New partnerships aim to fix Africa's broken medical supply chains

Africa is grappling with a severe medical supply crisis, with fragmented procurement systems and high costs leading to stock shortages and the spread of counterfeit drugs. However, a new wave of alliances — including nonprofits, social enterprises, and logistics firms — is emerging to bridge these gaps.

At a recent health summit in Nairobi, experts identified inefficient procurement structures as a key driver, inflating the cost of medicines and leaving health care systems vulnerable.

“Access to lifesaving health care and medicine is not just a challenge to discuss, but it is a problem to solve,” said Emmanuel Akpakwu, CEO of Axmed, an organization helping low- and middle-income countries access affordable, high-quality medicines. “Patients struggle to gain access to medicines and healthcare not because medicines do not exist or the solutions are unknown, but because our systems are fragmented.”