As Funding for Donor Health Drops
Monrovia, Liberia – The first bilingual, fully open-access, peer-reviewed journal devoted to health economics, health systems, and health policy has been launched by eleven of Africa’s top health economists, systems, and policy researchers as the continent’s governments grapple with a precipitous drop in donor health funding.
May 4, 2026, marks the formal launch of the African Journal of Health Economics, Systems, and Policy (AJHESP), which is already accepting submissions. AJHESP is positioned as a significant venue for African-led research to inform critical policy decisions on health financing and system changes.
The debut occurs at a crucial moment when African nations are facing mounting pressure to fund their own health systems in the face of dwindling outside assistance. Donor support for health development in Africa fell by more than half in just four years, from US$80 billion in 2021 to less than US$40 billion by 2025, according to research published in The Lancet by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
According to the founders of AJHESP, the publication is intended to close a long-standing vacuum by increasing the accessibility of African health funding evidence for policymakers, who frequently are unable to access research that is blocked by costly paywalls in international journals.
“African governments are being asked to finance their own health systems at the exact moment donor funding is contracting. That requires evidence, the right evidence, produced in the right context, accessible to the right people. That is the gap AJHESP fills,” Dr. Alex Adjagba, Co-Editor-in-Chief of AJHESP said.
According to him, the journal will publish in both English and French, allowing authors to submit in either language while ensuring abstracts, editorial communications and website content are available bilingually, saying, it will also offer an option for abstracts in African languages. African health financing tales have frequently been presented without enough context, according to Professor Justice Nonvignon, Co-Editor-in-Chief and Professor of Health Economics at the University of Ghana.
“How the story of African health financing systems is told requires more context, which often gets missing when the data are published elsewhere. AJHESP is the place to tell that story better and shape context-relevant and evidence-informed policies,” he narrated.
Eleven researchers from ten African nations and the diaspora make up the founding editorial board, which has produced over 750 peer-reviewed papers. Their areas of expertise include policy reform, financing, health systems, and health economics. One of the largest obstacles African scholars encounter in academic publishing is eliminated by the journal’s pledge of no article processing fees for the majority of corresponding authors situated at African universities.
The idea, according to Professor Lumbwe Chola of the University of Oslo, ends a difficult decision for African scholars studying outside. “African researchers in the diaspora have always had to navigate a choice: publish where it counts for your career or publish where it matters for the communities you came from. AJHESP makes that a false choice,” he said.
Beyond traditional academic publishing, AJHESP will include policy papers, commentaries, perspectives and a podcast aimed at helping research findings reach decision-makers faster. Experts say the journal’s creation could significantly influence how Africa responds to growing pressure for domestic health financing, especially as bilateral and multilateral health aid continues to shrink.
“Health ministers across Africa are making billion-dollar financing decisions right now. The evidence they need exists. The problem has always been getting it to them in a form they can use. That is what this journal is for,” Prof. Edwine Barasa of KEMRI-Wellcome Trust added.
AJHESP is independent and not affiliated with any government, United Nations agency or international organization. Its founders say its mission is simple: ensure Africa’s health policy decisions are driven by African evidence, produced by African researchers, for African realities.
Reported by: Prince Saah
