Africa has much of the expertise, research capacity and health data needed to develop solutions to its own health challenges, according to North-West University physiology professor Lebo Gafane-Matemane.
Gafane-Matemane, an associate professor at NWU and a researcher with the Hypertension in Africa Research Team, says the continent’s diverse populations and growing pool of researchers provide an important foundation for health research. Her work focuses on kidney function, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, particularly among populations of African ancestry.
“We come from a place of plenty. We are the question and the answer,” says Prof. Gafane-Matemane, a member of the Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART) and the Medical Research Council Research Unit for Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease at the NWU.
She says data generated from African populations can help researchers understand disease patterns, risk factors and differences in how conditions affect communities.
“We are also a continent with a vast wealth of intellectuals, especially young scholars and changemakers who are eager to use limited resources to make a lasting societal impact.”
Her argument comes as African countries face a growing burden of noncommunicable diseases alongside infectious diseases. The World Health Organization says cardiovascular disease has become the leading cause of noncommunicable disease deaths in its African Region, while hypertension is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
A 2025 review co-authored by Gafane-Matemane and other researchers examined the state of hypertension research in sub-Saharan Africa, including recent advances, remaining gaps and priorities for research and prevention.
Focus on early detection
Gafane-Matemane identifies hypertension as one area where stronger African research and locally appropriate interventions are needed.
“The biggest gap is with the development and implementation of contextualised interventions and guidelines to improve early detection,” she says.
The challenge is significant. WHO reported in 2023 that fewer than a third of people with hypertension in its African Region were receiving treatment, while only about 12% had their condition under control.
WHO’s 2026 regional data shows that the problem remains substantial, with up to 44% of adults aged 30 to 79 in the African Region affected by hypertension. In most countries, fewer than half of people with the condition are diagnosed and fewer than one in five have it under control.
Gafane-Matemane’s own research has examined hypertension and cardiovascular risk among African populations, including work on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and its relationship with blood pressure.
Her research group at NWU also works on clinical and community-based approaches to hypertension management. Current projects include home blood pressure monitoring, urinary proteomics and strategies to improve hypertension care.
Questions over research partnerships
Gafane-Matemane says improving health research in Africa also requires greater attention to how research partnerships are structured.
She argues that questions of funding, authorship, data sharing, research leadership and the setting of research priorities should be considered when institutions collaborate.
“We need to ask ourselves: is data sovereignty accounted for and are we genuinely giving back to those who generated the data? Who stands to benefit more?”
She says those questions apply to partnerships between African institutions and organisations in the Global North, as well as collaborations among African institutions.
The emphasis on stronger African research capacity is reflected in existing regional research networks. HART, which was established at NWU in 2008, conducts research aimed at improving the prevention and treatment of hypertension and cardiovascular disease through scientific research, implementation and community engagement.
African researchers have also contributed to international health research. UNAIDS, for example, has documented African contributions to HIV research, including work on HIV-2, transmission and prevention, while researchers based in Africa have led and participated in major clinical studies.
For Gafane-Matemane, the issue is therefore not simply whether Africa has the expertise to investigate its health problems, but how that expertise, data and research capacity are supported and used to develop interventions suited to the populations they are intended to serve.
Phenyo Mokgothu contributed to this story.
