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African Governments Collaborate Tech Innovators to Strengthen Local Health Supply Chains – Report

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Healthcare consulting firm Salient Advisory has launched its latest annual market intelligence report highlighting a robust pan-African ecosystem of innovators improving the safety and efficiency of health supply chains across the continent.

Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the report titled “Innovations in Digitizing Health Supply Chains in Africa” is the first pan-African landscape of health supply chain innovators on the continent. It tracks nearly 350 technology-enabled innovators digitizing supply chain processes across 27 African countries.

As a wave of supply chain innovations emerged amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the long-term viability and impact of their business models was unclear. While the pace of new entry has slowed drastically, findings show African governments working with health supply chain innovators on nearly 50 partnerships, leveraging their tech-enabled solutions to resolve long-term challenges around the availability, accessibility, and quality of health products in public health supply chains.

Nearly half of the identified partnerships focus on enabling governments to digitize ordering and inventory management to improve efficiency and minimize wastage, highlighting governments’ strong interest in adopting digital order and inventory management solutions.

While most innovators working in partnership with governments are more mature, like Zipline and mPharma, several younger companies have also established public sector partnerships early on, including Nigeria’s Figorr and Zimbabwe’s Vaxiglobal.

As Africa’s tech scene grows, governments’ interest in supporting innovations that deliver social impact – while creating jobs – appears to be developing. The growing emergence of these partnerships also bodes well for the development of innovation-friendly regulations by governments across the continent.

Disparities in funding trends remain apparent across the health supply chain innovation ecosystem.

While innovators have raised $2.6 billion in funding since their founding, US and Europe-based e-commerce companies and medical drone delivery operators account for 77% of all funding raised; the remaining innovators have raised $584 million since their launch.

While government interest in innovations in ordering and inventory management appears strong and presents a potential path to scale, startups in this category have raised only 9% of all funding since their founding.

In terms of the number of deals, Plug N Play Ventures and Launch Africa stand out as the most active sources of equity funding in this space, while the Investing in Innovation program, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Google’s Black Founders Fund have provided the highest number of grants.

The 29 women-led companies active across the African continent (with a large concentration in Nigeria and Kenya) still suffer from poor access to equity financing, resulting in heavy reliance on debt and grants.

Innovators headquartered outside the continent have also raised 83% of total funding ever reported, with large e-commerce giants and medical drone delivery operators capturing the bulk of external investment.

Similarly, gender financing gaps are also evident as companies founded solely by women make up 8% of all startups but have received only 2% of all reported funds overall time. Lack of access to equity financing results in women-led companies relying more heavily on debt and grants.

As the ecosystem matures, innovators will provide supply chain solutions at a greater scale to governments, industry, global health agencies and more.

The report advocates for the design and launch of trade financing and insurance solutions to enable mature innovators to distribute larger volumes of health products for institutional customers, an adjustment of purchasing processes by global health agencies to facilitate the participation of innovators in donor-funded supply chains, and the continued deployment of grants to foster inclusive and effective innovation ecosystems.

Speaking on the launch of the report, Remi Adeseun, Director at Salient Advisory, commented: “The report offers the first comprehensive overview of tech-enabled health supply chain innovators emerging across Africa. We are surprised – and thrilled – to see so many government partnerships with innovators underway at both national and sub-national levels.

“We urge global health donors, agencies and industry partners to join with governments and investors in supporting high-potential innovators, helping foster more efficient and resilient healthcare supply chains while creating jobs.”

Hany Abdallah, Senior Program Officer, Supply Chain Systems at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, also commented:

“African health innovators have demonstrated an impressive ability to utilize technology for the optimization of supply chain solutions and the improvement of access to medicines. We are delighted to witness this progress, particularly as it coincides with an increase in government partnerships, which will advance positive health outcomes.

“This trend highlights the trust and collaboration between governments and health tech innovators, as well as a shared commitment to driving positive change and fostering innovation within the healthcare sector across the continent.”

Jules Sergine Agbeci, Director of Operations at Office Pharmaceutique National, Gabon, said: “Leveraging tech-enabled solutions to digitize national supply chains across the country has had a transformative effect on the efficiency and product visibility across our local supply chains.

“As innovators develop more technology-driven models, there will be opportunities for more government agencies across the continent to test these solutions and offer clarity on their supply chain needs to enable public health systems to leapfrog long-running challenges.”

 


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SEC Urges State Governments to Explore Investment Opportunities in Capital Market

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As part of strategies to harness the potentials inherent within the various states for wealth creation, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is to embark on investor education for state governments across the country.

Dr. Emomotimi Agama, the Director General of SEC, disclosed this during a meeting with a team from the World Bank Group and the International Finance Corporation (IFC)  in Abuja.

