USAID  SHOPS Trade Fair Promotes Access to Finance and Investment for Private Sector Healthcare Providers

Press Release

National Exhibition Brings Together Service Providers, Suppliers, Investors and Lenders

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia– USAID in cooperation with the Ethiopia Federal Ministry of Health convened a National Private Health Sector Exhibition from December 9-10, 2014, at the Hilton Addis Ababa. Organized by USAID’s Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS) project with funding from the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the event showcased the contribution of the private health sector and examined future prospects, with a focus on financing for products and services.

This event featured representatives from some of the leading health sector capital investment funds, Diaspora investors, and banks on financing for the private health sector. Topics covered directions in health care financing reform in Ethiopia, enabling conditions for increasing access to finance by private health providers, and innovations in financing.

USAID Acting Mission Director, Gary Linden, in his welcoming remarks noted: “USAID, on behalf of the American people, is proud to be able to join with the Federal Ministry of Health to bring together here those who are committed to building a strong and sustainable health system for Ethiopia, who believe that public-private partnerships are necessary in this time of stretched resources, and who welcome and seek innovative solutions”.

The two-day event provided a forum on access to finance; established linkages between private health providers, suppliers, and financers, and sustained a national-level dialogue among the private sector, policymakers, and donors on how private health care services can complement Ethiopia’s public health goals for family planning and reproductive health, maternal and child health, and HIV and AIDS and TB prevention and treatment. Participants had an opportunity to visit an array of exhibition booths from major medical equipment vendors, financial institutions, international investors, national and regional health care associations, pharmaceutical producers, health care entrepreneurs, and more.

Source: Embassy of the United States in Addis Ababa