<![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures: Podcast]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/s/podcasthttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7IXS!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5476ffcd-c444-44fb-856d-55b20e2017b0_450x450.pngAfrica Health Ventures: Podcasthttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/s/podcastSubstackSun, 19 Apr 2026 22:32:48 GMT<![CDATA[Joanna Bichsel of Kasha]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/joanna-bichsel-kashahttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/joanna-bichsel-kashaWed, 11 Mar 2026 07:45:14 GMTWhat does it really take to deliver health and household products to the last mile at scale?

Joanna Bichsel is the Founder and CEO of Kasha, the leading digital commerce and last-mile delivery platform in Africa focused on health products and household goods. In this episode, Joanna shares how Kasha was born and scaled across nine countries to deliver over 110 million products. We unpack the tactics that have allowed her to scale her impact, including the varied and sometimes unlikely partnerships she’s needed to balance. Tune in to hear how this technology startup partnered with the government of Rwanda to create access to emergency contraceptives for young women, and how Kasha is working with global life sciences companies like Roche to help more women access breast cancer treatment.

This episode features insights from Jörg-Michael Rupp, who oversees Roche’s work in over 100 countries. Roche is an industry leader and global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics focused on advancing science to improve people’s lives around the world. This episode was recorded live at Africa Tech Festival 2025 in Cape Town, one of the continent’s largest gatherings of industry leaders, startups, and investors.

Joanna Bichsel, CEO and Founder of Kasha

In This Episode

  • (00m54s) Meet Joanna and Kasha. Joanna Bichsel is the founder and CEO of Kasha, a fast-growing health access platform transforming how medicines and essential goods reach people across Africa.

  • (06m56s) Origin Story. Joanna shares the unexpected path that led her from Microsoft Corporation and the Gates Foundation to launching a startup in Rwanda.

  • (12m11s) Early Fundraising is a Struggle. Joanna recounts the brutal early months of trying to raise capital as a first-time female founder in Africa—and the mindset she needed to keep moving forward even when quitting would have been so much easier.

  • (17m03s) Partnering with the Government of Rwanda to Create Access to Emergency Contraception. Scaling healthcare requires more than technology—it demands collaboration with governments and policymakers. Joanna explains how Kasha, as a tech startup, is well-suited to managing real-time data and on-the-ground insights. This is the value they were uniquely positioned to provide the Government of Rwanda in order to inform national policy to expand access to emergency contraception for young women.

  • (21m53s) Partnering with the Global Pharmaceutical Company Roche. Joanna unpacks Kasha’s partnership with Roche and how collaboration with industry-leading pharmaceutical companies can dramatically improve access to life-saving medicines. Together, Kasha and Roche have developed innovative financing and distribution models to make breast cancer treatments more affordable for patients.

  • (28m54s) The Problem with Impact Investors. Joanna shares her candid and controversial perspective on impact investing in Africa. She challenges investors not only to build scalable businesses but also to take a long hard look at the double burden forced upon social enterprises by unrealistic impact metrics.

  • (34m45s) Perspectives from Jörg-Michael Rupp. Jörg-Michael Rupp, who oversees Roche’s work in over 100 countries, elaborates on why solving healthcare access requires collaboration across industries. No single organization can solve healthcare challenges alone, but together we can dramatically expand patient access to treatment.

  • (36m57s) Stronger together. Breast cancer advocate Dr. Carol Benn highlights the real-world complexity of tackling women’s health challenges. She explains why meaningful progress depends on honest collaboration between governments, clinicians, innovators, and the private sector—even and especially when the roadmap ahead is unclear.

If you enjoyed this conversation about healthcare access at the last mile, check out our related interviews: The Medicine Supply Chain in Africa and The Future of Pharmacy with Remedial Health.

Key Quotes

“Success in business in Africa is staying alive and continuing to go on.” — Joanna Bichsel

“If we put the patient in the center of the solution and collaborate, we can solve these challenges together.” — Jörg-Michael Rupp

“Impact doesn’t come from ignoring the market. It comes from understanding it.” — Rowena Luk

Topics Discussed

  • Women’s health innovation in Africa

  • Last-mile healthcare distribution

  • Healthcare supply chains

  • Startup fundraising in emerging markets

  • Public-private partnerships in healthcare

  • Impact investing in Africa

  • Access to affordable cancer treatment

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

Africa Health Ventures invests in healthcare innovations that will dramatically improve access and quality of healthcare in Africa and around the world.

👍 Share your reaction to this podcast on LinkedIn

📰 Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about deals, events, and opportunities relevant to healthcare ventures in Africa

🎙️ Subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcasts

🪙 Nominate an African startup for seed funding

]]><![CDATA[How The Fight Against Breast Cancer is Changing in Africa]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/how-the-fight-against-breast-cancerhttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/how-the-fight-against-breast-cancerWed, 11 Feb 2026 10:29:23 GMTOnly half of the women diagnosed with breast cancer in Africa today survive. Why? This episode uncovers how women are dismissed or diagnosed too late—and follows the clinicians and innovators determined to do better. This is a story of fear and misinformation; but this is also a story of resilience and the changemakers refusing to accept the status quo.

In today’s episode, we’ll hear from Dr. Carol Benn, an industry-leading surgeon and advocate setting the standard for breast cancer care in South Africa; Dr. Kathryn Malherbe, the founder of Medsol AI using AI to detect breast cancer earlier; Thom Renwick, Head of Roche South Africa; and Maturin Tchoumi, Head of Roche, Africa.

From left to right: Dr. Carol Benn, Dr. Kathryn Malherbe of Medsol AI, Maturin Tchoumi of Roche Africa, and Thom Renwick of Roche South Africa

In This Episode

  • (3m33s) Dr. Carol Benn is challenging the old guard of breast cancer care. A trauma surgeon turned breast cancer pioneer, Dr. Benn recounts how she pushed back against outdated medical norms in South Africa — empowering women to stand up for their own bodies.

