Dangote Foundation, GBCHealth, join Forces to build Coalition on Health

Mon, Sep 18, 2017 | By publisher


Health

THE Dangote Foundation and GBCHealth have joined forces to forge a new
model of partnership, African Business Coalition on Health, GBCHealth,
in Africa.
Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Foundation, shared plans to build
an African Business Coalition on Health, ABCHealth, during the
Bloomberg Global Business Forum, he was co-hosting, and which took
place alongside the United Nations General Assembly this week in New
York.
According to him, the African-led coalition of companies and
philanthropists, will seek to improve the health and wellbeing of
Africans, both within the workplace and within the broader
communities. He stated that the partnership will develop and deploy
impactful health programs across Africa, deepening knowledge, building
evidence for future investment and strengthening coordination among
African philanthropists, business leaders, companies and local
business networks
The coalition is building on the leadership, reputation and convening
power of the Aliko Dangote Foundation and the experience, reputation
and global reach of GBCHealth. Critical issues that will be the focus
of the partnership  ranges from nutrition to malaria, with priorities
identified and agreed by local leadership.
Through his Foundation, Dangote has made an unprecedented grant and
seed contribution to GBCHealth of US$ 1.5 million over three years as
a call to action and a signal to the African business community of the
importance of working together and investing in health.
“The time is ripe for the private sector to proactively demonstrate
its value in partnering to lead a new era in development,” said
Dangote. “The coalition can provide much needed guidance to ensure
activities and investments are driving results in areas where the
private sector can have real impact, focusing on holistic and
integrated solutions that cross borders.  We look forward to working
with other business leaders as partners in development to drive this
impact.”
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, co-chair of GBCHealth’s board of directors,
said, “This coalition brings together two heavyweights in the health
and development arena. Together we have an opportunity to
demonstrate how investing in health and creating healthier
populations, can help business maximize shareholder value, accelerate
economic growth and make entry into new markets more feasible.”
“What is needed now is an approach that combines the value of local
insights and trusted networks with the leverage of a global platform
and expertise to support the more coordinated and impactful
involvement of the African private sector across the continent and
within the global development community,’ commented
Aig-Imoukhuede.
The coalition will have five primary objectives over its first three years:
Incubate partnerships on priority health programmes to enhance and
accelerate results; work directly with companies to optimise workplace
and community health programmes; advocate for policies and initiatives
that drive system-level changes; create a hub of data and insights
specific to Africa and African business; and curate leadership events
to convene and drive action around common health issues, across
sectors
The programme will kick off in Nigeria and roll out through business
regions in Africa and beyond over the next three years.
The continent currently has 400 companies with revenue of more than $1
billion per year, and these companies are growing faster, and are more
profitable in general, than their global peers. Coupled with these
fast-moving regional leaders, small and growing businesses create 80 percent
of the continent’s employment and are stoking the engines of growth.
Against this backdrop, according to Dangote, there’s a new cadre of
responsible business leaders and philanthropists who understand the
value and promise of sustainable large-scale investments in African
countries, and are poised to make an even bigger impact on the
continent’s people and economies.
Investments in better training, healthcare and supply chain
accountability have demonstrated direct financial return through gains
in productivity and efficiency, while support for social programmes has
accelerated economic growth and raised incomes which in turn unlocks a
wider consumer base and makes entry into new markets more feasible.
In her comments, Zouera Youssoufou, chief executive officer, CEO, of the Dangote Foundation, said “GBCHealth has a strong track record of bringing diverse groups
together to improve the health wellbeing of communities. We look
forward to collaborating to build an African business community united
as a force for healthier and more inclusive development.”
“The coalition builds on the local-to-global business approach we have
developed in Nigeria through our work with the Corporate Alliance on
Malaria in Africa (CAMA). The Aliko Dangote Foundation has
demonstrated expertise in implementing result-oriented health programs
in Nigeria and across Africa. We look forward to our collaboration to
bring insights from this work to a global audience,” said Nancy
Wildfeir-Field, president of GBCHealth.
Immediate plans include hiring an African based chief executive officer, CEO, for ABCHealth, and building a support base for the coalition working towards a launch in
early 2018. The foundation is generously providing office space and support for
coalition staff over the first three years of development.
“It’s an ambitious and bold project,” said Dangote, “but the only way
to move Africa forward is to take bold moves, to think big, dream big
and do big things together – breaking down silos, working across
borders and working across sectors. – with government and with each
other.
 – Sept 18, 2017 @ 7:40 GMT |
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