urgent need for domestically grounded, policy-relevant evidence that existing journals — largely headquartered in Europe and North America and accessible only behind paywalls — have historically failed to deliver.
Prof. Justice Nonvignon, Co-Editor-in-Chief and Professor of Health Economics at the University of Ghana, said the journal exists to tell the story of African health financing with the context that gets lost when data are published elsewhere, and to shape evidence-informed policies suited to African realities.
AJHESP distinguishes itself through context-relevant peer review, requiring that all submissions be assessed for their direct relevance to African health systems by associate editors based in or deeply engaged with the relevant contexts. Alongside standard research articles, the journal publishes policy papers, commentaries, and perspectives specifically designed to close the distance between evidence and decision-making. A podcast will extend the conversation between researchers and policymakers beyond the page.
Three Ghanaian scholars sit on the founding board: Prof. Nonvignon, Prof. Ama Pokuaa Fenny, and Prof. Angela Esi Apeagyei of the University of Washington. Other board members represent Benin, Nigeria, Zambia, Togo, Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Uganda.
The journal is independent of any government or United Nations agency. Submissions are open at www.africanjhesp.org.
