News & Articles

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — In a landmark step for Africa’s climate and public health agenda, CATA Energy Co. Ltd and the Tanzania Red Cross Society (TRCS) have formally entered into a strategic partnership to launch the Africa Health Power Initiative (AHPI), a continent-facing platform aimed at delivering clean, reliable energy to health and humanitarian facilities.

The partnership was formalized through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), bringing together the humanitarian reach of the Tanzania Red Cross Society with the renewable-energy expertise of CATA Energy. At its core, the collaboration seeks to address a persistent and often life-threatening challenge across much of Africa: the lack of dependable electricity for clinics, hospitals, and emergency response operations.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Lucia Pande, Secretary General of the Tanzania Red Cross Society, underscored the importance of reliable power for humanitarian service delivery.

“Access to consistent and reliable energy is no longer a luxury for health and humanitarian facilities—it is a necessity,” Pande said. “Through the Africa Health Power Initiative, we are strengthening the resilience of our clinics and emergency operations while protecting the lives of the most vulnerable communities we serve.”

Designed as a scalable, donor-aligned, and impact-driven initiative, AHPI integrates renewable energy deployment with health systems strengthening and community resilience. By providing uninterrupted power to critical health infrastructure, the initiative aims to safeguard essential medical equipment, ensure continuity of care, reduce reliance on diesel generators, and lower the carbon footprint of humanitarian operations. Initial implementation will focus on Tanzania, with a clear pathway for expansion across Africa.

For Vanessa Baldwin, CEO of CATA Energy Co. Ltd, the initiative represents a shift from ambition to execution.

“AHPI is about translating climate commitments into practical, life-saving infrastructure,” Baldwin said. “When power fails, healthcare fails. This partnership ensures that clinics, hospitals, and humanitarian operations can function reliably—day and night—while advancing Africa’s green transition.”

Beyond energy provision, the partners describe AHPI as a bridge between climate action and health outcomes. In many regions, power outages disrupt vaccine cold chains, maternal health services, and emergency care. AHPI seeks to ensure that no health facility or humanitarian response is left in the dark due to energy insecurity.

The initiative aligns closely with international donor priorities on climate adaptation, resilient health systems, and sustainable infrastructure, positioning it for broad multilateral and philanthropic support. Its modular design enables rapid deployment in both permanent health facilities and emergency response settings.

Wolfgang Kröpfl, CEO of enso GmbH, highlighted the importance of scalable technology in achieving impact at speed.

What makes this initiative powerful is its ability to scale quickly without compromising reliability,” Kröpfl said. “By combining humanitarian leadership with proven clean-energy solutions such as the Lexi-Eco Off-Grid Series, AHPI sets a new benchmark for how energy can support health and resilience across Africa.”

The Lexi-Eco Off-Grid Series, a modular clean-energy platform developed to enable rapid and reliable deployment, will play a central role in powering health and humanitarian facilities under the initiative.

As preparations move from partnership formalization to implementation, the partners reaffirmed their shared commitment to delivering measurable impact on the ground and scaling the model continent-wide. Further announcements are expected as the Africa Health Power Initiative advances toward deployment and regional expansion, marking a significant step in aligning climate action with the protection of lives and livelihoods.