The World Health Organization projects a global shortfall of 11 million health workers by 2030, increasingly concentrated in the African region. This includes a shortage of nearly 900,000 midwives (Nove et al., 2021) and a similar gap in children’s nurses, who make up only around 2% of the nursing workforce in several African countries, despite children comprising up to half the population (North et al., 2019). These shortages are closely linked to preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths and high under-five mortality. WHO Afro modeling estimates that health workers required a $36.3 billion wage bill in 2022, against an available financing envelope of just $20.85 billion—a 43% workforce financing gap across the region’s 47 countries. This constrained fiscal space is prompting governments and partners to rethink traditional workforce approaches, including how new technologies, such as AI-enabled tools for training, clinical decision support, and workflow efficiency, can extend the reach and impact of a limited workforce, while keeping health workers and human connection at the center of care. In May 2026, African governments adopted the Accra Declaration at the Africa Health Workforce Investment Forum, committing to concrete action on planning, training, and retaining the continent’s health workforce. 

Against this backdrop, a multi-country health workforce initiative is being set up to strengthen the availability, quality, distribution, and retention of primary health care and maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) workers across the Africa region. The initiative will support government-led efforts to close these gaps — including shortages in nursing, midwifery, MNCH specialists, allied health cadres, and community health workers — that limit access to quality primary MNCH care.