The launch comes as African governments face mounting pressure to build sustainable domestic health financing systems at a time when development assistance for health is contracting sharply. According to research published in The Lancet by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, development assistance for health in Africa fell from $80 billion in 2021 to under $40 billion by 2025, more than halving in four years. AJHESP positions itself as a platform for the policy-relevant, Africa-rooted evidence that this moment demands.

AJHESP AT A GLANCE 
• Languages: English and French. Authors can submit in either of the two languages. 
• Access model: 100% open access. No author fees for researchers at African institutions
• Founding editors: 11 researchers from 10 countries across Africa and the diaspora.
• Collective expertise: 750+ peer-reviewed publications across the founding editorial board.
• Scope: Health economics · Health systems · Health financing · Health policy.
• A podcast: to continue the conversation between the researcher and the decision-maker, beyond the page
• Website: www.africanjhesp.org

WHY THIS JOURNAL, WHY NOW 

African policymakers face significant barriers to accessing the research they need to make informed health financing decisions. Africa is producing a rapidly growing body of health economics and health financing research, from out-of-pocket expenditure and social health insurance design to pharmaceutical pricing and the political economy of health reform. For decades, this evidence has been published predominantly in journals headquartered in Europe and North America and made available behind paywalls that limit access for the policymakers who need it most.

AJHESP closes that gap. It is a journal built in Africa, led by African researchers, and designed to produce evidence that is easily accessible to African policymakers and actionable in the health systems where it is generated.

"African health economics data and research are more important now to inform the evolving health financing landscape. 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."

Prof. Justice Nonvignon, Co-Editor-in-Chief, AJHESP · Professor of Health Economics, University of Ghana

"Francophone Africa has been generating rigorous health economics evidence for decades. What has been missing is a bilingual platform that makes that work visible to English-speaking researchers and policymakers, and vice versa. AJHESP bridges that divide."  

Dr. Fadima Yaya Bocoum, Founding Editor, AJHESP · IRSS-CNRST, Burkina Faso

"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."

Prof. Lumbwe Chola, Founding Editor, AJHESP · University of Oslo

"The distance between a peer-reviewed paper and a policy decision is real and well-documented. This journal was designed with that distance in mind, not just to produce evidence, but to produce evidence in a form that travels.

Dr. Juliet Nabyonga-Orem, Founding Editor, AJHESP · WHO Regional Office for Africa

WHAT SETS AJHESP APART 
• Bilingual by design: Every submission is reviewed in the language it is written. Abstracts, editorial communications, and website content are in both English and French, addressing the persistent marginalisation of Francophone African health economics research. With the additional option to submit abstracts in an African language.
• Context-relevant peer review: All submissions are assessed against whether the evidence is meaningful for African health systems. Associate Editors are based in or deeply engaged with the African contexts they review.
• Full open access, no barriers: All content is freely available from publication. The majority of authors at African institutions pay no article processing charges. Evidence does not sit behind the same paywalls that have historically excluded African decision-makers.
• Policy-facing editorial standards: Alongside research articles, AJHESP publishes Policy Papers, Commentaries, and Perspectives, article types designed to bridge the gap between evidence generation and policy action

THE FOUNDING EDITORIAL BOARD 
• Prof. Justice Nonvignon — Ghana / University of Ghana
• Dr. Alex Adjagba — Benin / UNICEF Center of Excellence Nairobi
• Prof. Seye Abimbola — Nigeria / University of Sydney
• Prof. Lumbwe Chola — Zambia / University of Oslo
• Dr. Djesika Amendah — Togo / African Constituency Bureau
• Dr. Fadima Yaya Bocoum — Burkina Faso / IRSS-CNRST
• Prof. Edwine Barasa — Kenya / KEMRI-WellcomeTrust
• Prof. Ama Pokuaa Fenny — Ghana / University of Ghana
• Prof.. Osondu Ogbuoji — Nigeria / Duke University
• Dr. Juliet Nabyonga-Orem — Uganda / WHO Namibia
• Prof. Angela Esi Apeagyei — Ghana / University of Washington