The Home Grown Solutions (HGS) Accelerator for Pandemic Resilience is an initiative that aims to accelerate the growth of African healthcare companies to strengthen the continent’s pandemic resilience, in line with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 aspirations.This is achieved through offering hands-on and tailored support to growth- and mature stage healthcare businesses.
The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) founded the Accelerator initiative in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the official development assistance agency of the Government of Japan.
Earlier this year, the initiative was successfully expanded across Africa, where it assisted its second cohort of 14 Home Grown Solutions which consisted of African Health Holdings (now known as CarePoint), Appy Saúde, DataPathology, Dawa Life Sciences, Doctoora, Doctor on Call, MdaaS Global, Online Clinic Yathu (OCLIYA),Polyclinique Pasteur, Rology, Simbona, Sinapi, Streamline and WiiQare, supported by a supporting network that includes the likes of World Food Programme, Africa CDC, GIZ, Rwandan Development Board, CSIR, AAIC, Ecobank Foundation, Aga Khan Foundation, World Health Organization, UNIDO, Afreximbank and others.
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Call for Applications
This update marks the opening of the Pan-African call for 2023 applications for its third cohort. If you represent an African health business with strong ambitions to expand your impact locally or across the continent, you should apply to receive support over the course of 2023 and, together, help strengthen Africa’s health systems.
The AUDA-NEPAD team will work shoulder-to-shoulder with your team to design and deliver a customized, five-month acceleration roadmap in 2023, to support your company’s specific growth needs across three key areas:
Benefits
> As part of the third cohort, you will receive this unique offering for your business while shaping this Acceleration programme for fellow African businesses in the future.
> As a future alumnus of the Accelerator, you will continue to have access to unique and growing network of peers, advisors, mentors, and potential partners.
Eligibility Criteria
There are 3 application criteria you will have to meet to be considered for the third cohort:
A. You are a growth or mature stage company, meaning you must
> Be registered as a for-profit entity
> Demonstrate clear market traction and sizable customer base
> Express ambition and potential to scale beyond your current size
> You strengthen Africa’s health system, for example
B. You manufacture medical consumables or devices on the continent
> You provide healthcare services to patients, be it diagnostic, treatment or otherwise
> You provide technology solutions to strengthen health access or delivery
C. You can be described as a Home Grown Solution, meaning you must:
> Operate mainly or solely in Africa (preference for companies operating across countries)
> Employ mostly local staff in the markets in which you are active
> Have strong African representation in your leadership
Timeline of Events
After the submission deadline, shortlisted companies will be asked to provide references of investors and customers and additional high-level information on their finances during February 2023. Final decision making will happen in March 2023, with Acceleration support definition and delivery to occur between April and September 2023.
