In a powerful joint presentation at the United Nations Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) in Kampala, Uganda, we proudly represented Sigma and issued a bold call to action to confront Africa’s ongoing nursing workforce crisis head-on.
Our side event, titled “Addressing the Nursing Shortage in Africa: Strategies for Retention and Workforce Sustainability,” drew participation both onsite and virtually. Virtual attendees joined from around the world—including Uganda, Sierra Leone, the United States, Canada, Nigeria, the Philippines, Germany, Cameroon, South Africa, Botswana, and the Netherlands—demonstrating global concern for the state of the African health workforce.
During our presentation, we emphasized that the nursing shortage in Africa is not just a professional issue but a public health emergency. Recent reports by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Council of Nurses (ICN) warned of an estimated deficit of 1.7 million nurses in Africa by 2030, representing nearly 40% of the global nursing shortage. Without well-trained, equitably distributed nurses, we cannot achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) or meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
We also highlighted the tension between Africa’s growing health workforce needs and the escalating outflow of nurses to high-income countries. Many African countries are experiencing an exodus of skilled nurses to the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. This creates a double burden: under-resourced systems are losing their best talent.
Our presentation reviewed findings from a cross-sectional WHO study of 47 African countries, which reported an average density of only 1.55 doctors, nurses, and midwives per 1,000 people—far below the WHO-recommended benchmark of 4.45 per 1,000 needed to achieve UHC. Only four countries—South Africa, Mauritius, Namibia, and Seychelles—currently meet this threshold.
We proposed a five-pronged approach to address the crisis:
- Strengthen local training capacity and nursing education infrastructure.
- Enhance retention through fair compensation, safe working conditions, and supportive work environments.
- Implement better governance and workforce planning tools.
- Expand advanced nursing roles, including nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists.
- Promote ethical international collaboration to address the risks of brain drain.
We highlighted Rwanda, Ghana, and South Africa as leading examples of countries implementing innovative, scalable models to strengthen health systems and address workforce challenges. Backed by Sigma’s special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC), our presentation reinforced the urgent need to invest in nurses as the cornerstone of resilient, high-performing health systems—and as essential partners in achieving global health and development goals. If you are interested in learning more, you can watch a recording of our presentation on the Sigma Repository.
Jasper Erwin L. Tolarba, DNP, RN, FACHE, FAAN, is the inaugural Beatrice Hofstadter-White Endowed Chair for Nursing Practice, Education, Research, and Innovation at Nuvance Health System and Sacred Heart University in New York and Connecticut and serves as a Sigma United Nations Liaison. He is a member of Sigma’s Delta Mu and Alpha Zeta Chapters.
Jerry John Ouner, PhD, MS, RN, is an Associate Professor at the University of California, San Francisco and Founder of the Africa Interdisciplinary Health Conference. He is a member of Sigma’s Alpha Eta Chapter.
