Original story: https://www.devex.com/news/24-global-development-organizations-to-watch-in-2024-107117

As 2024 gets underway, Devex is publishing a list of organizations we’ll be watching throughout the year. Some are established global development institutions going through upheavals, others are newer groups hitting their stride, and still others are undergoing strategic shifts. All promise to feature in our reporting.

This list, arranged alphabetically, reflects the combined expertise and insights of our newsroom on key global development topics. It is by no means comprehensive, nor did we use a specific methodology. The list includes philanthropic foundations, NGOs, governments, development banks, and more.

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• Status: It’s the first year of operations for the new foundation, which was soft-launched by the African Development Bank in 2022. The staff formally started work last month.

• Why we’re watching: There’s largely been a stalemate in the transfer of technology and know-how from international pharmaceutical companies to African manufacturers to enable the latter to make their own products. We’re watching to see if this new foundation can turn this around.

• Leadership: Professor Padmashree Gehl Sampath is the CEO of the foundation. She is also the senior adviser to the president of the African Development Bank on pharmaceuticals and health.

• Staff: The foundation currently has five staff in addition to Sampath. But she expects the team will “grow considerably” this year.

• HQ: The new office is in Kigali, Rwanda, which has become a hub for public health initiatives. Kigali also hosts the new African Medicines Agency, which once operational, will be a “sister agency” to the foundation, according to Sampath.

• Tidbit: The foundation signed its host country agreement with Rwanda in December. In addition to the African Development Bank, key funders of the foundation include Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The foundation also recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Investment Bank to co-finance projects. “We have ongoing discussions with several other funding agencies, which will develop and mature over the course of the next few months,” Sampath told Devex late last year.

• Analysis: While African leaders have prioritized building up the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, there are limitations around the research and development of pharmaceutical products happening in African countries, meaning intellectual property is often held overseas. This makes licensing and technology transfer a crucial part of expanding the manufacturing sector across the continent. But international manufacturers have in many cases refused to transfer the knowledge on how to create their products to African manufacturers. This new foundation aims to change this dynamic and facilitate deals.