Financing the Future of African Respiratory Care with Oxygen CoLab

In this second episode of our series produced with the Oxygen CoLab, we explore the investment architecture required to sustain life-saving healthcare. While global health systems are effective at mobilising capital for large-scale players, the smaller local firms delivering respiratory care day in, day out to last-mile healthcare facilities, are delivering care in an often prohibitive funding and operating environment.

This conversation uses the Nigerian experience to address a fundamental shift in global health financing. Our guests discuss how to move beyond fragmented procurement toward an integrated ecosystem that prioritises local manufacturing and market-shaping tools. By implementing volume guarantees and agile policy frameworks, we can de-risk the environment for African entrepreneurs. Join us as we examine how a more responsive financial toolkit can empower local businesses to bridge the final gap between oxygen production and the patient’s bedside.

The #FundWhatLasts campaign argues that, to make the necessary shift from aid to investment, we must shift from top-down equipment donations to an African-led service model that includes the network of people and expertise needed to get oxygen to every patient who needs it, when they need it. By backing local SMEs, and investing in the operating conditions for them to thrive, we can ensure that investment guarantees the reliable delivery of oxygen to the patient’s bedside. What’s more, if we can prove this model in respiratory care, you have a template for other lifesaving services.

Explore the #FundWhatLasts campaign.