AI’s Power In Solving Healthcare Challenges In Africa

Access to essential medicine is a prerequisite for basic healthcare. Yet, patients in Africa, especially those among more vulnerable groups, often find it difficult to access the drugs that they need. As a result, it is estimated that the rate of deaths from communicable disease is higher in Sub-Saharan Africa than any other region in the world.

Beyond the shortfall in local production, disjointed supply chains often translate into constrained access to the required medications. In the context of national health systems, challenges range from a limited healthcare workforce to inadequate forecasting, insufficient funds, and delayed lead times.

Growing focus from regional governments on the wellbeing of their citizens, coupled together with the increasing demand for medicine, presents significant opportunity for local businesses within the pharmaceutical industry. Indeed, the African market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 3.4 percent between 2024 and 2030.

However, small pharmacies, which play a critical role in health systems across the continent, often lack the financial resources and infrastructure needed to operate efficiently. Many face challenges in maintaining adequate stock levels, investing in technology, and providing comprehensive services, limiting both their own growth potential and their ability to contribute towards sustainable health solutions for the communities in which they operate.

Because these smaller entities typically lack suitable information such as credit history, financial statements, and other prerequisite data points, they are often at a major disadvantage when it comes to traditional credit-scoring models. And the result is that many small businesses are without access to credit, limiting their ability to invest for growth.

Having said that, recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) present a turning point for such businesses and can transform many aspects of how small pharmacy businesses work and help them address some of their growth hinderances. Among other benefits, AI could improve their chances to access financial services, optimise their processes and improve their service delivery. This, in turn, could have a powerful effect on national healthcare provision, including medicine availability.

At Zendawa for example, we are utilizing AI to reimagine our operations across East Africa by creating online access to pharmaceutical offerings and solutions for small businesses and pharmacy shops across located in both rural and urban areas. We currently serve 520 pharmacies in the region with the aim of reaching 10,000 by the end of the year. In rolling out the AI-powered solutions, we collaborate with tech firm Flapmax and Microsoft.

By leveraging AI, we serve our customers through a marketplace where online users can order pharmaceutical products and matching these orders to the nearest pharmacy, while providing last mile delivery thereafter.  To help streamline forecasting within pharmacies and improve access to funding, we use optimised software tools and improved supply chain management.

Understanding that operational expenses account for around 70 percent of pharmacies’ annual budget allocation, Zendawa provides these businesses with a digital suite to track their online and offline sales. We then use AI to analyse data from the digital suite of tools used by our pharmacy partners and develop credit scores. These scores help unlock access to capital, which pharmacies can use to restock or pay for utilities.

Patients can also make use of Zendawa’s platform to book online or in-person consultations with medical practitioners. Using this same digital suite, the practitioners can share and analyse medical records to provide more fully informed care decisions.

With no doubt, effective AI integration has opened the door to more advanced capabilities, from expiry date and inventory forecasting, to demand prediction, and optimised inventory management processes. The introduction of a virtual assistant has also supported our startup’s telemedicine service and overall customer experience.

In summary, we hope to continue transforming the outlook and economic contribution of local pharmacies, not only through enabling them to contribute positively to the availability of essential medicines across East Africa, but at the same time having a positive impact on much-needed small business development and job creation.

The author is the Co-founder and CEO, Zendawa.