Speak Up Africa’s 2025 Impact Report: A Year of Solutions and Action
Dakar, Senegal (14 April 2026) – Speak Up Africa’s 2025 Impact Report, Africa Solves highlights a year in which African leaders, communities, and institutions came together to design and implement locally driven solutions across health, gender equality, sanitation, and innovation. By strengthening political leadership, mobilizing sustainable financing, and amplifying community expertise, Speak Up Africa helped turn commitments into measurable action. This demonstrates how Africa is actively solving its own challenges amidst global uncertainty.
« 2025 exposed a hard truth African health leaders have long sounded the alarm on: global assistance is fragile—and when it collapses, the most vulnerable pay first and pay most, » said Yacine Djibo, Founder and Executive Director of Speak Up Africa.
Across the continent, leaders and institutions are shifting away from an overreliance on external frameworks. Instead, they focus on building resilient systems grounded in health sovereignty and accountability.
Speak Up Africa contributed to this transition by strengthening platforms that elevate African expertise in global health research and development. Initiatives such as the African Health Research and Development Alliance (AHRIDA) — which brings together continental and regional organizations under one umbrella — help drive coordinated action on health research and innovation. The development of the first women’s health R&D scorecard in Africa further supports these efforts by enhancing the inclusion of underrepresented women’s voices in health innovation.
Throughout the year, Speak Up Africa invested in strengthening the ecosystem that allows African expertise and leadership to influence policy, drive investments, and support evidence-based decision-making. Through the African Voices of Science initiative, a cohort of 20 African Health Research and Development champions was brought together. The goal was to elevate African scientific voices in policy conversations. The initiative creates platforms for scientists, researchers and policymakers to share their expertise, engage decision-makers, and ensure evidence generated on the continent informs health and development priorities.
This momentum extended to key convenings such as the Africa CEO Forum, where Speak Up Africa helped position malaria elimination as a strategic investment for the private sector. This led to the creation of the Voix EssentiELLES for Malaria Elimination Fund, designed to support women-led, community-driven malaria action.
The year saw the launch of Go Beyond, a campaign designed to accelerate the elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by building broader coalitions. The campaign ensures communities are involved as co-creators of solutions from the outset and encourages cross-sector collaboration by amplifying community voices and fostering inclusive partnerships. Setting a new standard for what it means to unite, act, and eliminate NTDs.
Regional collaboration also advanced in 2025 when Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger came together to establish the West African Platform of Sanitation Directorates. They adopted a founding charter and joint roadmap to strengthen peer learning and coordinated action. An important step ahead of this year, when the African Union marks 2026 as the Year of Water and Sanitation and seeks to ensure an equitable and sustainable management of water resources for poverty alleviation, socio-economic development, regional cooperation and the environment. It signals growing regional readiness to accelerate progress. In parallel, parliamentarians from four Francophone countries launched a Regional Network of Parliamentary Champions for Health and Sustainable Development. The network aims to strengthen political commitment and ensure sustainable financing to close funding gaps in national health programs.
The year also recognized outstanding leadership in advancing public health. Among the honorees, Bamba Youssouf, President of REMAPSEN, was celebrated for his decades-long contribution to health advocacy and media engagement across Africa, including his distinction as a Knight of the National Order of Merit in Côte d’Ivoire.
Speak Up Africa also continues to strengthen women’s leadership and community-driven action through its flagship Voix EssentiELLES initiative. The initiative provides nearly $3 million in catalytic support to 76 women-led organizations across six countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, and Senegal. The program expanded by adding 20 new beneficiary organizations in 2025. By supporting women-led organizations to move from service delivery to agenda-setting, the initiative is helping reshape who influences policy priorities and resource allocation.
Looking ahead, Speak Up Africa will build on the lessons of 2025. The organization will focus on systems that can sustain progress through political and financial shifts. It will deepen efforts to strengthen domestic resource mobilization, support country leadership, and expand partnerships with African private sector actors and philanthropic organizations.
