Africa CDC Projects $28bn to Double Community Health Workforce by 2030

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has projected that Africa needs about $28bn to double its community health workforce to two million by 2030.

The funding estimate appears in the agency’s Continental Community Health Programme Acceleration Plan 2026–2030.

The plan puts the number of community health workers deployed across Africa at 1,059,085 as of May 2026, against the continental target of two million by 2030.

It estimates that the ambitious investment scenario would require cumulative funding of about $28bn by the end of the decade.

This translates to approximately $4.3bn annually through a phased financing approach.

The Africa CDC identified domestic resource mobilisation, formal integration of community health workers into national health systems and better coordination of development partners’ funding as key priorities.

The agency also called on African governments to strengthen payroll systems and develop national implementation plans to accelerate the expansion.

These recommendations featured prominently at a high-level ministerial meeting on community health in Abuja on Thursday.

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, urged African governments to increase domestic financing and reform payroll systems.

He said countries must develop or update their national community health plans within the next 12 to 18 months.

Salako said the plans should contain clear financing commitments and practical measures to improve payroll management and policy implementation.

He urged delegates to move beyond technical discussions and agree on actions that would strengthen healthcare delivery across the continent.

The minister also called for a common position among African Union member states, the African Union Commission, the Africa CDC and development partners.

He said the meeting should endorse country roadmaps and continental priorities as a basis for coordinated action.

Salako further urged participants to finalise the Abuja Communiqué for adoption at the political session scheduled for Friday, October 30.

Earlier, the Acting Deputy Director-General of the Africa CDC, Dr Raji Tajudeen, also called on member states to improve domestic financing and payroll systems.

Tajudeen, who represented the agency’s Director-General, Dr Jean Kaseya, said the meeting should translate technical agreements into political commitments.

He stressed that African countries must take practical steps to improve community-based healthcare delivery.

The ministerial gathering is also expected to disseminate two continental instruments: the Continental Community Health Programme Scorecard and a standardised continental polyvalent community health worker curriculum.

The scorecard will support monitoring and accountability, while the curriculum will help harmonise training standards across African countries.

Salako described the launch of the continental implementation plan by Nigeria’s Vice-President as a major step towards strengthening community health systems.

He also thanked delegates and development partners for their cooperation after organisers adjusted the programme to accommodate the launch.

The forum brought together government representatives, health officials, continental institutions and development partners to advance a coordinated strategy for expanding Africa’s community health workforce.