Can Africa turn trained health professionals into a functioning workforce?
The Africa Health Workforce Agenda 2026–2035 shifts the emphasis from education alone to coordinated planning, job creation, financing and retention.[1] A complementary financing strategy seeks to mobilize more domestic funding, pool resources and improve how health services are purchased as government budgets face debt pressure and declining external assistance.[2]
Why it matters
Africa had an estimated 5.72 million health workers in 2024 but only about 46% of the workforce it needs, even as roughly one million trained health professionals remained unemployed.[1] Meanwhile, out-of-pocket health costs push around 385 million people into or deeper into poverty each year, showing that staffing and financing failures directly constrain access to care.[2]
Key insights
- Without decisive action, Africa could face a shortage of more than 6 million health workers by 2035.[1]
- In several countries, more than half of newly qualified nurses, doctors and midwives cannot find employment soon after graduation, exposing a mismatch between training and funded positions.[1]
- Households directly fund an average of 35% of current health expenditure in the region, compared with the WHO benchmark of 20%.[2]
- Closing the workforce gap is estimated to require another US$ 4 to US$ 6 per person annually.[1]