Innovation hub launched to drive local healthcare solutions

Amref International University (AMIU) has launched a Health Innovation Hub aimed at transforming locally developed ideas into scalable, practical healthcare solutions while creating entrepreneurship and employment opportunities for young African graduates.

Unveiled during the AMREF Africa Health Collaborative Convening 2026, the hub is designed to support innovators in developing, testing, and commercializing interventions targeting systemic healthcare gaps, from limited access to specialized medical care to fragile health delivery systems across the continent.

Speaking at the launch, AMIU Vice-Chancellor Professor Joachim Osur emphasized that while Africa possesses the human capital to solve its health crises, it lacks adequate support structures to nurture ideas, connect innovators with funders, and scale successful interventions.

“Africa has the highest burden of disease, there are many disease outbreaks, we have weak health systems, a lot of people get sick and die early. We need to solve those problems,” Osur said.

He said that the hub will provide structured mentorship, funding linkages, and commercialization pathways, enabling young innovators to address deep-seated health inequities, particularly among rural populations, low-income earners, and residents of informal settlements.

He highlighted MagoCare—one of the local innovations showcased during the event—as a prime example of bringing specialized care closer to marginalized communities. The innovation simplifies wound management for diabetic patients who otherwise travel long distances for specialized surgical care.

“If you are a diabetic and you have a wound, it is very hard to treat that wound in the village. You have to travel long distances to get a plastic surgeon who will clean it and dress it until it heals,” Osur said, noting that such decentralized solutions bridge critical care gaps.

He further stressed the need to align academic research with community-driven solutions, drawing lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic to argue that interventions must reflect local realities and indigenous knowledge.

“Remember, solutions to these problems lie in communities. Innovations that we are looking for will come from communities,” he said.

Osur cited the response to the Covid-19 pandemic as an example of why interventions should take local circumstances into account, arguing that approaches developed elsewhere may not always be suitable for African communities.

He said the university would seek to create an environment where young innovators could test ideas, learn from experience and access larger investors once their solutions demonstrated potential.

Professor Duncan Irungu, Principal of the university’s Institute of Sustainability and Innovation and Director of the Health Innovation Hub, explained that many young Africans possess viable ideas but lack the infrastructure needed to translate them into commercial products.

“This hub is not a physical place. It is a platform that brings together the ventures, young ventures themselves, industry, partners, universities, researchers and funders on the same platform to co-create solutions,” Irungu said.

Prof Irungu outlined the hub’s four foundational pillars: entrepreneurship education and mentorship, policy labs, access to capital, and market access. The policy labs will focus on translating academic research into actionable public policy to guide government health strategies.

Underlining the job creation aspect, Beatrice Mukosa, AMIU’s Chief Strategy and Operations Officer, noted that the initiative aligns with the university’s 2023–2027 Strategic Plan, which focuses on equipping graduates to become job creators rather than job seekers.

“As we train young people to be doctors, to be nurses, to be physiotherapists, we realise that not everybody is geared for employment. We want to put together a team that can be employers,” Mukosa said.

The initiative comes as higher education institutions across Africa face growing pressure to bridge the gap between academic research, youth employment, and real-world healthcare delivery.