The year 2020 has confirmed to the whole world that one of the most important and toughest portfolios to hold in a government is that of a Minister of Health.

In Africa, our health ministers have been at the forefront of the fight against the Corona Virus pandemic and with support from the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, there’s hope of Africans rising from this pandemic, scathed but stronger.

Primary among the roles of a health minister are overseeing the formulation of health policies, providing strategic direction of health delivery services, allocating resources and evaluating the health status of their countries. The COVID19 pandemic has added one more fundamental function to the list. Today, our health ministers have become warlords, assigned to lead various taskforces to fight the coronavirus pandemic in their respective countries.

In all the 54 African countries, health ministries are crucial members of the cabinet. There, they convey health issues of the people to the president and give status updates of health policies and projects.

In the face of this pandemic I decided to research into the professional and academic backgrounds of Africa’s Health Ministers. I discovered that only 36 out of 54 representing 67% of African health ministers have an educational background in health. The rest were appointed because of their political records and association with the powers that be.

It is interesting to note that in the Republic of Seychelles for instance, the President doubles as the health minister.

Another factor of keen interest is the fact that, as it stands, only 14 of Africa’s health ministers are female.

Nobody knows when COVID19 will die down or even if it will at all. While the world gunners its strengths to fight this war, how ready is Africa? How capable are Africa’s Health Ministers?

To read more about health ministers in Africa, I have published their profiles on www.princeakpah.com/2020healthministers

Below is the list of 2020 54 Health Ministers in Africa (27/04/20)

  1. AbdellatifMekki (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Tunisia
  2. AbderrahmaneBenbouzid (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Population and Hospital Reform, Algeria
  3. AbdoulayeSarr – Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Senegal
  4. Ahmad Ahmad (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Madagascar
  5. Ahmadou Lamin Samateh (Dr.) – Minister of Health, The Gambia
  6. Akram Ali Eltom (Dr.) – Ministry of Health, Sudan
  7. Alpha TejanWurie (Prof.) – Minister of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone
  8. AmnaNurhusein – Minister of Health, Eritrea
  9. ArlindoNascimento do Rosário (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Social Security, Cape Verde
  10. Armindo Tiago (Prof. Dr.) – Minister of Health, Mozambique
  11. ChitaluChilufya (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Zambia
  12. Daniel Ngamije (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Rwanda
  13. DjamaElmiOkieh (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Djibouti
  14. Edgar Neves (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Sao Tome and Principe
  15. Ehmid Bin Omar – Minister of Health, Libya
  16. Elizabeth AcueiYor – Minister of Health, South Sudan
  17. EugèneAouélé Aka (Dr.) – Minister of Health & Public Hygiene, Cote D’Ivoire
  18. FawziyaAbikar (Dr.)  – Minister of Health & Social Care, Somalia
  19. EteniLongondo (Dr.) – Minister of Public Health, DR Congo
  20. HalaZayed (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Population,          Egypt
  21. Igance Benjamin Hounkpatin (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Benin
  22. IlliassouMainassara (Dr.) – Minister of Public Health, Niger
  23. Jacqueline Lydia Mikolo – Minister of Health and Population, Congo
  24. JappieMhango – Minister of Health and Population, Malawi
  25. Danny Faure – Minister of Health, Seychelles
  26. Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Wellness, Mauritius
  27. KalumbiShangula (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Social Services, Namibia
  28. Khalid AitTaleb (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Morocco
  29. Kwaku Agyemang-Manu – Minister of Health, Ghana
  30. LemogangKwape (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Wellness, Botswana
  31. Léonie Claudine Sorgho/Lougue (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Burkina Faso
  32. LiaTadesseGebremedhin (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Ethiopia
  33. Lizzie Nkosi – Minister of Health, Eswatini
  34. LoubYakoutiZaidou – Minister of Health, Comoros
  35. MahamoudYoussoufKhayal – Minister of Public Health, Chad
  36. ManaoudaMalachie (Dr.) – Minister of Public Health, Cameroon
  37. Maria InáciaCóSanhá – Minister of Public Health, Family and Social Cohesion, Guinea Bissau
  38. Max Limoukou (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Gabon
  39. Michel Sidibe  – Minister of Health and Social Affairs, Mali
  40. Mohamed NedhirouOuldHamed (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Mauritania
  41. MoustafaMijiyawa (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Public Hygiene, Togo
  42. MutahiKagwe            – Cabinet Secretary for Health, Kenya
  43. NkakuKabi – Minister of Health, Lesotho
  44. Obadiah Moyo (Dr.) – Minister of Health and Child Care, Zimbabwe
  45. OsagieEhanire (Dr.) – Minister Health, Nigeria
  46. Pierre Somse (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Central African Republic
  47. Remy Lamah (Dr. Col.) – Minister of Health and Public Hygiene, Guinea
  48. Ruth Jane Aceng (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Uganda
  49. Salomon NguemaOwono – Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Equatorial Guinea
  50. Silvia Lutucuta (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Angola
  51. ThadeeNdikumana (Dr.) – Minister of Public Health and Fight against HIV &AIDS, Burundi
  52. UmmyMwalimu – Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Seniors and Children, Tanzania
  53. Wilhelmina Jallah (Dr.) – Minister of Health, Liberia
  54. ZweliMkhize (Dr.) – Minister of Health, South Africa

Research and article by Prince Akpah, MD of Avance Media