Applications are Now Open for the Africa Healthcare Innovation Fellowship (AHIF) 2026

Applications are now open for the Africa Healthcare Innovation Fellowship (AHIF) 2026, a 14-week, field-based fellowship designed to equip young African professionals with the skills, networks, and hands-on experience needed to build context-relevant healthcare solutions across the continent.

Developed by InnovateHealth Africa, the AHIF 2026 cohort is a practical, immersive fellowship that focuses on problem identification, solution design, testing, and early scaling. Fellows will gain first-hand exposure to how health systems function while developing the competencies needed to drive sustainable health innovation and digital transformation across Africa.

Why This Fellowship Matters

Africa continues to grapple with complex healthcare challenges, including limited access to quality services, workforce shortages, fragmented digital health systems, and rising disease burdens. Solving these challenges requires more than tools or technology alone. It requires leaders who understand health systems, local realities, and the people within them. The Africa Healthcare Innovation Fellowship was created to develop this next generation of health innovation leaders by embedding fellows directly within real health systems to work on real problems alongside health facilities, communities, policymakers, and innovation hubs.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Africa Healthcare Innovation Fellowship 2026 is open to young African professionals who are ready to learn, commit, and build.
• Applicants must be citizens of an African country and currently reside on the continent, be between 18 and 35 years old at the time of application, and have a background or demonstrated experience in healthcare, public health, digital health, technology, or innovation.
• Applicants should show a strong interest in healthcare innovation and digital transformation and must be able to commit the required time and effort for the full duration of the fellowship.

Benefits

• Participants will gain hands-on experience designing and validating healthcare solutions in real-world settings, develop core innovation, systems thinking, and decision-making skills relevant to health transformation, and participate in structured cross-country and multidisciplinary collaboration.
• Fellows will also receive guidance from experienced professionals across healthcare, policy, and innovation ecosystems, join a high-impact community of health innovators, and build partnerships that can accelerate their work.
• At the end of the programme, fellows will receive an official certification in digital health innovation recognised by institutions and employers across Africa.

KEY DATESApplications open in January 2026, with screening and selection taking place between March and April 2026. The fellowship will run from May to July 2026, followed by post-fellowship support from August 2026 onwards.METHOD OF APPLICATIONInterested and qualified candidates should apply using the link below:

https://forms.gle/gGcocuE2qZEJfsBB6