Building the Economic Case for Domestic Investment in Health R&D in Africa

World Health Assembly – Official Side Event 

19 May 2026, 18h00-19h30 | WHO HQ, Geneva and online

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Africa carries 25% of the world’s disease burden but captures just a fraction of the science, jobs and economic value of the R&D designed to fight that burden. As aid declines and other countries invest more of their GDP in health R&D, the continent risks remaining a consumer in a trillion-dollar global industry: exporting talent while importing the technologies it depends on.

Join Africa CDC and the AU-EU Health Partnership for the launch of a landmark macroeconomic analysis showing how that trajectory can change. The findings are striking: investing in health R&D could generate $668 billion in GDP, create millions of jobs, crowd in private capital, and deliver a 137x return within a single generation. This is not just a health agenda; it’s a blueprint for building Africa’s next economic engine.

INTEREST FORM

While in-person attendance is extremely limited, the event will also be livestreamed.

If you are interested in receiving further information about in-person attendance, how to connect via livestream, and/or the report and resources shared, please fill in this interest form.