Dr. Richard Chivaka is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer – Spark Health Africa; Board Chair – The Consortium of New Medical Schools in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr. Richard Chivaka is a visionary leader in public healthcare transformation, leveraging over 17 years of multi-country experience to revolutionize health systems across Africa. He is a recognized thought leader and connector, driving transformative change to achieve universal health coverage and self-reliance across Africa. As the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Spark Health Africa, Dr. Chivaka has driven transformative leadership and mindset change to strengthen health systems in Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania. His expertise bridges business, health, and government sectors, forging robust partnerships with African governments and major funding organizations to achieve sustainable health outcomes. In academia, Dr. Chivaka is an Associate Professor of Business Strategy and Supply Chain Management at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business. An author and researcher, he supervises PhD students specializing in transformative leadership, business strategy, value chain innovation, and operations management. Dr. Chivaka’s thought leadership extends globally as a Member of the Expert Group for the World Health Organization’s Implementation Guidance on Demand-led Scaling Innovation in the Public Sector, and the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council. He is a member of the Scientific Program Committee for the International Conference on Public Health in Africa and currently chairs the Scientific Program Committee Track on Advancing Self-Reliance and Health Security. Dr. Chivaka is also a key leader in early childhood development as a member of the Advisory Group for the Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN), where he leads the Childcare Systems Mapping Working Group.
Dr. Chivaka has consulted for leading organizations such as Nestlé South Africa, Ernst and Young, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the Uganda Investment Authority, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and German Foreign Office. As the inaugural Research Scholar at Stanford Business School’s SEED Institute, he contributed to scaling African entrepreneurs’ businesses. He holds a PhD in Accounting from the University of Cape Town, a Master of Science from the University of Manchester, and a Bachelor of Commerce from the Zimbabwe University of Science and Technology.