i3 announces four healthtech partnerships across Africa

Four partnerships between African health technology companies and global, regional and private-sector organisations were announced at the fourth annual Access to Markets (A2M) event of Investing in Innovation Africa (i3), with deals covering pharmacy financing, chronic disease care, pharmaceutical supply chains and regulation.

The partnerships are intended to expand access to healthcare and medicines and strengthen the use of digital technologies in health systems.

Dawa Mkononi, a Tanzanian healthtech company, signed a working capital agreement with NMB Bank to provide interest-free credit to pharmacies, drug shops and health facilities. The financing will be delivered through Dawa Mkononi's credit-scoring system, which the company says has already supported more than US$6 million in financing to frontline health facilities, with a 0.3% non-performing loan rate.

MYDAWA, a digital pharmacy platform, signed a partnership with Endless Health to develop and test a digital model for hypertension and diabetes care for patients in low- and middle-income settings.

The model is being developed with Ariadne Labs and will generate evidence on whether private pharmacies can provide chronic disease care at scale in East Africa. MYDAWA is also working with Turn.io, a WhatsApp-based patient engagement platform, to support communication with patients.

“Chronic disease care in East Africa is being delivered through private pharmacies whether the system plans for it or not,” said Rubayat Khan, Director of Health Programs at Endless. “What is missing is evidence about whether that channel can deliver quality, not just convenience.”

Priscilla Muhiu, Group COO of MYDAWA, said private pharmacies are an important first point of care for people with hypertension, diabetes and other chronic diseases.

The third deal involves Meditect, which received debt financing from Boehringer Ingelheim to expand its distribution of pharmaceuticals across sub-Saharan Africa and support the digitisation of pharmaceutical supply chains.

Aditya Peri, Associate Director at Boehringer Ingelheim, said the partnership would support Meditect's expansion while improving access to what he described as authentic and affordable medicines.

The fourth partnership is between Sproxil and Nigeria's Pharmacy Council (PCN), which signed a Memorandum of Collaboration to support pharmaceutical regulation through digital and artificial intelligence systems.

The collaboration will cover the National Electronic Pharmacy Platform, oversight of online pharmaceutical sales, digitisation of PCN's field audit processes and delivery of mandatory continuing professional development for pharmacists. PCN will retain regulatory authority, while Sproxil will provide technology and data infrastructure.

The four agreements add to i3's previous deal-making activities for African healthtech companies. According to i3, the programme has facilitated more than 760 introductions that have resulted in 165 partnerships, pilots and memorandums of understanding valued at more than US$19 million.

As of April 2026, i3 says companies in its programme had reached more than 6.85 million patients and tracked, protected or distributed more than 209 million health products.

The A2M event, held alongside the Africa HealthTech Summit, brought together 20 African health innovators and 57 global and regional organisations, including Gavi, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, BillionScale Health and Amref, as well as government institutions.

The participating innovators included Chefaa, Dawa Mkononi, Meditect, mPharma, MYDAWA, Sproxil and Zuri Health. Collectively, i3 says the companies operate through about 3,500 health facilities in 19 African countries.

“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,” said Oladunni Lawal, Investing in Innovation Lead.

“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.”

Access to Markets is i3's flagship platform for connecting African healthtech companies with potential investors, health organisations, governments and other industry partners. The programme focuses on commercial partnerships and market access for locally developed health technologies.

i3 is supported by the Gates Foundation, MSD, Cencora, Endless Health, HELP Logistics, Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim and is implemented by Salient Advisory and the Solina Centre for International Development and Research.