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The African Business Coalition for Health (ABCHealth) – a private sector coalition of companies and philanthropists in Africa led by the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), GBCHealth and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) – has announced the appointment of Mories Atoki as its Chief Executive Officer. Atoki is a development and sustainability expert. As senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), she pioneered and led the firm’s Sustainability and Climate Change practice.  

ABCHealth is focused on improving health outcomes in Africa. Launched in February 2019 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the platform has been endorsed by African Heads of State. The aim of the coalition is to mobilise business leaders, heads of government and other stakeholders to tackle basic health challenges in Africa and advance health outcomes across the continent.

The appointment, which was announced on Saturday, comes as a new study by the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) regional office for Africa, predicts that between 29-44 million people on the continent are at risk of being infected by Covid-19, the infectious disease caused the novel coronavirus. As of May 17, there were 84,080 reported infections and 2,742 fatalities on the continent.

“Mories has a strong track record for execution, she has good communications skills and great leadership capabilities,” Zouera Youssoufou, CEO of ADF said. “Her understanding of Africa’s health landscape provides a balanced perspective in our organisation’s mandate of transforming the continent’s health landscape.”  

According to a statement released by the coalition, Atoki is a member of the Advisory Board of Partners for Review (P4R), a United Nations-supported initiative aimed at standardising sustainable development reporting. She is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School and the London School of Business and Finance. ABCHealth said her appointment has been unanimously agreed upon by its Board of Directors.

“Mories’ appointment comes at a critical moment for ABCHealth,” said Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Chairman of ABCHealth and Co-Chairman of GBCHealth. “We have just finalised a rigorous strategic planning process aimed at transforming Africa’s health landscape. Our theory of change now needs to be implemented and Mories has a mandate to successfully drive its implementation.”

The coalition is registered in Nigeria. However, it plans to expand to additional business hubs across the continent over the next three to five years.

Responding to her appointment, Atoki said she was honoured and excited to lead ABCHealth. “I believe that my appointment as the CEO of ABCHealth has come at a time when Africa clearly needs a strong convener of all stakeholders in Africa’s public and private sectors to facilitate deep partnerships and collaboration all with one end in sight – improving the continent’s health outcomes,” she noted.