Project in Healthcare

Name: PEPFAR Initiative to Engage Private Capital

Location: Sub-Saharan Africa

Partners: Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI)

Status: Active

Launched in 2003, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) represents the largest effort by any nation to combat a single disease.  In its first five years, the program focused on establishing and scaling up HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment programs in target countries.  PEPFAR was re-authorized in 2008 and is transitioning from an emergency response to supporting the development of sustainable country programs.

As an ‘emergency plan’, PEPFAR has been prepared to finance programmatic costs that might in other situations have been met by the private sector. For example, where public facilities do not exist, PEPFAR has sometimes paid for facility construction or renovation at private ‘for fee’ facilities.  PEPFAR is now investigating whether companies with PEPFAR contracts can attract private investment capital to finance projects, based on projections of PEPFAR’s demand for goods or services. 

In partnership with DAI, Cazneau is working with the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator and with PEPFAR country teams to explore this new model of public-private partnership.