  • (8m23s) Fear holds us back. Why do so many women delay screening? From mistrust of healthcare systems to myths about age and pain, Dr. Benn explains how fear — not ignorance — often stands between women and early detection.

  • (10m38s) 65% of people with breast cancer have no symptoms. Many women diagnosed do everything “right.” Dr. Benn dismantles how the demographics of breast cancer are changing.

  • (11m24s) Thom Renwick of Roche South Africa unpacks the hidden economic toll of breast cancer. Beyond the human tragedy, late-stage breast cancer is draining African economies — with billions lost in productivity and families destabilized when women in their prime are forced out of the workforce.

  • (13m59s) Maturin Tchoumi, Head of Roche in Africa, believes technology is a force multiplier. From mobile banking to mobile health, Maturin argues that digital innovation can unlock massive efficiency gains in healthcare.

  • (15m25s) Dr. Kathryn Malherbe of Medsol AI became frustrated after seeing too many young women arrive too late for treatment. A mammographer turned entrepreneur, she built an AI-powered ultrasound tool that’s over 90% accurate and dramatically more affordable — bringing screening closer to the communities that need it most

  • (23m58s) “You have to believe in what you’re doing.” Facing regulatory hurdles, funding gaps, and institutional resistance, Dr. Malherbe reflects on the conviction required to build in African healthcare — and why unwavering belief is sometimes a founder’s greatest asset.

Show Notes

  • Medsol AI, founded by Dr. Kathryn Malherbe, is building AI-powered ultrasound diagnostics to expand breast cancer screening at the primary care level. Early studies show the solution is over 90% accurate and dramatically more affordable.

  • The Socioeconomic Burden of HER2+ Breast Cancer in Africa: A report by the WifOR Institute examining seven African countries estimated $10.3 billion in productivity losses over five years due to late diagnosis and under-treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer.

  • The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer is an excellent recounting of the modern history of cancer, including breast cancer. Among other topics, it lays bare the devastating effects of radical mastectomy on breast cancer patients, and how rapidly science and technology to tackle cancers have evolved in the past few decades.

  • The Africa Breast Cancer Council is a pan-African coalition chaired by Dr. Carol Benn, working to improve breast cancer awareness, policy alignment, and standards of care across the continent.

  • Netcare Milpark Breast Care Centre of Excellence is one of only three breast care centres outside the United States accredited under the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), setting a global benchmark for multidisciplinary breast care.

  • Africa Tech Festival – Healthcare Track: This episode was recorded live at Africa Tech Festival in Cape Town, where a dedicated healthcare innovation track highlighted the intersection of digital transformation and public health.

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

Africa Health Ventures invests in healthcare innovations that will dramatically improve access and quality of healthcare in Africa and around the world.

👍 Share your reaction to this podcast on LinkedIn

📰 Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about deals, events, and opportunities relevant to healthcare ventures in Africa

🎙️ Subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcasts

🪙 Nominate an African startup for seed funding

]]><![CDATA[HearX: How a South African Startup took the Global Stage]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/hearxhttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/hearxThu, 05 Jun 2025 08:11:51 GMTFrom a university in South Africa to the shelves of Walgreens in the United States, the South African tech company HearX has risen to be a global industry leader in hearing health and announced a $100M capital raise earlier this year. In this episode, Rowena Luk sits down with CEO Nic Klopper and CSO Seline van der Wat to unpack how HearX (now LXE Hearing) is shaking up a 100-year-old industry to lower costs and improve access to care around the world. Tune in for a story of grit, timing, and bold bets that paid off.

In This Episode

  • (2m48s) How HearX evolved from a research project at the University of Pretoria to a high-growth startup

  • (4m34s) Crisis of faith: can we do more than just send children into a broken healthcare system?

  • (8m13s) Landing the partnership with Bose, the global industry leader in consumer audio

  • (11m20s) Breakthrough: expanding our reach from South Africa to the world

  • (16m08s) “We went up against the industry giants, larger bank accounts, big law firms… and we won.”

  • (19m32s) The year we almost didn’t make it

  • (22m47s) Rapid-fire questions and advice for founders

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

Africa Health Ventures invests in healthcare innovations that will dramatically improve access and quality of healthcare in Africa and around the world.

👍 Share your reaction to this podcast on LinkedIn

📰 Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about deals, events, and opportunities about healthcare ventures in Africa

🎙️ Subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcasts

🪙 Nominate an African startup for seed funding

🤝🏻 Invest with us

Show Notes

  • Nic Klopper is CEO at LXE Hearing (previously HearX & Lexie Hearing). His experience ranges from being an avid start-up investor to founding 7 successful businesses and exiting 3 of them to date. As the co-founder and CEO of HearX Group and Lexie Hearing, Nic has been the driving force behind a transformative shift in the hearing health industry. He has guided the company from early-stage healthtech startup to a multimillion-dollar enterprise with products now available in 38 countries.

  • Seline van der Wat is the Chief Strategy Officer at LXE Hearing (previously hearX & Lexie Hearing). Under her leadership, the company was recognized as one of TIME Magazine’s Most Influential Companies in the World list in 2023, for hearX’s groundbreaking work in hearing health accessibility. Seline has transformed companies into first-to-market and best-in-market giants through her strategic and organizational development expertise.

  • Vula Mobile, founded by Dr. William Mapham, was an early collaborator with HearX. In 2018 with support from the Google Impact Challenge, Vula Mobile and HearX partnered to screen children in Gauteng for vision and hearing. This led to the epiphany at HearX that they needed to do more than just screen for hearing loss; they needed to play a direct role in increasing access to hearing aids.

  • Seline’s shoutout goes to Ilara Health and its CEO Emilian Poppa for Ilara’s work to improve financing and access to diagnostics at scale for clinics across Kenya.

  • Seline’s second shoutout goes to Jonathan Berkowitz at MotionsAds, which provides additional income to drivers in the gig economy (like Uber Eats) through advertising.

