Bringing reliable renewable energy and digital connectivity to 10,000 health facilities in Africa
More than 100,000 health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to reliable electricity and nearly all lack Internet access, putting millions of people at risk because they cannot access life-saving care. To help close the divide, RESOLVE has been working with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), World Vision, and other partners to bring power and digital connectivity to health facilities in Sierra Leone.
Our innovative HealthGrid Sierra Leone project has inspired a larger project, the Health Electrification and Telecommunication Alliance (HETA), which seeks to install reliable, renewable power and provide digital connectivity for at least 10,000 health facilities across sub-Saharan Africa. RESOLVE is working with USAID, Abt Global, African government partners, and other companies, organizations, and foundations in the healthcare, energy, and telecommunications sectors to design and implement HETA.
Power systems include solar and other innovative energy technology that provide reliable energy and digital connectivity to health facilities. Electrified health facilities can refrigerate vaccines, provide light for births or emergency surgeries at night, and support water, sanitation, and hygiene systems (WASH). Digital connectivity enables communications, records management, telemedicine, and early detection and control of contagious diseases.
HETA includes sustainable, market-based mechanisms to provide energy and connectivity access to off-grid communities surrounding the health facilities. This can help connect communities and create and support hubs for local economic development.
Because operations and maintenance of renewable energy systems have been a challenge, our innovation is the integration of a protected operations and maintenance fund to help ensure systems keep working over the long-term.
The long-term vision for HETA is to expand beyond 10,000 facilities and to establish an independent entity outside of USAID to continue supporting sustainable energy access well into the future. RESOLVE and other HETA partners are already building the funding base and governance structures to support long-term operations for this independent entity.
At RESOLVE, we’re here to tackle the toughest global challenges. The ones nobody else wants to touch. Where people are in conflict and planet problems are stuck. We’re here to unstick them. It’s not easy. It takes grit and ingenuity. And finding and working with the right partners. But we’re not called RESOLVE for nothing.
