Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to drastically transform the operations and prospects of small pharmacies across the country.
According to Microsoft, AI can boost small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the pharmaceutical space by among others, giving them better access to financial services, optimizing their processes and improving their service delivery. This, in turn, could have a powerful effect on national healthcare provision, including medicine availability.
While speaking about a new partnership with Kenyan startup, Zendawa, Microsoft Africa Transformation Office General Manager, Gerald Maithya, underscored how AI is helping to reimagine pharmaceutical operations across both rural and urban areas of East Africa by creating online access to pharmaceutical offerings as well as financing solutions for small businesses and pharmacy shops. Zendawa has collaborated with tech firm Flapmax and Microsoft to rollout AI-powered solutions.
“Zendawa is a great example of what small businesses in Africa can accomplish with AI. That’s why Microsoft’s ambition is to democratise our breakthroughs in AI to help local businesses be more productive and go on to solve the most pressing problems of the continent. We’re excited to support Zendawa as they look to transform access to quality healthcare in Africa,” said Maithya.
Through the partnership, Zendawa has set up a marketplace where online users can order pharmaceutical products. Further, by leveraging AI, Zendawa can match these orders to the nearest pharmacy, while providing last mile delivery thereafter. In addition, to help streamline forecasting within pharmacies and improve access to funding, the startup uses optimised software tools and improved supply chain management.
“Understanding that operational expenses account for around 70 percent of pharmacies’ annual budget allocation, Zendawa provides these businesses with a digital suite to track their online and offline sales. It then uses AI to analyse data from the digital suite of tools used by its pharmacy partners and develops credit scores. These scores help unlock access to capital, which pharmacies can use to restock or pay for utilities,” said Wilfred Chege, Co-founder and CEO
Already, Zendawa serves 520 pharmacies in the region with the aim of reaching 10,000 by the end of the year. Through its expansion, the startup hopes to transform the outlook for local pharmacies, not only enabling them to contribute positively to the availability of essential medicines across East Africa, but at the same time having a positive impact on much-needed small business development and job creation.