]]><![CDATA[Myths and Realities of Investing in Africa]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/myths-realities-investing-africahttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/myths-realities-investing-africaMon, 10 Mar 2025 11:38:32 GMTToday we tackle head-on the myths and misconceptions of investing in Africa. We invite two of the leading venture capitalists in Africa to field tough questions from a room full of experienced international investors. Our guests are Bongani Sithole, CEO of 54 Collective and the most active investor in Africa, and Lelemba Phiri, Founding Partner of ATG Samata, a leading African gender lens investor.

This conversation was recorded live in November of 2024 at a Toniic gathering in Cape Town, South Africa. Toniic is a global community of individual, family office, and foundation asset owners seeking deeper impact with their investments and their lives.

In This Episode

  • (2m46s) What is the Africa opportunity?

  • (8m19s) Myth: “Africa is a single market.” What does it mean to invest across 54 countries?

  • (13m28s) Myth: “There are no exits in Africa.” How do investors make a profit from putting capital into African businesses?

  • (18m57s) Myth: “Political instability makes it impossible to invest in Africa.” What trade agreements, regulatory environment, and political context enable private investments to succeed in Africa?

  • (22m15s) Myth: “There is a shortage of talent in Africa.” Where can investors find world-class founders?

  • (28m43s) How can you get started investing in Africa?

  • (30m12s) Recap

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

Africa Health Ventures invests in healthcare innovations that will dramatically improve access and quality of healthcare in Africa and around the world.

👍 Share your reaction to this podcast on LinkedIn

📰 Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about deals, events, and opportunities about healthcare ventures in Africa

🎙️ Subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcasts

🪙 Nominate an African startup for seed funding

🤝🏻 Invest with us

Show Notes

About Bongani Sithole and 54 Collective

As Chief Executive Officer of 54 Collective, Bongani Sithole is a tech-entrepreneur who over the last 18 years has built 3 technology businesses from the ground up. Before joining 54 Collective, Bongani’s last company — Black Beard — built tech businesses on behalf of corporates. As CEO, Bongani leads the early-stage investor as it seeks to invest in, collaborate, and support founders to go beyond borders and make a discernible impact through commercially-orientated innovations that can sustainably improve the lives of the continent’s people. 54 Collective is Africa’s most active, hands-on, early stage venture capital investor.

About Lelemba Phiri and ATG Samata

Lelemba is a Co-founder and Partner at ATG Samata, a gender-lens venture capital firm that is focused on investing in women-led businesses and gender diverse teams in key markets in Southern, East and West Africa. She is a seasoned development finance expert with 18+ years of experience working in both public and private sector, across 10 markets+. This includes having been a key part of scaling a Fintech start-up from one market to five before moving from entrepreneurship into venture capital. She is an expert in gender-lens investing, innovative finance, and entrepreneurship development with a key focus on advancing women.

About Christophe de Montille and Beyond Capital Ventures

Christophe de Montille is a Principal at Beyond Capital Ventures, a multi-asset firm investing in Seed to Series A companies across India and Africa in need-to-have sectors such as financial services, healthcare and climate. Prior to joining Beyond Capital, Christophe worked for a decade as a management consultant leading large tech transformations for corporate and federal clients. In addition to his work at Beyond Capital, Christophe led transaction advisory work for over 30 deals in the Global South and mobilizing over $54M in capital.

About Toniic

Toniic is a global community of private asset owners seeking to steward wealth and use influence to enable a thriving world. Its members — individuals, family offices and foundations from more than 25 countries — are active impact investors and philanthropists, for whom Toniic provides education, investment opportunities, impact support, events, and community. Toniic also seeks to build the field of deep impact investing, moving money and mindsets and leading by example.

]]><![CDATA[InstaDeep: The African Exit]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/instadeep-the-african-exithttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/instadeep-the-african-exitTue, 26 Nov 2024 09:58:21 GMTInstaDeep was the largest acquisition on the African continent last year, sold for half a billion euro to the pharmaceutical company BioNTech. We speak today with Karim Beguir, InstaDeep’s Founder and CEO.

This is a healthcare success story at a time when the vast majority of investments in Africa are in fintech. It's also a deeptech victory at a time when most of the world is skeptical about whether deeptech can even be built, let alone scaled, in Africa.

So how did a math geek from Tunisia bootstrap a company that captured the hearts and minds of a continent? Tune in to find out.

Karim Beguir, Co-Founder and CEO of InstaDeep

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

📰 Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about deals, events, and opportunities about healthcare ventures in Africa

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👍 Follow us on LinkedIn

🪙 Nominate an African startup for seed funding

🤝🏻 Invest with us

In This Episode

  • (3m16s) Start with passion. Passion will carry you through the years when you don’t know whether it’s going to work out or not. Passion will draw others to back you and keep on backing you, even when times are tough.

  • (6m18s) Engineering exits is a delicate balancing act between short and long-term goals.

  • (7m19s) How to navigate the hard balance between short-term profitability and long-term ambition? It took InstaDeep 5 years to build DeepPCB, which is now the best in the world in its product class.

  • (9m08s) Deliver 10X value in your partnerships. This will harden the relationships that lead to clients, to investors, and to exits.

  • (10m47s) How do we build investable talent in Africa? The journey to unlock African talent begins with the founder. Make yourself a world-class expert; pursue your vision with passion; and create the environment to grow and attract industry-leading talent.

  • (15m04s) AI, biotech, and the future: we are today with Biology AI where LLMs were in 2020. The golden age of biology AI and biotech is just beginning. African founders have an unparalleled opportunity to build the data assets of the future.

  • (18m15s) Do not limit yourself. Many African founders suffer from a failure of ambition. Think global from day one.

