Strengthening Health Systems and Medical Regulations (SHyMeR) Project (AFDB-P-Z1-IB0-044)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Benin
  • Gambia
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Liberia
  • Sierra Leone
  • Togo
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • African Development Bank (AFDB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
C
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Jun 11, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
West African Health Organization (WAHO)
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Education and Health
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Grant
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 14.19 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Grant Amount (USD)
$ 14.19 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 14.19 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ AFDB website

Updated in EWS Aug 13, 2026

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to bank's website, the Strengthening Health Systems and Medical Regulations Project (SHyMeR) is a multinational regional public goods operation designed to strengthen health-system resilience and medical-product regulation in seven eligible African Development Fund countries in the ECOWAS region: Benin, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Togo. The project will strengthen National Medicines Regulatory Authorities and laboratories, improve access to safe and quality-assured medical and nutrition products, enhance diagnostic and emergency-response capacities, and build the skills of the regional health workforce. It will support the regulatory authorities of Benin, The Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone in progressing towards World Health Organization Maturity Level 3; equip The Gambia’s national quality-control laboratory; establish cross-border One Health laboratories in Benin and Togo; and repair, maintain and equip biomedical, diagnostic, intensive-care and cancer-diagnostic facilities in Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The project will also develop an integrated regional health data hub and electronic medical-record systems, introduce digital learning and virtual or augmented-reality simulation laboratories in three universities, train health professionals and biomedical technicians, and support youth-led biomedical and digital-health enterprises. At the regional level, it will promote harmonized health policies, pooled procurement of essential medicines, sustainable health financing, climate-resilient health investment planning, and the integration of One Health, nutrition and gender-based violence considerations into community-health policies. The total project cost is estimated at UA 11.435 million, equivalent to approximately USD 15.712 million. It will be financed by an African Development Fund Regional Public Goods grant of UA 10.380 million, or about USD 14.262 million, and a cash counterpart contribution from ECOWAS/WAHO of UA 1.055 million, or approximately USD 1.450 million. The grant recipient and executing agency is the West African Health Organization (WAHO).

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

Environmental Category: [3] Low Risk

Climate Safeguards Categorization: [3] Projects are not vulnerable to climate risk

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

African Development Fund 

Financial Instrument: Institutional Support and Rehabilitation Grant

Masterloan number: 2100155044330

ADF Cycle: ADF-16 

Commitment (UA): 10,380,000


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Name: Elizabeth Anyango OWITI

Email: e.owiti@afdb.org 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/request-for-documents. Under the AfDBÕs Disclosure and Access to Information policy, if you feel the Bank has omitted to publish information or your request for information is unreasonably denied, you can file an appeal at https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/appeals-process.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF AfDB

The Independent Review Mechanism (IRM), which is administered by the Compliance Review and Mediation Unit (CRMU), is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an African Development Bank (AfDB)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the IRM, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a dispute resolution dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the AfDB complied with its policies to prevent environmental and social harms. You can submit a complaint electronically by emailing crmuinfo@afdb.org, b.kargougou@afdb.org, b.fall@afdb.org, and/or s.toure@afdb.org. You can learn more about the IRM and how to file a complaint at: https://www.afdb.org/en/independent-review-mechanism/

How it works

How it works