He stated that the Commission would approach the state governments to help them understand the many opportunities in the capital market, and strive to enhance their understanding of financial markets, investment strategies, and regulatory frameworks.

According to him, “Imagine setting up factories that will produce goods that can be exported and earning foreign exchange. A lot of Nigerians would be employed and that would lead to wealth creation and economic development.

“That is why the Commission will continue to emphasize education, because if they do not know, there is little they can do until they know. Sometimes it is not because they don’t want to do it, it is just because they don’t know and it is our responsibility to give this vital knowledge for wealth creation.There are some states in the country that are so rich but nothing is happening there. All of their wealth is in the ground.”

He added that the strategic approach will commence soon with the Executive Council of a state in northern Nigeria, to speak to them about the opportunities in the capital market.

“We will create guides, reports, and policy briefs that explain capital market opportunities for state governments, we will translate complex financial concepts into simple, actionable insights and we will use case studies from Nigerian states that have successfully raised capital through bonds or attracted investments in the capital market.

“We believe strongly that if we go out and speak to these people, get them into understanding exactly the benefits and how it is important, get them to manage their own assets meaningfully well, and harness them for greater economic growth for the states, things will begin to change, it is our responsibility to change the narratives and we will keep at it,” he said.

Speaking earlier, Mr. Tom Ceusters, Director, Treasury Market Operation IFC, said the delegation of the World Bank Group and IFC were on a  two weeks mission to Nigeria to have deep conversations with regulators and organisations in the financial sector with a view to coming up with plans to help their endeavours.


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Meta to Begin Layoffs Across All Operations from Today

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Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is set to implement company-wide layoffs starting Monday, February 10, 2025.

Meta to Begin Layoffs Across All Operations from Today

Notifications will begin at 5 a.m. local time in most countries, including the United States.

However, due to local regulations, employees in Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands will be exempt from these cuts.

Staff in over a dozen countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa will receive their notifications between February 11 and February 18.

The layoffs are expected to affect approximately 5% of Meta’s workforce.

They will target the company’s lowest performers in what is termed “performance terminations.”

This move is part of Meta’s broader strategy to streamline operations and focus on key areas of growth.

Concurrently, Meta is expediting the hiring of machine learning engineers and other essential engineering roles.

The hiring process is scheduled to take place between February 11 and March 13, aligning with Meta’s strategic priorities for 2025.

Unlike previous company-wide layoffs, Meta plans to keep its offices open on Monday and will not issue any additional updates regarding the decisions.

The company has declined to comment further on the internal memos detailing these plans


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NEMSA, NAICOM Sign Agreement to Boost Electrical Safety, Insurance

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The Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Insurance Commission to enhance electrical safety compliance in residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, as well as ensure adherence to insurance policy requirements for these structures.

A statement issued by Ama Umoren, NEMSA’s Head of Communications and Protocol Unit, on Sunday in Abuja, stated that the MoU establishes a collaborative framework between NEMSA and NAICOM to ensure that as a pre-condition, all electrical installations in residential, commercial, industrial premises, hazardous locations, industries and factories are duly certified by NEMSA before the Insurance Policy is processed by all Insurance Companies.

It stated further that the partnership between NEMSA and NAICOM aligned with the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening the reliability and safety of Nigeria’s electricity sector.

The NEMSA’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Aliyu Tukur Tahir, while speaking during the signing ceremony, emphasised the importance of this collaboration in mitigating risks associated with electrical accidents and infrastructure failures.

“This partnership with NAICOM is a significant step towards ensuring that all electricity consumers, operators, and investors adhere to the highest safety and risk management standards.

”By integrating insurance compliance into electrical safety enforcement, we are safeguarding lives, investments, and the overall integrity of the power sector,” he stated.

Tukur, who is also the Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation, said going forward, ‘’It will also be a requirement by NEMSA that all Facility Applicants of its statutory inspection, testing and certification, should ensure that their Facilities are insured with Insurance Companies, for safety and mitigation of risk.”

On his part, the Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer of NAICOM, Mr Olusegun Omosehin, reiterated NAICOM’s commitment to ensuring that all power sector players embrace insurance as a critical risk management tool.

“Insurance plays a crucial role in cushioning the effects of electrical hazards and infrastructure-related incidents. Through this MoU, we will work closely with NEMSA to enforce compliance with relevant insurance policies, ensuring that the power sector operates with adequate risk mitigation mechanisms in place,” he said.

The collaboration will involve joint awareness campaigns, regulatory enforcement, and information-sharing initiatives to promote electrical safety and insurance adoption across the power sector.

This strategic partnership marks a milestone in the drive to enhance safety, reliability, and sustainability within Nigeria’s electricity industry and the country at large.


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