Show Notes

]]><![CDATA[AI Tools, Tips, and Trends for Public Health]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/ai-tools-tips-and-trendshttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/ai-tools-tips-and-trendsWed, 03 Jul 2024 10:52:38 GMTIn our fourth and final episode of the AI for Health Series, we take a peek under the hood of the maternal health chatbot supporting pregnant woman delivering in public health facilities across South Africa. To begin, Debbie Rogers, CEO of Reach Digital Health, shares her personal take on the origin story of MomConnect, South Africa’s maternal health chatbot. Sid Ravinutala of IDInsight then takes us on a tour of how AI will change chatbots, governments, science, music, and health. Along the way, Sid and Debbie share a number of specific tools, tips, and trends relevant for AI practitioners everywhere. 

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, etc.).

This is the fourth and final episode of our series on AI for Health. Thank you to our sponsor, Reach Digital Health, for making this series possible.

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

📰 Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about deals, news, events, and opportunities related to healthcare ventures in Africa

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🪙 Nominate an African startup for seed funding

🤝🏻 Invest with us

Show Notes

In this interview, we cover:

  • (2m56s) - An introduction to MomConnect, South Africa’s maternal health chatbot.

  • (9m30s) - What is the future of MomConnect? Debbie looks ahead to how AI will allow chatbots to address the specific and personal needs of mothers across South Africa. This hyper-personalization will unlock behaviour change and precision health at scale.

  • (13m53s) - IDInsight has supported MomConnect to better understand what mothers need when they interact with MomConnect and guide them to the right information. They are using AI to infer meaning from words i.e. intent classification.

  • (17m07s) - Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT will allow the average citizen to better understand and tap into government programs and benefits. Sid cites the example of Indus Action’s work in this space in India.

  • (20m12s) - AIs are now pretty good at making music. We share a clip from a song generated by AI.

  • (22m07s) - Sid anticipates how AI will usher in a new era of qualitative science.

  • (25m00s) - “Every AI Application in the Social Sector Should Have Guardrails". See below for links to specific guardrail tools recommended by Sid.

  • (27m40s) - Sid unpacks the role of regulation to manage the risks of AI. He discusses the balance between regulation and acceptable risk.

  • (32m18s) - Sid shares a set of technical tools and resources for getting started with AI. Also linked below.

  • (32m58s) - A few shoutouts to other organizations doing interesting work in this space.

  • (33m49s) - The next 10 years according to Sid and Debbie.

Tools and References

  • NeMo Guardrails and Guardrails: Sid recommends that every AI application in the social sector should be using guardrails. Here are two open-source toolkits that programmers can add to their applications to implement such guardrails.

  • To get started quickly with AI applications, Sid recommends a suite of tools:

    • LangChain is a programming framework to make it easy to build LLM tools.

    • Llama Hub is a centralized repository and platform for integrating various tools and plugins specifically designed to enhance the functionality and performance of the LLaMA (Large Language Model Meta AI) series of models.

    • LammaIndex is a toolset designed for indexing, querying, and managing data to improve the efficiency and accuracy of search and retrieval operations in large-scale language models.

  • Suno AI is the tool Sid used to generate his song on AI for good. It’s pretty good.

  • Reach Digital Health is a South African nonprofit that scales digital health programmes to improve delivery of healthcare services.

  • IDInsight helps leaders combat poverty worldwide by designing, deploying and promoting evidence-generating tools, including data science and artificial intelligence.

  • Indus Action is an organization working with IDInsight to make government services more accessible and understandable to the average citizen with the use of AI.

  • Sid’s first shoutout goes to Jugalbandi, an open platform that integrates Generative AI and Indian language translation models to create conversational AI solutions. It supports over 50 Indian languages and aims to democratize access to information in various sectors such as government services, law, and healthcare through chatbots on platforms like WhatsApp. Jugalbandi is a part of the Bashini mission of the government of India.

  • Jacaranda Health: Sid gives a shoutout to Jacaranda Health for building a language model for Swahili in Kenya and releasing it open source. They also provide a maternal messaging service in Kenya called PROMPTS.

  • Dimagi: Sid also gives a shoutout to Dimagi for developing an open-source platform called Open Chat Studio to rapidly deploy LLM-based solutions for global health.

Thank you for tuning in to Africa Health Ventures. This podcast is public so please share it with the world.

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]]><![CDATA[How LLMs Will and Won't Work for Healthcare in Africa]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/how-llms-will-and-wont-work-for-healthcarehttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/how-llms-will-and-wont-work-for-healthcareThu, 13 Jun 2024 09:12:51 GMTThere's a lot of hype about what generative AI and LLMs like ChatGPT will do to improve healthcare in Africa and around the world, but is it going to work? Today we sit down with the team running the largest study ever done on how LLMs will - and won't - work for healthcare in Africa. Tobi Olatunji, Founder and CEO of Intron Health, speaks with Bilal Mateen, Executive Director of Digital Square at PATH, about the upcoming AfriMed-QA project which will evaluate 20 LLMs over 32 clinical specialties across 15 countries in Africa. 

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, etc.).

This is Part 3 of 4 of our series on AI for Health. Shoutout to our sponsor, Reach Digital Health, for making this series possible.

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

📰 Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about deals, news, events, and opportunities related to healthcare ventures in Africa

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🪙 Nominate an African startup for seed funding

Show Notes

In this interview, we cover:

  • (4m02s) - Introducing Bilal Mateen and Tobi Olatunji

  • (9m20s) - The 4 ways generative AI will change healthcare in Africa

  • (17m01s) - The AfriMed-QA Project is creating a dataset of 20,000 medical questions and answers from 15 countries across Africa and 32 clinical specialties. In its second phase, the project will benchmark 20 of the leading large language models (LLMs) in the world to evaluate their effectiveness in the context of African healthcare.

  • (30m02s) - Takeaways for healthcare professionals and the global health community

  • (32m46s) - A call to action for donors

Note the content in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment, legal, business, tax, or medical advice. Nor should this information be used to evaluate any investment or security.

References

  • You can read the launch announcement of the AfriMed-QA project here. This project is supported by Google Research, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Digital Square at PATH. Additional AfriMed-QA implementing partners are listed below.

  • Masakhane is a grassroots natural language processing community built for Africa by Africans.

