GE in $14.7M Vows to Build EA Healthcare Skills
Ahead of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi, announced a series of new commitments aimed at addressing some of the most critical health challenges in East Africa through a sustained focus on skills development and capacity building.
Among the investments, GE announced is the establishment of the GE Healthcare Skills and Training Institute in Kenya, GE's first-ever dedicated healthcare skills advancement center in Africa and A $1.7M GE Foundation grant for Biomedical Equipment Training and Safe Surgery programs in Ethiopia.
As outlined in the GE Africa Future of Work White Paper, entitled, Building Strong Workforces to Power Africa's Growth, Sub-Saharan Africa will need to create an average of 15-20 million new jobs per year over the next three decades to meet the current growth, presenting a considerable challenge to the labor market given the low rates of formal employment.
Moreover, the global health sector, especially in developing markets, is facing critical workforce shortages, with Africa ranking the lowest in the availability of health personnel.
With 12% of the world's population and 25% of the world's burden of diseases, Sub-Saharan Africa has only 3% of the world's health workforce.
According to the White Paper, the African urbanization story underscores the need for Governments and their partners to invest aggressively in enhancing skills.(5)
Farid Fezoua, President & CEO of GE Healthcare Africa said, "Investing in the training and education of healthcare professionals to strengthen capability building is one of the greatest enablers for sustainable healthcare development.
GE Healthcare's education strategy integrates technology and localization in the design and deployment of tailored education solutions including the establishment of new healthcare training centers, locally configured curricula and a range of education partnerships with leading regional academic institutions and global partners.
As a major force for change, we aim to increase access to localized education, training and skills development programs for more healthcare workers across Africa."
Source: East African Business Week (link opens in a new window)
Entrepreneurship, Health Care
global health, health care, impact investing
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