The Gates Foundation has granted $5 million (Sh 646,658,000) to Axmed to enhance the procurement of Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH) commodities in Africa.
It aims to significantly reduce the ever-rising maternal and newborn deaths.
Through the healthcare tech company, the grant will further unlock $10 million (Sh1,292,000.00) in healthcare procurement to enhance access to essential medicines in select Sub-Saharan African countries.
The program is also geared towards addressing the ever-challenging gaps in national procurement systems, thus offering liquidity and consolidated procurement benefits.
The grant award declaration was made at the 78th World Health Assembly, with key health stakeholders set to be incorporated in its implementation.
Axmed’s platform provides cost-effective and efficient procurement, leading to healthcare delivery in low-resource settings.
It aims to strengthen national procurement capacity by offering Ministries of Health near-term liquidity, access to quality-assured MNCH commodities, and the benefits of pooled procurement and aggregated demand, driving cost-efficiency and secure supply.
Cynthia Mwase, Director of Health, Africa, Gates Foundation, emphasised that reducing the rates of preventable deaths of mothers and babies is vital to their roles in sub-Saharan Africa.
“This partnership with Axmed and local health leaders is an important step forward in ensuring that life-saving innovations reach the communities where they can make the greatest difference – so that more families can experience healthy pregnancies, safe births, and strong starts to life.”
The Gates Foundation is guided by the belief that every life has equal value.
The Seattle, Washington-based Gates Foundation has always strived to assist everyone in leading healthy and productive lives.
Solving Existential Gaps
Despite the existence of several cost-effective medical interventions, about 287,000 women succumb to pregnancy and childbirth complications, and 2.3 million newborns die in their first month annually.
This, however, is hampered by less tight procurement systems, constrained budgets, and fragmented supply chains.
“This continues to reduce access to essential MNCH commodities across low-resource settings.”
Globally, governments are struggling to get the medicines they need due to a liquidity crunch and reductions in donor aid.
This grant responds to that challenge—unlocking immediate financing while enabling longer-term procurement reforms.
According to Dr Loko Abraham, Chief Executive Officer for Rwanda Medical Supply, the Government’s partnership with Axmed is a clear demonstration that meaningful improvements in the efficient and sustainable delivery of high-quality medicines across multiple therapeutic areas can be achieved.
He adds that through the matching fund, the partnership will expand this impact even further, reaching the most vulnerable with urgency and precision.
“This matching fund is a strategic step forward in reimagining procurement in a new era of global health: smarter, faster, and designed to deliver measurable results across the entire health system in collaboration with partners who are both innovative and purpose-driven.”
Unlocking Scale, Speed, and Savings
Axmed is a technology-enabled marketplace transforming how medicines are sourced, financed, and delivered across underserved markets.
“It connects institutional buyers directly with vetted suppliers, aggregating demand across countries and consolidating procurement at scale.”
Axmed realised an upward trajectory of 80 percent cost reduction among ministries and other procurers who used the platform.
They’ve achieved average savings of 20–30 per cent, with select MNCH products.
The tech firm also has cordial collaboration and partnership with global logistics providers.
This is to ensure managing end-to-end delivery, from the manufacturer to last-mile distribution, with full tracking and traceability.
To offer a seamless flow of national and regional procurement strategies, the Axmed platform has been set up in various Low- and Middle-Income Countries ( LMICs).
On his part, Emmanuel Akpakwu, Founder & CEO of Axmed, Emmanuel Akpakwu remarked that the fund is a clear example of how catalytic financing and technology can work together to deliver immediate and lasting impact.
“Our goal is not just to deliver quality medicines faster and more affordably, but to help build more resilient and efficient procurement systems.”
