The African Health Diagnostics Platform (AHDP), a partnership between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), seeks to improve access to and quality of laboratory services in sub-Saharan Africa, in particular through public-private partnerships (PPPs) between country governments and private laboratory firms. Our consortium was tasked with conducting an evaluation of AHDP in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda, with the aim to generate lessons to inform implementation, and to assess the impact of PPPs on laboratory service outcomes. The overall evaluation combines process and outcome evaluative aspects at different phases of the program.
This report is focused on the process evaluation of the pre-tender/tender phase of AHDP. Specifically, this report provides preliminary lessons and recommendations regarding AHDP negotiations and actor management, within the larger policy and country contexts. In addition to cross-country findings, the report includes country-specific sections that highlight the local nuances that have influenced the process and design of AHDP thus far. This report draws on 63 interviews conducted through January 2022, with further analyses and reflections to follow after formal analyses are conducted.