    Sisonke Biotik another grassroots community aimed at bridging the gap between healthcare practitioners and machine learning practitioners.

  • Bio-RAMP Labs is a global research community that Tobi helped set up at the intersection of healthcare and artificial intelligence.

  • If you haven’t seen the ChatGPT-4o demo from May 13 2024, check it out here.

  • Bilal’s shoutout goes to Blue Marble, which is building a better kind of health insurance product to protect vulnerable women from the effects of climate change. You can read about this innovative product here.

Thank you for tuning in to Africa Health Ventures. This podcast is public so please share it with the world.

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]]><![CDATA[AI for Health, Part 2: A Step Ahead]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/ai-for-health-2-whohttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/ai-for-health-2-whoTue, 21 May 2024 08:02:44 GMTHow do global actors stay one step ahead of the risks posed by AI for health?

In part 2 of our 3-part series on AI for Health, we dive deeper to see what’s going on inside the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to safeguard the future. 

Today’s lineup includes:

Listen now1 wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, etc.).

Stay tuned for the last episode in our mini-series about AI for Health, where we’ll take a peek under the hood of AI with makers and innovators at IDInsight, PATH, and Intron Health.

Shoutout to our sponsor, Reach Digital Health, for making this series possible.

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

📰 Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about deals, news, events, and opportunities related to healthcare ventures in Africa

👍 Follow us on LinkedIn

🎙️ Subscribe to this podcast

🪙 Nominate an African startup for seed funding

Show Notes

In this interview, we cover:

  • (3m24s) - What is the World Health Organization (WHO) doing to ensure the ethical application of AI to global health - and minimize the many risks it presents?

  • (5m25s) - How the WHO is working with technology partners to tackle misinformation

  • (12m02s) - How the WHO uses AI to understand how people are thinking about and responding to health information

  • (24m16s) - How did IDRC become of one of the first major funders in the world of AI for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)

  • (28m04s) - How does the AI for Global Health program work?

  • (34m29s) - What is NOT fundable? What kind of proposals get rejected?

  • (37m48s) - What African healthtech startups are leading the charge to disrupt healthcare with AI?

Learn More

  • You can learn more about Andy Pattison’s work with the Digital Channels group at the WHO here.

  • The WHO publication, Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence for Health, highlights the ethical challenges and risks with the use of artificial intelligence of health and proposes six consensus principles to ensure AI works to the public benefit of all countries.

  • Artificial Intelligence for Global Health is a five-year, CAD15.5 million investment from IDRC to fund AI efforts in low- and middle-income countries to strengthen health systems. Through this funding, research and innovation hubs have been established across Africa to support the development of responsible and inclusive AI.

  • MedxTek Africa is a podcast from Dr. Sam Oti that showcases digital health and healthtech innovations from across Africa.

  • In his capacity as host of the MedxTek Podcast, Dr Sam Oti2 has interviewed dozens of promising healthtech startups across Africa. He highlights a few that are making strides in the application of ethical AI to global health challenges. These include:

    • MinoHealth AI Labs in Ghana develops AI-driven diagnostic and treatment recommendations to improve patient outcomes in Africa.

    • Intixel from Egypt creates AI-powered software for medical imaging, enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of radiological diagnoses through automated analysis and interpretation.

    • Hurone AI founded by Dr. Kingsley Ndoh from Nigeria focuses on developing AI-based oncology solutions that offer personalized cancer treatment plans and improve access to quality care for cancer patients in Africa.

    • Jacaranda Health in Kenya provides an AI-powered health navigator that engages new and expecting moms through a chatbot on how to work with the public health system.

  • Looking ahead at the innovations that might be a game-changer for personal health, Dr. Sam Oti3 highlights the possibility of wearable AI. As an example he mentions Humane AI, a discreet, ubiquitous sensor and AI-powered second brain that you can pin to your shirt. In his words, “unfortunately it doesn’t work.” Yet.

  • Shoutout to Alice Liu of Baraka Impact Finance for a tonne of help behind the scenes putting this episode together. Among her many achievements working in AI for global health, Alice was previously co-chair of the AI Working Group for Africa CDC's Digital Transformation Strategy.

Note the content in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment, legal, business, tax, or medical advice. Nor should this information be used to evaluate any investment or security.

Thank you for tuning in to Africa Health Ventures. This podcast is public so please share it with the world.

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1

You can listen immediately on Substack. The latest episode may take an hour or two to reach all the platforms.

2

Note Dr. Sam Oti is speaking in his personal capacity and is not representing the views or opinions of IDRC.

3

As above, speaking in his personal capacity.

]]><![CDATA[AI for Health, Part 1: Promise and Perils]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/ai-for-health-1https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/ai-for-health-1Thu, 02 May 2024 11:52:12 GMTWith the mind-bending pace at which artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way we work and live, healthcare organizations are asking themselves: what do I need to know today to seize this opportunity? In this episode, experts from the World Health Organization, IDInsight, and Reach Digital Health unpack the promise and perils of AI for health.

Today’s episode is a panel discussion first recorded live at the Marmalade Festival at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford on April 12, 2024. This is the first of a 3-part podcast series on AI for Health powered by Reach Digital Health.

Our lineup includes:

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, etc.).

Stay tuned for future episodes on our mini-series about AI for Health. In our next episode, we'll speak in greater depth with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Canadian funding agency IDRC, and the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

📰 Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about what’s going on with healthcare ventures in Africa

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🪙 Nominate an African startup for seed funding

Show Notes

Some of the topics we cover in this panel discussion include:

The Promise

(5m09s) - Our speakers discuss the breakthroughs now possible with AI for health, including the ability to diagnose diseases years earlier than ever before; to instantaneously disseminate essential health information across languages and countries; and the ability to provide hyper-personalized care to an individual based on their needs, body, and preferences.

