Salient Advisory, a prominent healthcare consulting firm, has unveiled its latest market intelligence report spotlighting 24 leading innovators in Africa’s health supply chain sector. Funded by the Gates Foundation, the report, titled “Leading Innovations Enabling Health Product Access in Africa,” highlights these innovators as they emerge as significant players despite challenging economic conditions and limited investment in the continent’s tech ecosystem.
The report reveals that these top innovators, with an average operational history of 10 years, now collaborate with over 100 manufacturers and 75 public health institutions. Together, they serve approximately 50,000 providers, who cater to hundreds of thousands of patients daily, and directly distribute health products to millions of consumers.
Among the notable innovators is Kasha, which secured Series B funding last year and has since enhanced its health technology platform, achieving record annual revenues exceeding $50 million in 2023—the highest reported by Salient Advisory to date.
The report identifies a strong presence of companies specializing in digitally-enabled Order and Inventory Management services, which constitute 13 of the 24 featured innovations. These services support hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and drug shops across 30 countries.
Additionally, four leading Online Pharmacies are reaching nearly 10 million customers, with median annual revenues close to $9 million.
Other innovation categories highlighted include Product Protection and Visibility, Medical Drone Delivery, and Data Analytics.
While these leading innovators are poised to make a substantial impact, they require strategic support from governments, donors, industry leaders, and global health organizations to enhance access for underserved populations and improve healthcare cost-effectiveness. Key recommendations for leveraging these innovations include simplifying regulatory pathways, exploring cost-saving potentials, and evolving contracting and payment systems to facilitate broader healthcare delivery partnerships.
The 24 innovators recognized in the report are:
- Chefaa
- DrugStoc
- Field Inc
- Figorr
- Grinta
- HealthPlus
- Kasha
- LifeBank
- Maisha Meds
- Meditect
- mPedigree
- MYDAWA
- Pendulum
- PharmaSecure
- Remedial Health
- RxAll
- Sobrus
- Sproxil
- Talamus Health
- VIA Global Health
- Viebeg
- Wingcopter
- Yodawy
- Zipline
Yomi Kazeem, Engagement Manager at Salient Advisory, remarked, “The findings highlight the impressive resilience and growing influence of African supply chain innovators. Tracking healthtech startups for years, it is thrilling to report the emergence of these leading innovators. It is crucial for both local and global public health communities to increasingly recognize and support these players in developing robust and resilient health supply chains.”
Ann Allen, Senior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation, added, “Technology-enabled innovations have the potential to address longstanding challenges in African health systems, while also creating jobs and strengthening local markets. The report shows that these innovators are increasingly poised to deliver on this promise. However, fully leveraging these advancements to transform cost-effective access for millions of underserved Africans will require coordinated efforts from governments, industry, and global health agencies.”
