i3 announces four healthtech partnerships at Access to Markets Event in Rwanda
The new agreements build on i3’s market access programme, which has facilitated more than 760 tailored introductions and contributed to 165 partnerships, pilots and memoranda of understanding valued at more than US$19 million.
RWANDA—Investing in Innovation Africa (i3) has announced four partnerships at its fourth annual Access to Markets (A2M) event in Rwanda to help African healthtech companies expand access to healthcare and medicines.
The deals connect African innovators with financial, technology, pharmaceutical, and regulatory partners to address chronic disease care, medicine access and pharmacy regulation.
Financing and digital chronic disease care
Under one agreement, Dawa Mkononi and NMB Bank will provide interest free working capital to pharmacies, drug shops and health facilities across Tanzania.
The financing will use Dawa Mkononi’s credit scoring platform, which has already enabled more than US$6 million in credit to frontline facilities and recorded a 0.3% non-performing rate.
Meanwhile, MYDAWA and Endless Health will co-design and test a digital model for hypertension and diabetes care for low and middle-income patients.
Developed with Ariadne Labs, the initiative will generate evidence on whether private pharmacies can deliver structured chronic disease services at scale in East Africa.
Rubayat Khan, Director of Health Programs at Endless Health, said private pharmacies already provide chronic disease care across East Africa, creating a need to establish whether they can deliver quality care alongside convenience.
MYDAWA is also partnering with Turn.io to improve patient communication through WhatsApp-based engagement tools.
Priscilla Muhiu, Group COO of MYDAWA, said private pharmacies are an important first point of care for people with hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic conditions.
Strengthening pharmaceutical supply and regulation
Elsewhere, Meditect secured debt financing from Boehringer Ingelheim to expand access to affordable and authentic pharmaceuticals across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The financing will support expansion into new and existing markets while helping Meditect digitise pharmaceutical supply chains.
Boehringer Ingelheim Associate Director Aditya Peri said stronger pharmaceutical supply chains can help patients access authentic medicines while addressing counterfeit and substandard products.
In Nigeria, Sproxil and the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) signed a Memorandum of Collaboration to strengthen pharmacy regulation through digital and artificial intelligence systems.
The partnership covers the National Electronic Pharmacy Platform, oversight of online medicine sales, digitization of PCN field audits and expanded mandatory continuing professional development for pharmacists.
PCN will retain regulatory authority, while Sproxil will provide technology and data infrastructure.
i3 expands commercial links for healthtech
The new agreements build on i3’s market access programme, which has facilitated more than 760 tailored introductions and contributed to 165 partnerships, pilots, and memoranda of understanding valued at more than US$19 million.
As of April 2026, i3 Innovators had served more than 6.85 million patients and tracked, protected, or distributed over 209 million health products across Africa.
Held alongside the Africa HealthTech Summit, this year’s A2M event brought together 20 African healthtech innovators and 57 global and regional industry stakeholders.
Participants included Gavi, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, BillionScale Health, Amref, and government institutions.
The participating i3 innovators, including Chefaa, Dawa Mkononi, Meditect, mPharma, MYDAWA, Sproxil, and Zuri Health, operate across 3,500 health facilities in 19 African countries.
Their partnerships cover financing, digital engagement, pharmaceutical distribution, and regulatory infrastructure, areas that are increasingly important as healthcare systems seek to extend services through private sector networks.
Speaking at the event, Oladunni Lawal, Investing in Innovation Lead, said A2M brings regional and global partners closer to African healthtech businesses and creates commercial opportunities for locally developed solutions.
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.
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