Salient Advisory studies innovations in healthtech across the African continent. This newsletter summarizes the most interesting news we read each month. Submissions are welcome. Feel free to share.
African governments are forging key partnerships to deploy AI tools at scale…
The Rwandan government and Anthropic signed a 3-year MoU to embed AI across Rwanda’s health, education, and public sector systems, marking Anthropic’s first multi-sector partnership in Africa. The agreement will see Anthropic support Rwanda’s Ministry of Health in tackling national priorities, including eliminating cervical cancer and reducing malaria and maternal mortality.
Kenya formed a strategic trilateral partnership with the governments of India and Italy to co-design and deploy scalable, sovereign AI pathways across Africa, including in health. Co-led by EkStep Foundation, Kenya’s Ministry of ICT, and Italy’s Ministry of Enterprises, the initiative is focused on voice-enabled AI tailored to African contexts, prioritizing low-connectivity environments, local languages, and data ownership, with deployment across health, agriculture, education, and public services.
…as global health institutions provide support to evaluate AI-enabled health solutions
Gates Foundation, Wellcome and Novo Nordisk Foundation jointly launched Evidence for AI in Health (EVAH), a $60 million joint investment over 3 years to support locally-led evaluations of AI tools in low- to middle-income countries, including Sub-Saharan Africa. AI tools aligned with local health priorities and integrated into primary and community healthcare settings will be evaluated, including decision support systems, diagnostic tools powered by computer vision, and large language model applications for health workers. EVAH will be operationalized in partnership with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab and the African Population Health Research Centre.
Innovators secure funding to drive product and geographic expansion
Mobihealth International, a Nigerian healthtech company, raised ~$730,000 from SCM Capital to expand its technology-enabled healthcare services. Capital will be deployed to strengthen its telehealth platforms, roll out solar and satellite-powered clinics, and expand AI-enabled remote diagnostics, particularly in underserved and hard-to-reach communities. Founded in 2017, Mobihealth provides telehealth services to patients across Nigeria.
Axmed, a B2B logistics marketplace platform, secured a $6 million Gates Foundation grant to scale its pooled procurement and integrated logistics platform across low to middle-income countries, including Africa. The company plans to operate across more than 20 countries by the end of 2026, with a five-year target of reaching 100 million patients. Founded in 2023, Axmed’s tech-enabled B2B marketplace and logistics platform connects buyers, manufacturers, and distributors to streamline procurement and delivery of essential medicines.
2 Nigerian states are advancing health system digitization efforts
Abia state government has partnered with healthtech provider Interswitch eClat to digitize medical records across a phased set of public health facilities, spanning primary, secondary, and tertiary care. The initiative seeks to replace fragmented paper-based systems with a secure, interoperable digital records infrastructure to strengthen patient referrals, speed up patient care and enable data-driven decision-making.
Ekiti state government is deploying digital health tools to improve maternal health outcomes and extend care to remote communities in the state. The initiative will enable pregnant women and nursing mothers access care via phone calls and WhatsApp, removing the need for facility visits. This complements ongoing investments in facility upgrades and workforce strengthening, with partners emphasizing the importance of governance, infrastructure, and training to institutionalize these digital services within the state’s health system.
