A healthcare consulting firm, Salient Advisory, has released its semi-annual report highlighting the top 20 innovators in Africa enhancing access of medical services by partnering with 100 manufacturers and 75 public health institutions.
- The report states that these top innovators within the continent generated revenues amounting to US$ 200 million in the period under review but investment decreased by 36% due to persistent macroeconomic challenges.
- Due to this reduction in funding, health innovators focused on supply chain gaps were unable to upscale their operations and test new solutions that would improve healthcare access in the continent.
- Salient Advisory reported that supply chain innovators in Africa’s health sector captured 57% of the total funding raised in the entire healthcare ecosystem but this prominence has been subtly growing for over a decade.
“Innovators in order and inventory management are emerging as the most prominent category, with 13 innovators operating across 30 countries. The median annual revenue reported by these innovators in 2023 is US$ 3 million though 23% reported annual revenues of over US$ 10 million, and all report strong revenue growth,” the report stated.
Countries with the most robust health tech innovators include Nigeria (29%), Kenya (13%), and Egypt (13%). However, all leading innovators surveyed in the report operated in 33 African countries.
Tech solutions such as ‘Field Intelligence’, ‘Remedial Health’, and ‘Maisha Meds’ served over 4,000 health providers in Nigeria and Kenya. Online pharmacies that enabled patients to order their required drugs experienced difficulties to scale effectively and the model is still not popular with many innovators.
“Online pharmacies and tech-enabled order and inventory management solutions accounted for 80% of the annual revenues reported by the leading innovators in 2023. Product protection and viability innovations are sector-agnostic, operating beyond healthcare in sectors such as agriculture,” the report detailed.
Some innovators like Rwandan health tech, Kasha, evolved beyond their initial service provision to take up other sectoral roles. The solution was started as an online pharmacy offering health products to consumers, but later spread out its wings to accommodate distribution to physical pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics – revenues from these B2B offerings outstripping those of its consumer service.
Field intelligence has served more 35,000 public sector health providers in Kenya and Tanzania by blending digital technologies with inventory systems amplifying management.
‘Maisha Meds’, on the other hand, runs a similar solution for 4,000 pharmacies across Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia. Online pharmacies such as Chefaa, MYDAWA, Yodawa, and HealthPlus were listed in Salient Advisory’s report as the most notable ones in the period under review – serving more than 8 million customers across the continent.
Other health innovators that topped the period include Figorr, mPedigree, Sproxil, and Pharma Secure – which handle product protection, and Wingcopter and Zipline which distribute medical products over geographical distances using drones.
Nearly two-thirds of the leading innovators in continental health supply chains aim to expand within regional spheres by 2025 with Kenya and Uganda being the most potential markets. Two of these innovators from North Africa are gearing for expansion into Europe and the Middle East.
Grinta and MYDAWA are the only mergers within the sector that happened by the first half of this year but they remain opportunities for growth in innovative sectors too young to flex their financial muscles.
About 60% of the tech innovators look forward to offering new roles. With diminished funding, these tech companies are searching for ways to diversify their presence in the market in order to attract more funding and ramp up revenues.
“Having tracked health tech startups for many years, the emergence of a group of leading innovators is exciting to report. Local and global public health communities must increasingly recognize and leverage the innovators in developing reliable and resilient health supply chains,” said Yomi Kazeem, Engagement Manager at Salient Advisory.
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