The Perils

(14m11s) - While it’s tempting to deploy AI systems for health as soon as possible, these also pose very real risks in the high-stakes work of medical care. AI is known to hallucinate: to make up information that has no grounding in reality; AI is deeply biased towards rich people living in the connected world; and AI has the potential to be the most persuasive - and by extension the most manipulative - technology we have ever seen.

So… What Now?

(27m02s) - What do non-profits and social enterprises need to know today to seize the opportunity? Among the many tips and suggestions shared by our speakers, Debbie’s call to action is: get stared now. If you wait two years, you’ll be another two years behind.

Q&A

(35m37s) Towards the end of this episode, our guests field real-world questions posed by the live audience in Oxford, such as how to source diverse data, how to mitigate bias, and the real risk of magnifying the digital divide.

Learn More

  • Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence for Health highlights the ethical challenges and risks with the use of artificial intelligence of health and proposes six consensus principles to ensure AI works to the public benefit of all countries.

  • Ada, Reach Digital Health, and the National Department of Health in South Africa launched a collaboration to provide AI-powered medical advice to mothers across the country.

  • MomConnect is the South African platform to share essential health information with pregnant women across the country. It is provided by the National Department of Health in South Africa in partnership with Reach Digital Health.

  • This episode is a panel discussion first recorded live at the Marmalade Festival at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford on April 12, 2024. You can watch a brief highlights video of the event here.

  • Elicit is the AI assistant that can comb through the body of scientific papers to provide precise answers to research questions. Sid mentions Elicit as a counterexample to the significant risk of AI misinformation i.e. the ways in which AI can help societies in their search for truth.

  • Karya provides high-quality datasets to power AI tools which include a more balanced perspective of remote, low-network areas.

Thank you for tuning in to Africa Health Ventures. This podcast is public so please share it with the world.

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]]><![CDATA[The Medicine Supply Chain in Africa, Part 2: The Next 10 Years]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/medicine-supply-chain-in-africa-part-2https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/medicine-supply-chain-in-africa-part-2Thu, 30 Nov 2023 07:35:33 GMTIn 10 years, the medicine supply chain in Africa will look very different than it does today. In Part 2 of this podcast, we examine four key trends which are going to re-shape the medicine supply chain in Africa over the next decade - and shout out to a few of the entrepreneurs that are leading the charge. From regulatory changes spearheaded by the African Union to biomedical innovation requiring new pathways to patient, the medicine market is both growing and changing in Africa.

Our lineup includes:

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, etc.).

In case you missed it, don't forget to check out Part 1 of this episode, where we trace the movement of a pack of medicines from a factory in India to the shelves of a mom-and-pop pharmacy in Zambia. 

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

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Show Notes

Part 2 of The Medicine Supply Chain in Africa covers 3 segments:

1. The Outsized Role of Global Donors

(3m22s) - There’s a world of difference between the private sector medicine markets and the ones supported by billions of dollars of international donor funding. We hear from Mila Nepomnyashchiy of USAID about two different worlds: one for the medicines endorsed by global funding… and one for everything else.

2. Four Trends That Will Dramatically Change The Medicine Supply Chain in the Next 10 Years

(5m45s) - Trend 1: Clinton De Souza, former Director of Public Health for Imperial Logistics (now DP World), on regulatory changes from the African Union that will massively expand the size of the market.

(9m44s) - Trend 2: Yusuf Rasool, Director of Global Market Access at MSD/Merck, on vertically integrated supply chains that will reduce costs and increase access to consumers.

(13m28s) - Trend 3: Dr. Prashant Yadav of the Center for Global Development on omnichannel distribution that will meet patients where they live and work.

(16m46s) - Trend 4: Sidharth Rupani, Senior Advisor for Supply Chain at The Global Fund, on the golden age of biomedical innovation that will challenge our existing ideas of both ‘medicines’ and ‘supply chain’.

3. Social Entrepreneurs Leading the Charge

(20m31s) - Dr. Prashant Yadav highlights a handful of social enterprises that are leading the charge for change.

Learn More

  • USAID’s Global Health Supply Chain Program is a US$9.5 billion program with support from PEPFAR. The follow-in contract may be as much as US$17 billion.

  • The Global Fund provides extensive support to countries in procuring low-cost, priority medicines. Every year it spends about US$2 billion to procure medicines for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria.

  • The Africa Medical Supplies Platform is a pooled procurement mechanism spearheaded by the African Union

  • The African Medicines Agency seeks to create a common regulatory environment for medicines across Africa

  • The African Continental Free Trade Agreement could create the largest free trade area in the world

  • mPharma provides medicines to pharmacies, but does not require payment until those medicines are sold. This helps pharmacies to stock more medicines by de-risking the need for upfront cash.

  • Maisha Meds is providing forecasting, sourcing, and other technology support to small retail pharmacies in rural areas.

  • Kasha is bringing health products to women and girls at home, giving them the privacy they need while increasing their agency and choice.

  • Xetova supports the government in Kenya to use its health supply chain data to create insights on consumption, distribution, procurement spending, supplier and payment performance.

  • Pendulum Systems (formerly Macro-Eyes) is providing AI and machine learning tools to African governments to help them optimize their medicine supply chain.

  • How Local Innovation Can Drive the Global Development Agenda - This 2023 piece from Dr. Prashant Yadav highlights the importance of new social entrepreneurs in addressing gaps in the private and public medicine supply chain.

  • Innovations in Digitizing Health Supply Chains in Africa - This 2023 market intelligence report from Salient Advisory highlights some of the key areas of the medicine supply chain where startups in Africa are most active.

Thank you for tuning in to Africa Health Ventures. This podcast is public so feel free to share it.

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]]><![CDATA[The Medicine Supply Chain in Africa: from Manufacturer to Pharmacy (Part 1)]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/medicine-supply-chain-in-africahttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/medicine-supply-chain-in-africaTue, 21 Nov 2023 10:00:57 GMTWhat does it take to move a pack of medicines from a factory in India to the shelves of a mom-and-pop pharmacy in Zambia? In this episode, we explore the world of the medicine supply chain in Africa, as told by the people who run it. Along the way, we unpack the market dynamics which limit access to low-cost, essential medicines.

