The African Health Innovation Centre (AHIC), headquartered at Osu in Accra, is the first organisation in the country to focus exclusively on empowering entrepreneurs and health professionals.

The Centre aims to use its experiences and talents to create innovative solutions in the health space.

“AHIC is trying to be bold. To be creative. And to change the way we approach health challenges in Ghana and beyond,” said Emily Sheldon, co-founder and CEO.

“We operate at the intersection of health and innovation,” she added.

AHIC began as a programme of Impact Hub Accra in June 2016, mapping Ghana’s health innovation ecosystem and leading West Africa’s first health innovation hackathon, Health Hack Accra.

After three years of connecting, enabling, and inspiring diverse stakeholders, the programme has successfully scaled and officially exited from Impact Hub Accra. In May 2019, it became a separate legal entity: the African Health Innovation Centre.

The African Health Innovation Centre implements programming with a purpose - infusing innovation and entrepreneurship into traditional health delivery, creating connections at the community and system levels, and empowering a new generation of thought leaders and action takers.

AHIC delivers in five main ways - incubating, advising, convening, training, and exploring to build a healthier Africa. Programmes include early-stage startup incubation, cross-sector relationship development, health innovation consulting, ecosystem mapping, hackathons, and other events.

AHIC partners with government, industry, academic, nonprofit, startup, and healthcare sectors bringing stakeholders to the table for conversation and collaboration.

While AHIC offers diverse programming, it has responded to identified community needs by determining speciality focus areas of sexual and reproductive health and rights, mental health and wellness, and emergency care.

AHIC was co-founded by Emily Sheldon and Freda Yawson who have expertise in public health, innovation, engineering, and design thinking.