After years of building, leading healthcare supply chain innovations in Africa now appear to be on the cusp of more substantive impact
Healthcare consulting firm Salient Advisory has launched its latest market intelligence report, focusing on 24 leading Africa-focused supply chain innovators which appear to be on the cusp of more substantive impact. Funded by the Gates Foundation, the report titled “Leading Innovations Enabling Health Product Access in Africa”, finds that, amid difficult macro- economic realities and dwindling investment in African technology ecosystems, a select number of African health innovators are emerging as leaders.
Having operated for 10 years on average, the 24 leading innovators collectively now partner with 100+ manufacturers and 75 public health institutions, reaching around 50,000 providers (who serve hundreds of thousands of patients per day) and delivering health products to millions of consumers directly. Kasha made news capturing Series B investment last year, and has since gone on to build its health technology access platform and report annual revenues of more than $50 million in 2023 – the highest ever recorded by Salient’s research to date.
Like Kasha, innovators that offer digitally-enabled Order and Inventory Management services to hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and drug shops appear dominant amongst the leading companies, making up 13 of the 24 featured innovations, with operations in 30 countries. Four leading Online Pharmacies are reaching nearly 10 million customers and generating median annual revenues of nearly $9M. The other categories featured are innovations in Product Protection and Visibility, Medical Drone Delivery and Data Analytics.
While leading innovators now appear positioned to deliver more substantive impact, they require targeted engagement from governments, donors, industry and global health institutions to transform access for unserved populations and improve the cost-effectiveness of care. To leverage leading innovators’ models in driving increases in access, governments, industry, donors and global health agencies should: simplify regulatory pathways; explore innovators’ ability to generate cost- savings for health systems, pursuing partnerships when the evidence is strong; and evolve contracting and payment systems to enable innovators to partner in healthcare delivery systems at larger scale.
About Salient Advisory
Launched in 2020 with a globally distributed team in Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa and Canada, Salient Advisory helps changemakers enact transformative approaches to health. The company conducts analysis and supports partnerships to use technology and innovations, adapt policy and financing, and elevate unheard voices to change global conversations and transform access to care. https://www.salientadvisory.com/
About Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life.
https://www.gatesfoundation.org/
