About the Summit
CCA's biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit is a three-day event that provides comprehensive information on the latest trade and investment opportunities across Africa's most promising sectors, including health, power, energy, infrastructure, security, agribusiness, and consumer goods and services.
At the Summit, participants have the opportunity to network with as many as 2,000 key African and U.S. private sector and government representatives; choose from more than 30 industry-specific sessions; explore new business opportunities by identifying specific growth areas and projects; discover the latest financing options; meet potential business partners; speak with exhibitors representing companies on the cutting-edge of investment in Africa; and perhaps forge a promising business deal, as past participants have done.
As part of the Summit, the CCA Health Initiative develops a health track comprising several dynamic workshops that address the latest opportunities for the private sector in health in Africa. Learn more about health at our 2011 Summit and past Summits below. Click here to be redirected to the general 2011 Summit website.
CCA Summit 2011: Health Track
From October 5-October 7, 2011, CCA hosted its 8th Biennial 2011 US-Africa Business Summit at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. During the health track of the Summit, health industry leaders, policymakers, subject matter experts, financing professionals and others gathered together to explore opportunities for the private sector to do business in health in Africa. Dialogue among the panelists focused on the role of mutually beneficial strategic partnerships to ensure project success and the need to expand Africa's health workforce at various skill levels, while providing appropriate incentives to ensure worker retention. The panel discussions also emphasized that technology alone does not provide impact and generate opportunity, but rather the overall solution and structure of business models do.
For a detailed recap with speaker details and photos, click here. The CCA Health Initiative would like to thank this year's sponsors: Danya International, RTI International, Advanced African Solutions and Development Finance International for making this year's health track possible.
Thursday, October 6, 2011: 11:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Workshop 1: eHealth: Connecting Policy, Information and People
*Sponsored by Danya International and RTI International
In “eHealth: Connecting Policy, Information and People,” moderated by Assistant Secretary of Commerce Suresh Kumar, panelists underscored the strategic partnerships and long-term vision necessary for creating effective electronic health information systems that support national and regional decision-makers. Expert speakers placed emphasis on the need to evolve beyond “front-end,” small-scale pilot programs that collect healthcare data toward a larger, systemic, integrated health informatics network that can be meaningfully utilized by governments. As a result, a more robust market for private companies providing health information solutions will emerge. inform policy and drive decision-making.
Thursday, October 6, 2011: 5:00 p.m.–6:15 p.m.
Workshop 2: Enhancing Healthcare Operations: Innovations for the Last Mile
*Sponsored by Advanced African Solutions
In “Enhancing Healthcare Operations: Innovations for the Last Mile,” GE healthymagination's Janeen Uzzell facilitated a discussion on medical technology innovations for enhancing and expanding healthcare services in rural settings. The panelists began the conversation by offering illustrative numbers that captured the unmet healthcare needs of rural Africa. Med-1 Partners' Chris Helm, the session's sponsor, emphasized the potential of mobile facilities in extending healthcare services to underserved areas that lack permanent healthcare infrastructure. Dr. Jeffrey Blander discussed the work of the Bienmoyo Foundation in working with local partners, such as private provider associations, to ensure that medical innovations are utilized through commercially viable, sustainable and locally appropriate business models. Panelists emphasized that devices and technologies cannot be used in a vacuum: local training, local demand and strategic partnerships that ensure the appropriate utilization of products, such as GE's V-Scan portable ultrasound, are of utmost importance to project success.
Friday, October 7, 2011: 10:30 a.m.–11:45 a.m.
Workshop 3: Noncommunicable Disease in Africa: Business's Response to a Growing Epidemic
*Supported by Development Finance International, Inc.
During “Non-communicable Disease (NCD) in Africa: Business's Response to a Growing Epidemic,” the only health workshop dedicated to a specific public health need, Dr. Jeffrey Sturchio, former CCA Board Chair and Senior Partner at Rabin Martin, facilitated a discussion on next steps for the global health community resulting from the recent United Nations High-Level Meeting (HLM) on NCDs held in New York in September. The panelists, representing civil society, health policy leadership and private industry, addressed the question of “now what?” with regards to how the various recommendations of the HLM can be rolled out in Africa. Of particular emphasis was integrating chronic disease prevention and care interventions into existing global health programs, and how the technologies and capital of the healthcare industry can be best utilized to support this effort. Recognizing that quality treatment for chronic disease is often costly even in developed-country settings, and that certain diseases demand a high level of medical specialization that is rare in Africa, the panelists affirmed that new training programs, behavior change communication, insurance and risk pooling, and the prioritization of chronic diseases by policymakers are needed to mount a robust response.
Friday, October 7, 2011: 5:00 p.m.–6:15 p.m.
Workshop 4: Financing Mechanisms for Expanding Healthcare Services
In “Financing Mechanisms for Expanding Healthcare Services,” moderated by Results for Development Managing Director Marty Makinen, panelists representing a variety of perspectives on health financing discussed the challenges and current projects to expand lending, equity and other forms of capital to the private healthcare sector operating in Africa. Panelists addressed a range of financing needs, including those of medical technology and equipment exporters looking to expand sales to private providers looking to offer specialized services to patients. The International Finance Corporation and consulting firm Banyan Global emphasized some concerns of international and local investors and banks about the healthcare sector, such as uncertain rates of return, the relatively small size of health sector deals, and others. The panelists concluded the session by noting existing success stories for how financing institutions have been able to help hospital owners, healthcare providers and other health sector entrepreneurs obtain capital and expand their services.
CCA Summit 2009
From September 29-October 1, 2009, CCA hosted its 7th Biennial 2009 US-Africa Business Summit at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The summit was attended by nearly 1500 public and private sector representatives and leaders from the U.S. and Africa. For more information and media coverage of the summit, please see africacncl.org.
CCA's HIV/AIDS & Health Initiative presented an eleven workshop, one plenary session health track during the summit, with topics ranging from management training for health, digital solutions for health systems, ensuring the delivery of quality pharmaceuticals through efficient supply chain management, and many others. To view the complete summit agenda, including the health-related sessions, click here.
The HIV/AIDS & Health Initiative would like to thank its sponsors for their generous support of the summit: Abbott Fund, The Academy for Educational Development, The American Cancer Society, The Ford Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer Inc., The Rockefeller Foundation, SABMiller plc, and USAID's Extending Service Delivery Project.
CCA Summit 2007
Plenary
Workshop Sessions
- The Role of Public-Private Partnerships in Mitigating the Impact of Disease on Business and Communities
- Mobilizing for Health in Africa: Best Practices in Leveraging Private Sector Expertise
- Ethical Business Practices in the Health Sector and Beyond: Implications for African Business and Society
All sponsored by Merck & Co., Inc. - Broadening the Business Coalition against HIV/AIDS
Sponsored by the CCA HIV/AIDS Initiative
CCA Summit 2005
- Partnerships in Health: The African Experience, sponsored by Merck & Co., Inc.
- Toward an African Specific Healthcare Model: An Alternative Paradigm, sponsored by Pfizer Inc.
- Applied Technologies and African Healthcare: New and Expanding Markets, sponsored by Jean-Raymond Boulle Corporations
- Building a Better Brand: Motivating Corporate Philanthropy and Investments in Corporate Social Responsibility Programs, sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company
- All Panel Presentations
