Four African health-tech companies sign deals with banks, businesses and regulators
Four African health-tech companies have signed new deals that will give them access to banks, pharmaceutical companies and regulators in three African markets.
African health-tech
Four African health-tech companies have signed new deals that will give them access to banks, pharmaceutical companies and regulators in three African markets.
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Four African health-tech companies have signed new deals that will give them access to banks, pharmaceutical companies and regulators in three African markets. The agreements involve Dawa Mkononi in Tanzania, MYDAWA in Kenya, Meditect and Sproxil in Nigeria. They were announced at the fourth annual Access to Markets event run by Investing in Innovation Africa (i3).
The deals cover four different parts of healthcare: financing for pharmacies, treatment for chronic diseases, pharmaceutical distribution and pharmacy regulation.
Dawa Mkononi gets NMB Bank deal
“The four deals give African health-tech companies access to banks, pharmaceutical companies and regulators not just investors.”
Tanzanian company Dawa Mkononi has partnered with NMB Bank to provide interest-free working capital to pharmacies, drug shops and health facilities. The businesses will be able to use the credit to buy stock and manage their day-to-day cash needs.
This is a common problem for smaller pharmacies. They need to pay suppliers before they can sell the medicine, which can leave a large amount of money tied up in stock. Dawa Mkononi already provides credit to healthcare businesses through its platform. The company says it has disbursed more than $6 million to frontline healthcare facilities, with a non-performing rate of 0.3%. The NMB Bank agreement gives the company another route to provide credit to pharmacies and other healthcare businesses in Tanzania.
MYDAWA wants to make chronic care easier to manage
Kenyan digital pharmacy MYDAWA has signed a partnership with Endless Health to develop a digital service for people with hypertension and diabetes. The companies will design and test the service and document how it works in low- and middle-income markets.
MYDAWA is also working with Ariadne Labs and Turn.io on the project. The service is intended to bring more of the routine work around chronic diseases into the pharmacy. Someone managing high blood pressure or diabetes may need regular medication, monitoring and follow-ups. The idea is to use digital tools to keep patients connected to that process instead of relying only on occasional visits to a healthcare facility.
The companies will first test the model before looking at wider use.
Meditect secures debt from Boehringer Ingelheim
Meditect has secured debt financing from pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. The company works on pharmaceutical supply chains and is looking to expand its operations across sub-Saharan Africa. The value of the debt facility has not been disclosed. Meditect's business is focused on helping medicines move through the supply chain and making it easier for healthcare businesses to access genuine pharmaceutical products. The new financing will support expansion in existing markets and entry into new ones.
Sproxil works with Nigeria's pharmacy regulator
In Nigeria, Sproxil has signed a Memorandum of Collaboration with the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN). The agreement covers the use of digital systems in pharmacy regulation. The areas mentioned include online pharmacy sales, field inspections and continuing professional development for pharmacists.
Sproxil will provide technology and data infrastructure for the work. PCN remains responsible for regulating pharmacies and pharmacists. For Sproxil, the agreement puts its technology into a government regulatory process. For PCN, it provides digital tools that can be used in areas where much of the work has traditionally required physical inspections and paperwork.
The deals go beyond raising money
None of the four announcements is simply a new funding round for a startup. Dawa Mkononi is getting access to a bank and using its technology to support lending to healthcare businesses. MYDAWA is working with another healthcare company on a specific service for patients with two common chronic conditions.
Meditect is using debt financing to expand its pharmaceutical supply-chain business. Sproxil is working directly with a regulator in Nigeria. That makes the deals particularly relevant for health-tech companies trying to move from having a product to having paying customers and large institutional partners.
According to i3, its programme has facilitated more than 760 introductions between African health-tech companies and potential partners. Those introductions have resulted in 165 partnerships, pilots and memorandums of understanding worth more than $19 million. As of April 2026, i3 said companies in its programme had served more than 6.85 million patients and tracked, protected or distributed more than 209 million health products.
The four new deals now have to translate into actual use. For Dawa Mkononi, that means more pharmacies and health facilities taking up credit. For MYDAWA, it means getting patients to use the chronic-care service. Meditect will need to turn the new financing into wider distribution, while Sproxil and PCN will have to put the new digital systems to work. That is where these agreements will make a difference for the companies involved.
