ICA-Africa and CIC Insurance Champion Cooperative Health Solutions to Advance Universal Health Coverage in Africa
On April 30, 2026, ICA-Africa in partnership with the CIC Group convened a Health Cooperative workshop in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop, titled “Leveraging Health Cooperative Systems to Promote Good Health and Well-Being in Africa,” brought together policymakers, cooperative leaders, and healthcare experts to address the persistent challenges of healthcare affordability and accessibility.
Breaking Barriers Through Micro-Insurance
A central theme of the discussions was the success of cooperative micro-insurance models. Currently, informal workers across Africa face staggering out-of-pocket healthcare costs that often push families into poverty. The workshop highlighted how these cooperative-led insurance schemes are bridging the gap, offering affordable premiums and expanding coverage to those traditionally excluded from formal social security systems.
Learning from global cooperative health systems
The workshop also featured comparative learning from international experiences, with case studies from Brazil, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. These examples demonstrated how cooperative health systems can enhance efficiency, expand coverage, and improve working conditions for healthcare professionals.
Across these contexts, cooperative structures have played a key role in bridging gaps between underserved populations and essential health services, particularly in rural and informal settings.
By fostering community-owned clinics and healthcare worker cooperatives, nations can build systems that are more responsive to the needs of the people than traditional top-down approaches.
As Africa continues to pursue Universal Health Coverage, cooperative models are gaining recognition as a viable pathway to reach underserved populations and strengthen health systems from the ground up.
The workshop concluded with a shared commitment to deepen collaboration, scale cooperative health innovations, and strengthen policy environments that enable their growth.
This activity was co-funded by the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the International Co-operative Alliance – Africa and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.