AMREF Health Africa is seeking a consultant to conduct a comprehensive Political Economy Analysis (PEA) in Zambia. Specifically, the consult will carry out a political economy analysis to establish levels, opportunities and barriers of youth engagement as job creators in Primary Healthcare (PHC), Identifying gaps and opportunities in policy and regulations across sectors.

Background and Context

Africa faces significant challenges in building a resilient and responsive health workforce. However, the link between engaging young people in job creation to meet the workforce needs in the health sector remains under-resourced. The continent accounts for 16% of the world’s population, it bears 24% of the global disease burden while being served by only 3% of the global health workforce. The estimated ratio of health workers in the region is 11.2 workers per 10,000 people, far below the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended ratio of 44.5 workers per 10,000 people. These challenges stem from underdeveloped policy and legislative environments, misaligned workforce planning, and insufficient cross sector stakeholder engagement. Policies and legislative frameworks are essential for addressing workforce shortages, resource distribution, and youth engagement in health systems. However, gaps in policy coherence, enforcement, and funding mechanisms hinder progress toward achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and creating sustainable employment opportunities, particularly for youth.

As a vehicle for youth employment and entrepreneurship, the health sector presents an opportunity for young people to bridge the workforce shortage and engage as job creators in the Primary Health Care (PHC) sector. The Learning for Life Programme, a partnership between Amref Health Africa and The Mastercard Foundation, aims to build a responsive and resilient health workforce by unlocking systemic and scalable opportunities for youth across three pillars: Health Employment, Health Entrepreneurship, and Health Ecosystems.

This Political Economy Analysis (PEA) will seek to interrogate and understand the political, economic, regulatory, and sociocultural landscape in Kenya, Senegal, and Zambia. Specifically, it will seek to analyse the policy and economic landscape, identify enablers, barriers, and partnerships that can foster youth-led employment and enterprise development in the PHC sector.

The purpose of this Political Economy Analysis (PEA) is to evaluate the political economy landscape impacting job creation in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a country specific focus on Zambia. The analysis aims to provide actionable insights for creating an enabling environment for young people’s meaningful entry, participation and institutionalization in the health workforce whilst addressing systemic barriers to workforce planning, resource allocation, and policy implementation.

Expected Profiles of the Consultant(s)

The assignment will be contracted to an independent consultancy firm to lead and execute the exercise. Consultants must also demonstrate experience in Health Workforce planning or related programs and in-country experience.

The lead consultant should have the following expertise:

• At least a PhD degree in public health, social sciences research or another relevant field of study for the lead researcher and a minimum of a Master’s degree for the research support consultants;
• Good understanding of Zambia’s health sector and context
• Must have authorization to work in Zambia
• Minimum of 5 years of demonstrated experience in qualitative and/or mixed methods research including training and supervising qualitative research assistants
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills;
• Well versed in the use of NVIVO or other software like Atlas.ti for qualitative data analysis
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Strong leadership, planning and problem-solving skills
• Must be able to work independently with excellent demonstrated teamwork and coordination skills
• Previous experience consulting for or with international non-governmental organizations and donors is mandatory

• The proposals should be emailed to: procurement.zambia@amref.org with the subject line: Application for Consultancy – Learning for Life Political Economy Analysis in Zambia. Deadline for submissions is 14^th June 2025.

  Amref Health Africa reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal received without giving reasons and is not bound to accept the lowest or the highest bidder.

  To apply for this job please visit amref.org.