Feb 24, 2025, Pretoria, South Africa – The government of Sweden and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) today announced a partnership to mobilize resources to power thousands of healthcare facilities across South Africa, Eswatini, Malawi, and Kenya. This partnership will create a replicable blended finance model that countries across Africa can use to electrify health clinics on a national scale.
The initiative tackles an urgent challenge: one in four primary health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa lacks electricity, while only half of hospitals have reliable power. The partnership will initially focus on four countries, implementing an innovative financing model that combines public and private funding to ensure long-term sustainability.
“I’ve seen dedicated doctors and medical professionals working in darkness one too many times,” said President Bill Clinton at the launch at the Swedish Embassy in Pretoria. “Today, we’re helping to change that story. This partnership will bring sustainable solar power to thousands of healthcare facilities, ensuring that from delivery rooms to emergency wards, the power to save lives stays on.”
Håkan Juholt, Ambassador of Sweden to South Africa said “Clean, reliable electricity is a cornerstone of effective health service delivery. From powering vaccines cold chains and essential medical equipment to providing lighting for safe deliveries of newborns, energy access directly supports sexual and reproductive health and rights services. This partnership is a testament of Sweden’s commitment to advancing health equity through sustainable energy solutions, using innovative financing approaches and partnerships with private sector.”
The financing model aims to address the primary reason previous solar electrification efforts have failed: insufficient funding for system maintenance. CHAI will provide technical assistance to help governments secure and blend private and public financing, ensuring sustainable operations. CHAI will work with governments to mobilize new funding over the next several years. The funding will be used to electrify health facilities across the region.
CHAI CEO Dr. Neil Buddy Shah emphasized the initiative’s comprehensive approach: “Reliable electricity is essential for any functioning health system. One of the biggest challenges we’ve seen is solar infrastructure falling into disrepair because maintenance costs weren’t properly funded. This new financing model changes that—it’s designed to ensure sustainable operations over the long term, so doctors and nurses can focus on saving lives rather than worrying about power outages.”
Sweden and CHAI have worked together for over a decade in seven countries across Africa to strengthen health systems in support of sexual and reproductive health and rights. The new solar program is part of this broader partnership and will leverage the existing network of health financing advisors that CHAI has working across those countries.
“Our health financing advisors have been working alongside governments for years,” said Raphael Hurley, Senior Director of Health Financing at CHAI. “This means we understand each health system’s unique needs and can structure solar investments that align with national plans.”
About the Swedish Embassy in Pretoria
The Embassy of Sweden in South Africa represents the Swedish government in the Republic of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Lesotho. The Embassy is also responsible for the cooperation with the regional organization SADC (Southern Africa Development Community) with its head office in Gaborone, Botswana. The Embassy is responsible for Sweden’s foreign and trade policy promotion and diplomatic, cultural, commercial and trade exchanges between Sweden and South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Lesotho. To implement the Strategy for Sexual and Reproductive Health in Africa 2022-2026 the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) has a team based at the Embassy in Pretoria.
About the Clinton Health Access Initiative
The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a nonprofit global health organization committed to saving lives and improving health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries by enabling the government and private sector to strengthen and sustain quality health systems. Through our collaboration with Sida, we work with governments in Africa to strengthen health systems in support of sexual and reproductive health rights. https://www.clintonhealthaccess.org/
For media inquiries, please contact:
Corina Milic, Communications Director, CHAI, press@clintonhealthaccess.org
