Private Actors in the Picture: ExxonMobil

Malaria is of particular concern for oil companies, whose workers spend much of their time out of doors and in remote areas with poor or nonexistent health care infrastructure. A case study of an ExxonMobil pipeline project in Chad and Cameroon found an incidence rate of 1,750 cases of malaria per 1,000 workers over the course of one year. In order to meet the health requirements set out as conditions of World Bank support for the pipeline project, and to avoid the nearly US$4 million in costs caused by malaria-related delays, the company partnered with the Chadian and Cameroonian governments to institute a prevention and treatment program. A US$900,000 yearly investment in the program yielded a 70% drop in malaria cases among workers, and a cost savings of over US$3 million per year. Across Africa, ExxonMobil has contributed US$40 million to malaria programs over the past decade, and is one of the major corporate sponsors of Nets for Life, a program of Episcopal Relief and Development that engages Anglican churches in Africa in malaria control.

ExxonMobil has made contributions to global malaria control efforts. It recently provided a trust fund of US$2.2 million to the World Bank to strengthen monitoring and evaluation capacity on malaria both globally and at the country level. The grant has paved the way for the creation of a malaria data warehouse, and has enabled the development of a “malaria score card” used to monitor joint investments on malaria at the country level.