Masiyiwas, Gates Launch $500M Africa Health Fund

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As global development aid declines, a group of major philanthropists has come together to launch a $500 million initiative aimed at transforming maternal and newborn health across Africa. The new effort, called the Beginnings Fund, is backed by Tsitsi and Strive Masiyiwa, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and other prominent partners. The fund aims to prevent more than 300,000 avoidable deaths and provide improved healthcare for 34 million mothers and newborns in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.

The initiative will be managed by an investment team based in Nairobi, Kenya, and will initially focus on ten countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Lesotho, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. These nations represent some of the most high-risk regions for maternal and infant mortality.

The fund’s approach centers on investing in cost-effective solutions, personnel, and health systems that target the leading causes of death for mothers and infants—such as postpartum hemorrhage, infection, and respiratory distress.

Tsitsi Masiyiwa, co-founder of Delta Philanthropies, emphasized the importance of strong partnerships with African governments and local organizations.

“In collaboration with African governments and organisations, the Beginnings Fund will make targeted investments in the products, people, and systems required to improve and scale the quality of maternal and newborn care,” she said.

“The aim is to prevent over 300,000 avoidable deaths and expand access to quality care for 34 million mothers and babies by 2030.”

The launch of the Beginnings Fund comes at a time of heightened concern among global health experts. While the world had significantly reduced neonatal mortality between 1990 and 2022, progress has stalled in recent years, and in some areas, rates are rising again. According to the World Health Organization, Africa currently accounts for 70% of all maternal deaths globally, and funding cuts from international donors threaten to erode the fragile gains made over the past decades.

Strive Masiyiwa, founder of Econet and co-chair of Delta Philanthropies, praised his wife’s leadership in rallying support for the fund.

“Our family foundation, Delta Philanthropies, works internationally, and Tsitsi has been at the forefront of mobilising support for this initiative,” he said. “She has worked tirelessly for more than a year, building partnerships for a fund we couldn’t realise on our own.”

He shared that the fund’s inception was sparked by a poignant story shared during a Zoom call with partners at the ELMA Foundation about a woman who lost her triplets in a hospital.

Elizabeth Tanya Masiyiwa, daughter of Tsitsi and Strive, and CEO of both Delta Philanthropies and the Higherlife Foundation, will serve on the Beginnings Fund’s investment committee, helping to steer its direction and strategy.

In addition to Delta Philanthropies and the Gates Foundation, the fund is supported by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, the ELMA Foundation, the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity, the Patchwork Collective, and the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation.