What Matters this Week at Purpose Africa?

Welcome!

  • Date: May 16, 2024
  • Summary: Welcome to the fourth edition of Purpose Matters. Exciting developments have occurred over the past two weeks, including new partnerships, the presentation of the Ethiopian Investment Case, and the introduction of Health Coins for global health services and technologies.

Highlights

Ethiopian Investment Case:

Dr. Dereje Deguma

  • Presenter: HE Dr. Dereje Deguma, Deputy Minister of Health of Ethiopia
  • Event: Investment Case presentation at the validation workshop on May 15, 2024

 

 

New Documents

  • Ethiopia’s Investment Case:
    • The Investment Case for Ethiopia has been finalized, with a collaborative effort from all team members to support final edits.

Health Coins

  • Concept: Health Coins are blockchain-based tokens purchased by individual donors to fund health services and technologies. The system securely and accurately transmits a verification message back to the donor when their donation reaches its intended delivery endpoint. This innovation aims to disrupt global philanthropy by providing a more transparent and efficient method of global health financing.

Partnership Matters

Foundations:

  • EDCTP Council Representatives:
    • Representatives from Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Nigeria are preparing to present the case for Purpose Africa partnerships at the June 27th General Assembly meeting.
  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:
    • New collaboration initiated with the Rwanda Biomedical Center (details in the Rwanda Country Matters section).

Industry:

  • TriNetX Partnership:
    • Progressing towards piloting a customized solution for real-world data exchange in Ethiopia, with potential adoption by other country partners if successful.
  • Medtronics:
    • Productive discussions on country-level partnerships for medical equipment.
  • Algorand Foundation:
    • Productive discussions to pilot the Health Coins initiative.

Learning Together Initiative:

  • Internal Workshop Series:
    • Aim: To expose all staff to important topics and current affairs relevant to their home country or area of work.
    • Inaugural Workshop: Focused on the Nigerian administrative structure, health tier system, and the socio-economic implications of the recent Nigerian Presidential election, presented by Dami.
Validation workshop, Ethiopia - 15 May 2024
Validation workshop, Ethiopia – 15 May 2024

Country Updates

Ethiopia:

  • Investment Case:
    • Completed and endorsed by the Minister of Health.

Rwanda:

  • New Project:
    • Partnership with the Rwanda Biomedical Center to evaluate a pilot intervention for MNCH (Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health).
  • Consortium:
    • Held their first meeting to plan next steps.
    • A firm has been hired to support the Consortium in developing the Investment Case, including research center assessments.

Nigeria:

  • Investment Case:
    • Ongoing assessments and proposal writing.