Africa’s Young Health Innovators Need More Than a Stage 

Category

Health Innovation Festival

Country

Ghana

Pillar

Health Entrepreneurship

Tag

Health Entrepreneurship

HIFest is Building the Ecosystem to Help Them Grow

Across Africa, young innovators are developing practical solutions to some of the continent’s most pressing healthcare challenges. They are building digital tools, designing affordable medical devices, strengthening community health programmes, and developing practical solutions to improve health systems. In Zambia, Safe Motherhood Alliance is improving safer childbirth through affordable 3D-printed umbilical cord clamps and locally produced sanitary products for mothers — a powerful example of locally driven innovation creating real community impact.

But young innovators need more than visibility — they need ecosystems that help them scale. Many promising solutions struggle to move beyond the pilot stage because innovators often lack access to funding, mentorship, research support, institutional partnerships, and regional markets. Through a growing network of universities and ecosystem partners, the Africa Health Collaborative (AHC) is advancing a multi-institutional, multi-market model that connects entrepreneurs to mentorship, investment, insights, and regional market opportunities.

The Health Innovation Festival (HIFest), the AHC’s flagship innovation platform, is where these ideas grow into real opportunities. Formerly known as AfyaFest, the festival brings together young entrepreneurs, health professionals, investors, universities, and cross-sector partners from across Africa. HIFest aligns with the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy, which connects health innovation to jobs and economic opportunity. The festival supports young people to become healthcare leaders, entrepreneurs, and job creators while strengthening health systems across the continent.

One example of this momentum is Nomahlubi Nompunga from South Africa. After winning the Climate and Health category at AfyaFest 2025, she used the connections and partnerships built during the festival to expand Foi Science into Tanzania and Ghana. Her journey shows what happens when young innovators are given access to the right platform, networks, and support.

Read about other award-winning innovations led by young people at AfyaFest 2025 

Why HIFest matters

Africa has the world’s youngest population and rapidly evolving health challenges that require new ideas, partnerships, and leadership. From gaps in primary care to weak supply chains and rising chronic diseases, health systems need new ideas and new leadership.

HIFest creates a space where innovators, universities, investors, healthcare professionals, and ecosystem partners can connect, collaborate, and turn promising ideas into practical solutions. It is designed to help young entrepreneurs move beyond innovation in isolation — building the partnerships, mentorship networks, and ecosystem support needed to strengthen healthcare across the continent.

HIFest 2026 will take place in Accra from 4th to 6th June 2026. Co-hosted by Ashesi University and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the festival will bring together over 100 participants from across Africa and Canada.

What participants gain

• Practical and direct guidance from mentors, investors, and health experts
• Access to different markets and a continent-wide network of collaborators and partners
• Training rooted in real health systems challenges and opportunities
• Opportunities created through AHC’s network of leading African universities, ecosystem partners, and the Mastercard Foundation.

A proven track record

HIFest is building on a growing track record of connecting young innovators with mentorship, visibility, partnerships, and investment opportunities across Africa’s health ecosystem.

At AfyaFest 2025 in Nairobi, the festival brought together more than 300 participants from 15 African countries and supported 54 African-led startups and innovation teams working across maternal and child health, mental health, climate and health, non-communicable diseases, and global health security.

Participating innovators engaged in investor pitching sessions, mentorship clinics, workshops, and cross-sector networking designed to help promising ideas move closer to real-world implementation and scale. Winning ventures received seed funding and ecosystem support to further strengthen and expand their solutions.

Building on this momentum, HIFest 2026 aims to deepen collaboration between innovators, universities, investors, health systems actors, and ecosystem partners working to shape the future of healthcare in Africa.

An invitation to partners and sponsors 

For sponsors, funders, and development organizations, HIFest is a chance to invest directly in Africa’s next generation of health leaders and innovators.

Whether you are focused on health equity, entrepreneurship, youth employment, or systems strengthening, the festival offers a credible platform to connect with bold ideas and the people building them.

The Africa Health Collaborative welcomes partners, funders, and ecosystem actors to participate in HIFest 2026 and support the growth of this program.

Join us virtually through YouTube and LinkedIn as we shape the future of African health innovation together.