EU advances Global Health Resilience Initiative with new Global Gateway investments in Africa and Latin America

In the context of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week, the European Commission has announced three new Global Gateway investments that put the EU Global Health Resilience Initiative into action in partner countries. The package includes an EU guarantee of €63.5 million designed to mobilise private investment in health and nutrition businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa; an EU-backed European Investment Bank (EIB) loan of €15 million to expand vaccine and biological medicines production in Colombia; and €60 million in EU funding to strengthen primary health care in Ethiopia.

Mobilising private investment in health and nutrition in Africa

The Commission and Cardano Development have signed an agreement to launch the First Mover Health Investors Fund supported by an EU guarantee of €63.5 million. The guarantee is expected to mobilise approximately €150 million in investment for growth-stage health and nutrition companies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Fund will invest in areas including nutrition, local manufacturing of medicines, medical devices and consumables, quality health care delivery and health innovation. It will focus on businesses operating in markets that conventional investors continue to perceive as too risky with the aim of demonstrating that they can be both bankable and scalable. Accompanying technical assistance will strengthen the investment readiness, quality standards and impact of the companies supported by the fund.

Cardano Development is a group of companies that incubates, invests in and scales pioneering financial institutions for frontier and emerging markets. The guarantee is provided through the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+). By absorbing part of the investment risk, it is designed to crowd in commercial and institutional capital and help build a stronger track record for investment in African health markets.

Expanding vaccine and biological medicines production in Colombia