Across Africa, too many girls are forced to limit their dreams for preventable reasons: a lack of access to contraception, untreated HIV, or simply not having the supplies to manage their period at school. With the right investment, these barriers are solvable.

When girls lose access to healthcare, education is disrupted and economies lose talent. Investing in girls’ health is an economic strategy that could define Africa’s future. If we want Africa’s creative industries to thrive, we must remove these barriers first.

That’s where Move Afrika comes in. While building a sustainable, world-class touring circuit across Africa — city by city — Move Afrika is also spotlighting the systems that make opportunity possible. 

If we’re serious about what it takes for Africa’s emerging generations to thrive, we can’t separate “the show” from the systems that sustain communities. That’s why health belongs in the Move Afrika story.

If creative industries depend on talent, then the systems that protect that talent matter just as much. Let’s dig further into how healthcare is connected to economic growth for creative industries.

Health Is a Talent Pipeline

Across sub-Saharan Africa, the odds are still stacked against adolescent girls and young women. Health barriers shrink the future workforce, limit creative economies, and stall the momentum Move Afrika aims to accelerate.

Start with sexual and reproductive healthcare, which includes the understanding of and access to contraception, HIV prevention, and maternal health services. 

Each year, 21 million adolescent girls aged 15–19  experience pregnancy worldwide — a reality that often interrupts education and limits future earning potential. A significant number of these occur in sub-Saharan Africa, and around half of those pregnancies are unintended. When girls can’t access youth-friendly services, SRHR education, and contraception, the consequences can include preventable health complications and an indefinite stall on their education and career paths.

What’s more, the adolescent fertility rate in sub-Saharan Africa is 93 births per 1,000 girls aged 15–19 (2023). Behind that number are interrupted education pathways, reduced earning potential, and lost leadership potential.

The region also continues to carry an outsized burden of HIV among girls and young women. In 2023 there were about 4,000 new HIV infections every week among girls and young women aged 15–24 across the globe. An estimated 3,100 of those weekly infections in sub-Saharan Africa.

When young women have access to healthcare and dignity, they can stay in school, pursue opportunity, and shape Africa’s future. This description of a very possible future is the most practical version of empowerment: keeping girls healthy enough — and supported enough — to keep going.

Menstrual Dignity Is Education Policy — Whether We Treat It That Way or Not

If a girl can’t manage her period safely at school, her education is at risk. And the gaps are stark.

In sub-Saharan Africa specifically, only 12% of schools provide menstrual materials free or for purchase. And globally, only 39% of schools provide menstrual health education. These are daily barriers to school attendance and dignity.

Even if girls are determined to stay in class, the current system is not designed for them to thrive and can push them out.

We can’t count girls out, and when it comes to the creative economy, they are the future artists, sound engineers, event producers, entrepreneurs, and policy leaders. They can only reach those possibilities if their access to education is not hindered by barriers to menstrual healthcare. 

A Touring Circuit Needs Strong Systems

Move Afrika leverages culture to advance citizen-led advocacy — spotlighting the need for stronger primary healthcare, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and increased domestic health financing so that care is equitable and resilient, especially for women and young people.

Large-scale live events are a visible proof-point of what’s possible when infrastructure works: transport, logistics, public safety, and local supply chains. The same is true for healthcare. When young people can access services without stigma, they’re more able to travel safely, work consistently, and take up opportunities.

Move Afrika is a platform that bolsters entrepreneurship and engages local crews and vendors on the ground. Building healthy communities aligns with this mission.

The goal isn’t only world-class live moments in Kigali, Lagos, Pretoria, or wherever the circuit grows next. It’s a future where young people can build livelihoods because the basics are in place — and girls aren’t pushed out of the story by preventable health barriers.

The Point: Strong Health Systems Power Creative Economies

Move Afrika builds on the talent and innovation already driving Africa’s creative economies, and helps strengthen the local ecosystems that make touring sustainable at scale. That includes health systems: primary care and SRHR that young people can access without stigma, and financing that makes care reliable and accessible over time.

When girls and young women can get the care they need, they stay in school longer, step into opportunity sooner, and help lead the industries Move Afrika is investing in — on stage, behind the scenes, and far beyond the venue.