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.
Digitization at the Last Mile: Case study of 2 leading approaches to integrating supply chain, service delivery, and health financing data
Supply chains are the backbone of health service delivery, yet last-mile visibility remains elusive. In fragmented health systems, digitization offers a pathway to achieving supply chain stewardship, enabling governments to plan and coordinate across diverse health facilities and distribution channels.
Our latest report examines 2 approaches to last-mile digitization in Nigeria and Rwanda: Elephant Operating System (deployed across 120+ health facilities in Enugu, Nigeria) and the Rural Health Operating System (deployed across 126+ health posts in Rwanda), spotlighting how both systems are digitizing service delivery, financing, and supply chain data at the last mile. Read the full report!
AI deployment accelerates across African health systems
The Gates Foundation and OpenAI launched Horizon1000, a $50 million initiative to equip 1,000 African primary healthcare clinics with AI tools by 2028. Beginning with Rwanda’s deployment across 50+ facilities, the partnership will pilot AI-assisted clinical workflows for diagnostic support, decision-making, and administrative tasks. It marks one of the first large-scale implementations of AI technology in African healthcare delivery, with potential to establish replicable models for AI integration in resource-constrained settings.
Sora Technology, a Japanese healthtech company, raised an additional $2.5 million in seed funding to scale its AI-powered drone technology for malaria eradication in Africa. The company combines satellite imagery, drones, and predictive analytics to identify mosquito breeding sites and target vector control interventions. Launched in 2018, Sora’s project, SORA Malaria Control is active in over 10 African countries, including Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone.
AI Diagnostics (South Africa), Cliniva (Kenya), Helium Health (Nigeria), MDaaS Global (Nigeria), hearX Foundation (South Africa), and OneDay Health (Uganda) have completed the Chat for Health & AI Accelerator, alongside innovators from Pakistan, Mexico, the UK, and India. Led by Turn.io, OpenAI, Johnson & Johnson Foundation, and Mulago Foundation, the accelerator ran over 24 weeks to support innovators in developing AI-powered healthcare solutions for underserved populations. AI-powered use cases developed by the innovators include diagnostics and clinical decision support, preventive health and patient engagement, and chatbot-guided access to trusted providers.
Investors and donors catalyze funding for African health innovations
The European Investment Bank (EIB) Global announced a $37.5 million investment in Alta Semper Fund II, a private equity fund focused on scaling pharmaceutical, healthcare, and life sciences companies across Africa. The fund expects to catalyze up to $150 million to support the growth of pharmaceutical and healthcare companies across Africa (with a focus on North Africa), including medical equipment and technologies.
The Global Health EDCTP3 programme selected 36 new global health projects for grant funding to advance health priorities in sub-Saharan Africa. It’s a €215 million investment across health innovation, infectious disease research, clinical trials, and health systems strengthening. Grant agreements are expected to be signed in the first half of 2026.
Gavi announced new partnerships to accelerate innovation and expand access to immunization, including the use of digital health tools, mobile technologies, and drone-based vaccine delivery in selected African countries through its Innovation Scale-Up Facility. It also announced a multi-partner initiative in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, including mobile clinics, community health workers training, cold-chain improvements, and digital tech for insurance enrolment, and a Zipline drone-delivery expansion to Nigeria (Kaduna State) to reach zero-dose communities.
