{"id":243800,"date":"2025-11-04T18:39:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T18:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/243800\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T18:39:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T18:39:15","slug":"avpa-unveils-africas-first-mental-health-investment-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/243800\/","title":{"rendered":"AVPA unveils Africa\u2019s first mental health investment fund"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Citizen<\/a> By
\n
\n Citizen Reporter
\n <\/a>
\n Published on: November 04, 2025 07:29 (EAT)
\n \"AVPA <\/p>\n

Dr. Frank Aswani, CEO of AVPA (Far right) and partners of the Coalition for Mental Health Investment (CMHI), who include the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), the Wellcome Trust, Kokoro, and the McKinsey Health Institute. PHOTO|COURTESY<\/p>\n

\"Vocalize <\/p>\n

Audio By Vocalize<\/p>\n

The Africa Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA) has launched
\nthe continent\u2019s first Catalytic Pooled Fund to drive investment in mental
\nhealth, marking a major step toward unlocking private capital for one of
\nAfrica\u2019s most underfunded social priorities.<\/p>\n

The announcement was made on Monday as AVPA opened its 2025 Annual
\nConference at the Trademark Hotel in Nairobi, bringing together more than 400
\ndelegates from over 30 countries. The three-day event is themed ‘Driving
\nSustainable Investments and Innovations for Resilient Growth.’<\/p>\n

The fund, launched in partnership with the Coalition for
\nMental Health Investment (CMHI) – a group that includes the Clinton Global
\nInitiative (CGI), the Wellcome Trust, Kokoro, and the McKinsey Health Institute – aims to bridge the financing gap in mental health by mobilising catalytic capital
\nfrom philanthropies, impact investors, governments, foundations, and family
\noffices.<\/p>\n

AVPA Chief Executive Officer Dr. Frank Aswani said the new
\nfund will provide flexible, patient, and risk-tolerant financing to test and
\nscale evidence-based programs across Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cMental health is not a peripheral issue; it is foundational
\nto economic productivity and social stability,\u201d Dr Aswani said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThrough our
\npartnership with the Coalition for Mental Health Investment and the launch of
\nthis Catalytic Pooled Fund, AVPA is positioning mental health as an investable
\npriority, one that can deliver both social and economic dividends for Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fund will also focus on leveraging technology and
\nempowering young people with 21st-century skills to grow what AVPA describes as
\n\u201cthe continent\u2019s brain economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the same opening session, AVPA announced a
\nstrengthened Memorandum of Understanding with the International Development
\nInnovation Alliance (IDIA), formalising a strategic partnership to mobilise new
\nsources of capital for innovation and expand blended finance models across
\nAfrica.<\/p>\n

Dr. Aswani said the collaboration with IDIA – a network of
\nmore than 400 global innovation leaders – will build a \u201ccontinuum of scaling
\ncapital\u201d for African innovators and enhance knowledge-sharing among funders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis partnership underscores our shared mission to advance
\ninnovation as a pathway to sustainable development. By working with
\nIDIA\u2019s global network, AVPA will help build stronger bridges between capital,
\ninnovation, and impact, ensuring African-led solutions are scaled for global
\nchange,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

AVPA East Africa Board Chair Joseph Ogutu urged African
\ninvestors to take ownership of the continent\u2019s development story.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrica\u2019s development narrative has evolved from aid to
\nownership. The Mental Health Catalytic Pooled Fund and our partnership with
\nIDIA demonstrate that African capital – financial, human, and intellectual – can and will lead the continent\u2019s transformation,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Among the keynote speakers was British A. Robinson,
\nChair of Africa at the Milken Institute International, who spoke on the role of
\nphilanthropy and private capital in driving inclusive growth.<\/p>\n

Over the next three days, the Nairobi conference will
\nfeature plenary sessions, technical workshops, and investor roundtables
\nexploring themes such as impact measurement, gender-lens investing,
\nclimate-resilient finance, and the future of blended finance in Africa.<\/p>\n

The meeting underscores AVPA\u2019s growing influence as a
\nplatform aligning diverse forms of capital with African-led priorities for
\nsustainable development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Citizen Reporter Published on: November 04, 2025 07:29 (EAT) Dr. Frank Aswani, CEO of AVPA (Far right)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[102308,46314,102309,102,1906,6623,57279,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-243800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-avpa","9":"tag-citizen-digital","10":"tag-frank-aswani","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-mental-health","13":"tag-mentalhealth","14":"tag-nairobi","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}