Overview and Purpose
Oxygen is an essential component of treatment in preventing hypoxemia-related morbidity and mortality. Despite being an essential medicine with no alternative, there is a lack of reliable access to medical oxygen in sub-Saharan Africa due to cost, logistical difficulties, and limited capacity (infrastructure and technical).
Building off the July 2022 CEI launched by MedAccess and Unitaid which identified three suppliers in East Africa and continued on to the Unitaid funded East Africa Program on Oxygen Access (EAPOA), the purpose of this CEI is to identify opportunities to support local suppliers interested in increasing availability and affordability of medical oxygen for public procurers in West & Central Africa.
This invitation is addressed to suppliers with existing and potential operations in West & Central Africa that are involved in the production, distribution, or delivery of liquid oxygen (preferred), gaseous oxygen (to be considered), or other industrial gases (to be considered) (‘Companies’), and interested in (one or a combination of):
- Scale-up of production capacity of liquid medical oxygen, with commitment to supply to public procurers at more affordable prices;
- Expanding distribution capabilities (through investments in bulk tanks, filling stations, cylinders, etc);
- Supporting geographic diversification from existing operations to other countries in West & Central Africa;
- Executing projects aimed at increasing availability and affordability of medical oxygen in West & Central Africa.
Companies are invited to submit further information (using the forms in the Appendix), indicating the capacity of medical oxygen that could be offered and the opportunities for sustainable, affordable pricing for the public medical sector if external support was provided, as well as information of the support they require. Available support would focus on various financial mechanisms including but not limited to:
- Debt financing, such as concessional loans for working capital or capital expenditure
- Volume and/or offtake guarantees
- Advanced purchase commitments
- Equity investments
- Other support to be considered. Companies should feel free to suggest
In addition to the above, it should be assumed that implementation support and technical assistance for the navigation of regulatory affairs would be available, together with the opportunity to participate in tenders.
Eligibility Criteria
Companies wishing to submit an CEI must fulfill each of the following criteria:
- Are willing and able to expand production and/or distribution capabilities, and supply bulk liquid medical oxygen in domestic and/or regional markets, in West & Central Africa.
- Are able to supply, or have capacity to start supplying, bulk liquid oxygen with purity levels acceptable for medical use[1] in West & Central Africa.
- Have a relevant track record as 1) a manufacturer of high-purity oxygen operating Air Separation Unit(s) with liquid and/or gaseous output for medical or industrial use; OR 2) a merchant supplier / distributor of liquid oxygen for medical or industrial use.
- Have a valid business trading license.
- Meet the relevant quality assurance standards for their existing business activity.
- Are willing to engage with Unitaid, CHAI and Global Oxygen Alliance (GO2AL) partners to increase the availability and affordability of medical oxygen in domestic and/or regional markets, noting that technical and financial support could be made available to companies committing to these objectives.
Submission Instructions
Expression of Interest
- All CEIs should be submitted in English and/or French and be signed by an authorized representative of the respondent.
- A complete CEI will include the Company’s submission (as detailed in the Appendix) and all relevant annexes requested therein.
- CEIs should be submitted via e-mail with the subject line “Expression of Interest Liquid Oxygen”, to gemprocurement@clintonhealthaccess.org
- Following CEI submissions, the Partners may contact Companies individually, with requests for further information or clarification.
Timeline
CEI Released: 1 September 2025
Information Session: 29 September 2025. Link for the call will be provided a day before for those interested in attending the session, please share your interest to the email address: gemprocurement@clintonhealthaccess.org. A recording of the information session will be available at in the folder where the this draft and other supplemental documents can be found.
Questions Deadline for Manufacturers (via email): Any queries or requests for clarification regarding this CEI must be submitted via email to gemprocurement@clintonhealthaccess.org, quoting CEI/CHAIGEM/LOX/001 in the subject line, by 19 September 2025. All responses to queries will be provided through the CEI solicitation channels and posted to the folder where this draft and other supplementation documents can be found.
Q&A Response Document Released: 26 September 2025 by email to all those who submitted questions and those registered for the information session scheduled for 29 September 2025. We can also provide the response document to interested parties who contact us via email at gemprocurement@clintonhealthaccess.org
Submission Due: Completed submissions must be submitted by 31 October 2025, via email to gemprocurement@clintonhealthaccess.org, quoting CEI/CHAIGEM/LOX/001 in the subject line. If your submission exceeds the size limitation and cannot be sent by email, please request an upload link by emailing gemprocurement@clintonhealthaccess.org with the subject line “Requesting upload link.”
[1] In accordance with the International Pharmacopoeia, https://digicollections.net/phint/2020/index.html#p/home
For complete details and information, please download and review the full CEI:
