ABOUT
Frederick Sowah is passionate about building and investing in affordable and scalable healthcare solutions for sub-Saharan Africa, where he grew up.
How can fragile health systems in sub-Saharan Africa avoid the cost and quality issues plaguing Western countries such as the United States while adopting their technological innovations that deliver true value?
​
How can portable ultrasounds be produced cheaply and deployed at scale to save the lives of millions of pregnant women across sub-Saharan Africa?
​
These are just two of many questions that I believe should spark critical conversations and guide a sustainable and scalable approach to building healthcare in Africa. My goal is simple: To define Africa's high priority healthcare problems and help build solutions.
I spent the first half of my life in Ghana, where I witnessed how decades of underinvestment in healthcare led to the avoidable deaths of close family members and friends. Many other African countries have a similar story to that of Ghana. Currently a double disease burden of both infectious and non-communicable diseases is straining African healthcare systems. According to the United Nations, diabetes, cancer, heart and respiratory diseases will be the leading causes of death in Africa by 2030. Without the required investment and innovation, some African healthcare systems may collapse in the near future.
​
To mitigate these challenges facing healthcare in Africa, I have developed a three-fold mission:
​
-
To define the key problems of affordability, quality, and access
-
To propose solutions to these problems
-
To partner with private and public stakeholders to deliver these solutions.
The story of healthcare in Africa is not all dire. With the youngest population in the world (70% of sub-Saharan Africa is under the age of 30) and an ability to innovate in the face of challenges, Africa is capable of rising to the challenge of building agile, sustainable, and scalable healthcare systems and solutions to keeps its people healthy and productive.
​
​
About Me
I have spent the past decade in US-based global healthcare corporations where I have served in high visibility leadership roles cutting across functions such as finance and technology, and business segments such as commercial and government health insurance plans, pharmacy solutions, and clinical care delivery. I am a graduate of the Financial Leadership Development Program (FLDP) of The Cigna Group, a global health company serving 178 million customers across 30 countries.
My prior experience includes a finance role focused on investing in sub-Saharan Africa capital markets and a private equity role at an Africa-focused fund owned by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group.
​
Education
BA (Chemistry), Yale University.
MBA (Finance), Duke University Fuqua School of Business.
​
Boards
Connecticut Invention Convention (STEM program for young inventors).
Yale Club and Scholarship Foundation of Hartford.
​
Interests
Exploring different cultures and learning about healthcare systems around the world (54 countries visited).
Promoting universal healthcare coverage in Africa.
​
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Join our email list and get access to insights on healthcare in Africa exclusive to our subscribers.