Defeating Malaria, Unlocking Growth: Why Africa Needs the Private Sector to Step Up by Yosuke Kaneko

 

Africa has made remarkable progress against malaria over the past two decades. Bed nets, rapid diagnostic tests, and antimalarial treatments have saved millions of lives and prevented countless more from falling ill. The Gates Foundation estimates that 2.2 billion malaria cases have been prevented since 2000, saving 12.7 million lives.

However, sadly, the battle is far from over. Today, a perfect storm of funding cuts, emerging drug resistance, and climate-driven shifts in disease patterns threatens to reverse this hard-won progress.

A Setback in the Fight Against Malaria

USAID’s recent scaling back of malaria programs has left many countries bracing for a resurgence. Since foreign aid started to be cut in the US earlier this year, an estimated 36% of the USAID malaria budget has been dropped.

This comes shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw malaria resources diverted. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the proportion of global research and development funding dedicated to malaria has fallen by $103 million -- from $707 million in 2019 to $604 million in 2022.

Perhaps partly as a result of this, malaria cases are now on the rise. During the pandemic, the number of cases rose to 249 million in 2022 -- the highest number in nearly twenty years.

 

Rising Threats

Meanwhile, back in May, African leaders convened in a dialogue led by the government of Rwanda to discuss the growing problem of antimalarial drug resistance—a silent but insidious threat that could render the next generation of treatments less effective.

According to the World Health Organization, four African countries – Eritrea, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda – have confirmed the presence of resistance to malarial treatments. Resistance is also suspected in other countries in the region, such as Ethiopia, Namibia, Sudan, and Zambia.

This worrying trend has been driven by factors such as the use of substandard or counterfeit medicines and treatments not being followed to completion.

Higher malaria risks are also being driven by longer-term factors such as climate change, with longer and more frequent rains creating more breeding sites for mosquitoes. In turn, this is increasing mosquito populations and malaria transmission rates.

The Overlooked Economic Cost

The stakes could not be higher: malaria kills approximately 600,000 people in Africa every year, the majority of them children under five. But the story doesn’t end with public health. Malaria is also an economic drag, siphoning billions of dollars in lost productivity and healthcare costs from African economies. The World Economic Forum estimates that eliminating the disease could boost Africa’s GDP by as much as $16 billion annually.

As the public sector retrenches, the question becomes: who will step up to fill the gap? In my view, the private sector must play a central role in reimagining malaria control – not just as a philanthropic endeavour, but as a business opportunity.

The Case for Private Sector Leadership

The private sector is uniquely positioned to tackle challenges that traditional health programs struggle with. Businesses bring agility, efficiency, and the ability to rapidly deploy technology and talent. More importantly, private companies can attract capital to fund ambitious initiatives that governments alone cannot sustain.

Indeed, at SORA Technology, we have been developing drones and AI-powered solutions to identify and treat mosquito breeding grounds at scale. The drones are used to conduct aerial surveys of areas for potential mosquito larvae breeding sites, with the images assessed by AI to identify high-risk puddles based on factors like water depth and temperature.

The AI-driven identification process allows for more targeted insecticide application to these specific high-risk areas, making it more cost-effective and efficient, not to say more beneficial to the environment, than traditional manual methods. 

It is also worth noting that investors are increasingly recognizing the opportunity in African health innovation. The $4.8 million we recently raised at SORA Technology reflects growing confidence that technology-driven malaria control is not only socially impactful but also commercially viable. This kind of funding will allow us to scale our operations across multiple countries, demonstrating that profitable health solutions can coexist with life-saving impact.

Unleashing Economic Transformation

Yet innovation alone is not enough. Collaboration is essential. The private sector cannot, and should not, replace governments. Instead, we need a partnership model where public institutions provide the oversight and regulatory frameworks that businesses need to thrive, while private companies bring the technology, capital, and operational efficiency that can eradicate this disease for good.

Ultimately, defeating malaria is not only about eradicating a disease, it is about rethinking how Africa approaches economic development. For too long, health spending has been treated as a drain on public resources rather than a catalyst for growth.

By investing in innovative, private-sector-led solutions, African countries can turn health challenges into engines of economic opportunity. Eliminating malaria would free up billions in lost productivity, unlock new business opportunities, and improve the quality of life for millions of people.

Seizing the Moment

The time to act is now. As funding uncertainties loom and drug resistance spreads, we cannot afford complacency. African governments, international donors, and private companies must work together to scale innovative solutions.

For the private sector, the message is clear: there is both moral and economic value in stepping into the fight against malaria. For governments and donors, it is equally clear: supporting private-sector-led innovation is an indispensable weapon in the struggle against a disease that has long defined the continent’s public health landscape, and cost millions of lives.

Malaria is a solvable problem. The tools exist, the knowledge is available, and the private sector has the capacity to act at scale. What is needed now is commitment, collaboration, and a shift in mindset: seeing this as an opportunity not only to defeat a deadly disease but also as a way to prompt further economic transformation.

 If we seize this moment, the next two decades could witness not only a dramatic reduction in malaria deaths but also a remarkable acceleration of Africa’s economic growth. That is a vision worth pursuing – and it is within our reach.

 

By Yosuke Kaneko