By Correspondent Peter Haule, Nairobi
Tanzania has joined a high-level African finance ministers’ dialogue in Nairobi focused on unlocking greater investment in healthcare and strengthening financing partnerships with the United States.
Deputy Minister for Finance Laurent Luswetula is representing Finance Minister Khamis Mussa Omar at the forum, which brings together finance ministers from African countries that have signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with the United States on health financing.
Held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Nairobi, the meeting is examining how African governments can mobilise more resources for healthcare while aligning fiscal and health policies to support long-term investment in the sector.
For Tanzania, the discussions come as governments across Africa face growing pressure to expand healthcare infrastructure, specialist services and access to essential medicines while dealing with competing demands on public finances.
The forum is also providing a platform for participating countries to share experiences on health financing, strengthen international cooperation and explore approaches to making healthcare investment more sustainable.
After arriving in Nairobi, Mr. Luswetula held preliminary discussions with a US delegation led by Omar Kebbeh, Assistant Finance Coordinator at the US Embassy in Tanzania.
The delegation briefed him on development-sector financing and the broader financing framework underpinning the discussions. He was also briefed on the meeting’s agenda and his participation by Jabiri Seleman, a senior financial management officer in the Ministry of Finance’s External Finance Department.
The Nairobi meeting is expected to contribute to efforts to deepen cooperation between African governments and the US while identifying additional financing and investment opportunities for the continent’s healthcare systems. For Tanzania and other participating countries, the discussions could help strengthen the link between public finance policy and investment in healthcare-an increasingly important component of economic development and human capital formation.
