For years, the narrative around African healthtech has been dominated by the promise of potential – startups pitching apps that could fix broken supply chains or might digitise patient records. But at the 3rd Access to Markets (A2M) event in Lagos today, hosted by Investing in Innovation Africa (i3), that potential started looking a lot like hard infrastructure.
The event, a match-making heavyweight bout connecting startups with global manufacturers and donors, didn’t just yield networking opportunities. It produced three tangible, distinct deals that signal where the industry is heading: deep integration between local tech stacks and global pharmaceutical giants.
Here is a breakdown of the three major announcements and what they actually mean for the tech ecosystem.
The MYDAWA x MSD Pivot: It’s not just pills, it’s “Concierge Care”
The first headline deal sees Kenyan e-pharmacy giant MYDAWA teaming up with MSD (known as Merck & Co. in the US and Canada).
While MYDAWA made its name delivering medication, this partnership is a clear indicator that the “logistics-only” model is evolving. They are launching what they call “concierge channel services” specifically targeting cervical cancer elimination.
How it works: Instead of just buying medication, the platform is expanding into a hybrid Online-to-Offline (O2O) model. The tech stack will now support online booking tools and educational counselling, guiding users to both at-home and in-clinic care options.
MSD is providing the technical and business expertise to build this out. Crucially, there is a distinct layer of caution here: the release explicitly notes that this initiative involves information and service access, not the distribution of unregistered vaccines or products. This is a regulated, data-driven approach to patient management, attempting to solve the “last mile” problem not just for boxes of pills, but for actual medical procedures.
Dr. Priya Agrawal, VP at MSD, framed it as “creating health markets,” which is corporate-speak for a very real shift: global pharma realising they cannot reach African consumers without plugging into local digital platforms.
Sproxil’s AI Surveillance vs. Malaria
The most technically dense announcement comes from Nigeria, involving Sproxil, the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), and the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC).
Sproxil is best known in the tech space for anti-counterfeit mobile verification. However, this MoU sees them deploying a “test-to-treat” model powered by AI-enhanced surveillance.
The Tech Stack:
- Data Source: Real-time inputs from pharmacies and patent medicine vendors (PMVs)—the informal sector where most Nigerians actually buy their meds.
- The AI Layer: The system uses this data to map disease patterns and track distribution.
- The Goal: To give the government (NMEP) “epidemiological intelligence.”
In plain English? The Nigerian government usually relies on delayed data to fight malaria. This partnership attempts to turn every drug purchase verification into a live data point. If the government wants to hit its target of reducing malaria prevalence to below 10 per cent, it needs to know where the outbreaks are as they happen. This is a massive test of whether consumer-facing tech can reliably feed into national health policy.
Boehringer Ingelheim opens the wallet
The third announcement was less about engineering and more about capital. Boehringer Ingelheim’s Social Engagement Fund confirmed investments in three startups:
- Dawa Mkononi: A Tanzanian B2B pharmaceutical marketplace (and current i3 cohort member).
- Kasha: The femtech e-commerce platform improving access to women’s health products.
- Reach52: A tech platform delivering health services to disconnected communities.
Dr. Ilka Wicke, Head of Sustainability Social at Boehringer, stated the goal is improving the lives of 50 million people by 2030. For the startups, this is validation that the B2B supply chain model (Dawa Mkononi) is becoming just as attractive to investors as consumer-facing apps.
The Scale of the “i3 Effect”
If you zoom out, these deals are part of a larger machine. i3, funded by heavyweights like the Gates Foundation, Cencora, and Sanofi, is essentially trying to industrialise the success of African healthtech.
The numbers suggest it is working. Since July, i3 has facilitated over 110 bespoke introductions for its cohort (which includes Chefaa, Meditect, mPharma, and Zuri Health). This has generated 15 partnerships with a potential value exceeding $20 million (approx. KES 2.5 billion).
The 15 startups present at the Lagos event currently power 66,000 healthcare providers across 12 countries. The projection is that their tech will underpin 167,000 providers by 2028.
Why this matters
We are seeing the end of the “pilotitis” era – where startups ran endless small pilots that never scaled. The presence of the World Bank, IFC, and federal government officials at A2M suggests that healthtech is no longer a sandbox experiment; it is becoming the primary rail for healthcare delivery in Africa.
Whether it is AI surveillance for malaria in Nigeria or digital oncology booking in Kenya, the software is finally eating the supply chain.