Our lineup includes:

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, etc.).

Stay tuned for Part 2, when we look at the future trends which are going to dramatically change this supply chain and highlight a few of the new ventures which are leading the way.

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

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In this episode, we cover

  • (2m54) - Setting the stage: we introduce several of the key actors in the medicine supply chain, including manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies. Dr. Prashant Yadav highlights the key role of Ministries of Health as well as the disruptive influence of social entrepreneurs.

  • (8m27s) - Yusuf Rasool of MSD/Merck describes the role of large pharmaceutical companies and why it is difficult for a large multinational to operate directly in 54 different African countries.

  • (10m57s) - Clinton De Souza digs into two of the structural problems in the medicines market which makes it difficult for distributors to deliver low-cost essential medicines.

  • (19m07s) - From the perspective of Five Star Pharmacy in Zambia, we look at the working capital gap which prevents small pharmacies from making the full range of medicines available to people.

  • (21m49s) - Michael Moreland of Field Intelligence describes the role of social entrepreneurs and embedded financing in allowing small pharmacies to increase product availability.

  • (29m17s) - Recap of the episode so far and teaser for Part 2

Learn More

  • Health Product Supply Chains in Developing Countries - This 2015 paper from Dr. Prashant Yadav summarizes the key actors and common challenges of medicine supply chains in Sub-Saharan Africa.

  • How Local Innovation Can Drive the Global Development Agenda - This 2023 piece from Dr. Prashant Yadav highlights the importance of new social entrepreneurs in addressing gaps in the private and public medicine supply chain.

  • Innovations in Digitizing Health Supply Chains in Africa - This 2023 market intelligence report from Salient Advisory highlights some of the key areas of the medicine supply chain where startups in Africa are most active.

  • How MSD/Merck is improving access to healthcare - This page highlights a few of the affordability solutions that MSD/Merck’s Access to Medicines team is working on around the world.

  • Imperial Logistics is one of the largest medicine distributors on the African continent.

  • Five Star Pharmcies is a chain of retail pharmacies in Zambia founded by Lloyd Matowe with the support of Clinton De Souza.

  • Field Intelligence is a social enterprise providing planning, fulfilment, and financing of pharmaceuticals to over 35,000 points of care in Nigeria and Kenya, including government clinics, retail pharmacies and drug shops, hospitals and telehealth providers.

  • Was the $9.5B health supply chain 'a waste of USAID's money'? - Earlier this month, Devex published a(nother) searing indictment of USAID’s global health supply chain program. The controversy surrounding this highly centralized, donor-funded program is one of the reasons why now is a good time to take a look at what’s working (and what’s not) in private sector medicine supply chains. In Part 2 of this episode, we’ll touch on a few of the differences and linkages between what we describe in Part 1 and certain donor-driven supply chains.

Thank you for tuning in to Africa Health Ventures. This podcast is public so feel free to share it.

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]]><![CDATA[Introducing the Africa Health Ventures Podcast]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/podcast-teaserhttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/podcast-teaserThu, 28 Sep 2023 11:58:54 GMTToday we released a 2-minute teaser episode to introduce the upcoming Africa Health Ventures Podcast. Listen in to learn what this podcast is all about.

Unlocking access to quality healthcare in Africa by 2030 will require radical innovations.

Join veteran digital health / healthtech entrepreneur Rowena Luk in conversation with healthcare industry leaders and innovators every quarter to strategize on what the future of healthcare in Africa will look like.

This podcast is for social entrepreneurs, impact investors, and global health professionals who need to stay ahead of the rapidly changing landscape of healthcare in Africa.

If you don’t want to receive emails about the podcast, you can always update your preferences here.

]]><![CDATA[Chuck Slaughter of Living Goods: Digital First Healthcare Saving Lives at the Last Mile]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/chuck-slaughter-of-living-goods-digital-b1chttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/chuck-slaughter-of-living-goods-digital-b1cTue, 05 Sep 2023 10:33:40 GMTChuck Slaughter is the founder of Living Goods, which supports over 10,000 digitally-empowered community health workers who are reducing child deaths by over 25% at an annual cost of under $4 per person. As a Senior Advisor to TPG Rise (a $10 billion impact investing platform), Director of the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and a successful entrepreneur, Chuck has a rich perspective on how digital is reshaping aid and development work. Tune in today to hear Chuck’s guidance on whether to ‘build or buy’ tech, why nonprofits struggle to deliver the best technology products, and how governments and the private sector need to work together to scale high-impact innovations.

Chuck serves on the boards of Yale’s School of Management, Tidepool, Reach Health, and the Horace W Goldsmith Foundation. He received a Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, a Draper Richards Kaplan Fellowship, and is a World Economic Forum Social Entrepreneur of the Year. 

A Few Highlights

  • (6m27s) - How Chuck and Living Goods became digital first

  • (13m45s) - The DESC metaphor of Living Goods: Digital, Equipped, Supervised and Compensated

  • (22m01s) - Working with new technologies: the 'build or buy' debate

  • (28m24s) - Why nonprofits struggle to build great tech

  • (32m09s) - The digital transformation of aid: grantmaking through the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation

  • (37m08s) - Financing scale: how governments and the private sector need to work together

  • (40m19s) - Rapid fire questions, shoutouts, and recommendations

You can learn more about Living Goods on their website at livinggoods.org. 

Let us know what you thought of this episode on LinkedIn or Twitter (@AidEvolved). You can also access show notes at AidEvolved.com.

]]><![CDATA[Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, Former Minister of Health of Rwanda]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/dr-agnes-binagwaho-former-minister-086https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/dr-agnes-binagwaho-former-minister-086Thu, 01 Jun 2023 09:05:46 GMTDr. Agnes Binagwaho is a pediatrician, former Minister of Health of Rwanda, Senior Lecturer at Harvard University, Advisor to the Director-General of the WHO, and co-founder of the University of Global Health Equity. 

