Investing in Innovation Africa (i3), a pan-African initiative designed to help African healthtech startups scale and commercialize their offerings, today announced 4 strategic partnerships between leading African healthtech innovators and global, regional, and private sector partners at its 4th annual Access to Markets (A2M) event.
The new transformative deals will focus on supporting chronic disease care, expanding patient access to affordable and safe medicines, and strengthening pharmacy regulation through digital and artificial intelligence systems.
- Dawa Mkononi and NMB Bank signed a working capital deal to expand interest-free credit to pharmacies, drug shops and health facilities across Tanzania, delivered through Dawa Mkononi’s proprietary credit scoring engine, which has already disbursed over USD 6 million to frontline facilities at a 0.3% non-performing rate.
- MYDAWA and Endless Health signed a partnership to co-design, test, and document a scalable, digital-first model of hypertension and diabetes care for low-and middle-income patients. This model, created in partnership with Ariadne Labs, will also help build an evidence base for delivering chronic disease care through a private pharmacy platform in East Africa. MYDAWA is also partnering with Turn.io, a WhatsApp-based engagement platform, to make communication with patients easier and more accessible.
Rubayat Khan, Director of Health Programs, Endless commented: “Chronic disease care in East Africa is being delivered through private pharmacies whether the system plans for it or not. What is missing is evidence about whether that channel can deliver quality, not just convenience, which is exactly what this partnership with MYDAWA and Ariadne Labs is designed to produce.”
“Private pharmacies remain a critical first point of care for people living with noncommunicable and chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, which are increasingly prevalent across Africa. This partnership gives us an opportunity to make access more affordable and strengthen care delivery for patients in their own communities,” said Priscilla Muhiu, Group COO of MYDAWA.
- Meditect has received debt financing from Boehringer Ingelheim, supporting the company’s mission to expand access to affordable, safe and authentic, high-quality pharmaceuticals across Sub-Saharan Africa. The partnership will enable Meditect to extend its coverage across new and existing markets while helping to digitise pharmaceutical supply chains.
“Everyone deserves access to safe, high-quality medicines, irrespective of where you live. Today, Meditect is helping make this a reality in Sub-Saharan Africa. By strengthening trusted pharmaceutical supply chains and helping patients access authentic medicines, Meditect is also playing a critical role in tackling the widespread challenge of counterfeit and substandard medicines across the region. We are proud to support their expansion, ensuring that more patients can more easily find affordable and authentic pharmaceuticals, whenever and wherever they might need them. I’m excited to see how they’ll scale up their enormous potential in the future,” shared Aditya Peri, Associate Director at Boehringer Ingelheim.
- Sproxil and the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) signed a Memorandum of Collaboration to support pharmacy regulation in Nigeria through digital and artificial intelligence systems. The partnership will focus on the National Electronic Pharmacy Platform, oversight of online pharmaceutical sales, digitisation of PCN’s field audit workflow, and expanded delivery of Mandatory Continuing Professional Development for pharmacists. The collaboration will see PCN retain full regulatory authority, with Sproxil providing the underlying technology and data infrastructure.
These deals build on i3’s proven track record of deal facilitation for African health startups, having generated over 760 bespoke introductions, resulting in 165 partnerships, pilots and Memorandums of Understanding valued at over $19 million. As of April 2026, i3 innovators have served over 6.85 million patients and tracked, protected and distributed over 209 million health products, demonstrating i3’s growing impact on patients’ access to essential care and safe medicines across Africa.
Held alongside the Africa HealthTech Summit, this year’s A2M event convened 20 leading local innovators, including i3’s current Future of Pharmacy cohort – Chefaa, Dawa Mkononi, Meditect, mPharma, MYDAWA, Sproxil, and Zuri Health. Together, they are expanding patient access and safety through 3,500 health facilities across 19 African countries, helping strengthen the continent’s health systems and improve quality healthcare delivery.
A2M was also attended by 57 leading global and regional industry players, including GAVI, J&J, Pfizer, BillionScale Health, AMREF, and several government institutions creating a unique platform for collaboration between innovators, investors, policymakers and healthcare stakeholders to accelerate the adoption of scalable healthcare solutions across Africa.
Speaking at this year’s event, Oladunni Lawal, Investing in Innovation Lead, said: “African innovators are reshaping healthcare delivery across the region, with solutions designed to address local gaps and reach the communities and patients who need them most. Through Access to Markets, we are bringing regional and global partners closer to these businesses, opening commercial opportunities that enable their innovations to deliver greater health impact. Now in its fourth year, A2M is demonstrating the value of this approach, with today’s deals committing financing and expertise to stronger pharmacy networks and more accessible chronic disease care.”
Access to Markets is i3’s flagship event for collaboration between Africa’s leading healthtech innovators and regional and global health organizations and industry players, offering a unique platform for networking, end-to-end deal facilitation, and market partnerships that create sustainable pathways for growth and enable locally developed solutions to deliver impact at scale.
i3 is supported by its dedicated sponsors–the Gates Foundation, MSD, Cencora, Endless Health, HELP Logistics, Sanofi, and Boehringer Ingelheim–and implemented by Salient Advisory and the Solina Centre for International Development and Research (SCIDaR).