She joins us today to talk about the role of technology in the remarkable transformation of Rwanda’s health system post-genocide. 

What are the failed promises of health technology? How has data been a North Star to her work? And what does it take to show the world that Rwanda today stands for truth?

Highlights

  • (02m59s) - When health data is held hostage 

  • (04m21s) - HIV is a curse that ushered in the era of electronic medical records

  • (10m06s) - How epidemiological data supports effective health systems governance

  • (16m10s) - Using Twitter to take a stand

  • (20m54s) - Whose data do you trust?

Submit a question or comment to our mailbag, and we’ll discuss it on a future show. Emails or voice recordings can be sent to podcast@aidevolved.com 

Connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter (@AidEvolved) and access show notes at https://AidEvolved.com

]]><![CDATA[Investing in Healthcare with the World’s Largest Pure-Play Impact Investor]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/investing-in-healthcare-with-the-4e2https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/investing-in-healthcare-with-the-4e2Tue, 23 May 2023 09:38:00 GMTDr. Biju Mohandas has led investments at not just one but three different household names in impact investing: LeapFrog Investments, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Acumen. Tune in today to hear about his take on the upcoming global healthcare crisis, the competitive edge of entrepreneurs in Africa and India, and the catalytic role of impact investors. Hear the investment priorities of a man who's been leading impact investments in healthcare in Africa as long as the term "impact investing" has existed.

Dr. Biju Mohandas is a Partner at LeapFrog and the firm’s Global Co-Leader for Health Investments. Prior to LeapFrog, Dr Mohandas led the IFC’s Healthcare and Education investment team in Sub-Saharan Africa and was the Global Sector Lead for Medical Devices after also serving as head of Acumen in East Africa and as part of their founding team in India.

We’ll cover:

  • (2m35s) – The coming global healthcare crisis

  • (8m45s) – How Africa and India are poised to leapfrog ahead

  • (12m11s) – Investing in asset-light healthcare 

  • (15m09s) – Goodlife Pharmacy’s re-emergence after the Westgate Attack in Nairobi

  • (18m08s) – How Redcliffe Diagnostics is bringing the lab closer to people in India

  • (21m38s) – Pervasive technology, IoT, and wellness

  • (23m04s) – HealthifyMe, the largest digital wellness app in India

  • (26m13s) – How investors exit from ventures in emerging markets

  • (30m10s) – Rapid fire questions

Links

  • The Emerging Wealth and Health Index is a 2022 publication from LeapFrog Investments which decodes the priorities of billions of emerging consumers in Africa and Asia. Dr. Biju Mohandas synthesizes many of the insights pertaining to healthcare in emerging markets.

  • Reflections on a Decade of Transformation is a 2020 IFC article written by Dr. Mohandas synthesizing trends in the prior 10 years of healthcare in Africa. It’s an insightful read for anyone interested in how healthcare in Africa is rapidly evolving.

  • Goodlife Pharmacy is East Africa’s largest pharmacy chain. This IFC article describes how IFC and its partners, including LeapFrog Investments and Catalyst Principal Partners, helped Goodlife to recover and rebrand after the Westgate shopping mall terrorist attacks.

  • LeapFrog invested in Redcliffe Labs to make diagnostics more accessible and available to lower-income communities across India.

  • LeapFrog invested in HealthifyMe, India’s largest digital wellness application.

  • Dr. Mohandas offers his shoutout to Dr. Devi Shetty of Narayana Health for his leadership in creasing a mission-driven, impact-oriented chain of private hospitals.

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

Africa Health Ventures invests in healthcare innovations that will dramatically improve access and quality of healthcare in Africa and around the world.

👍 Share your reaction to this podcast on LinkedIn

📰 Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about deals, events, and opportunities about healthcare ventures in Africa

🎙️ Subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcasts

🪙 Nominate an African startup for funding

]]><![CDATA[Technology, Innovation, and the Global Fund]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/technology-innovation-and-the-global-dc4https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/technology-innovation-and-the-global-dc4Tue, 09 May 2023 08:53:19 GMTJohn Fairhurst is the head of Private Sector Engagement at the Global Fund. As such, he is the link between this global institution and innovators ranging from Microsoft to Zenysis. Tune in today to understand how the largest financier of HIV, TB, and malaria programs works with Big Tech, emerging startups, and other innovators to achieve its global goals.

In its 20 years of existence, the Global Fund has channeled $55 billion to support the fight against HIV, TB, and malaria.

Prior to joining the Global Fund John was an Executive Director at UBS Optimus Foundation and COO at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). He helped establish the portfolio of one of the largest private foundations in international development, the Children's Investment Fund (CIFF). He oversaw development and humanitarian programs for Oxfam in various geographies including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, and Afghanistan.

A few highlights:

  • (2m13s) - Introducing John Fairhurst

  • (6m06s) - How the Global Fund works with Big Tech

  • (16m19s) - How the Global Fund works with emerging technologies and startups

  • (21m38s) - The partnerships that don't work out

  • (26m56s) - Guidance for other donors in "the valley of death"

  • (31m41s) - Rapid fire questions

Submit a question or comment to our mailbag, and we’ll discuss it on a future show. Emails or voice recordings can be sent to podcast@aidevolved.com 


Connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter (@AidEvolved) and access show notes at https://AidEvolved.com

]]><![CDATA[Nicole Spieker of PharmAccess Foundation]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/nicole-spieker-of-pharmaccess-foundation-2fbhttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/nicole-spieker-of-pharmaccess-foundation-2fbTue, 25 Apr 2023 08:23:18 GMTWhen you dig into the problem of providing quality healthcare in Africa, sooner or later you hit the foundational question, “who is going to pay for these services?” In tackling this challenge, PharmAccess Foundation has provided health financing to almost 5M people in Kenya alone. A key part of this success is developing a digitally-enabled, financially sustainable approach that generates revenue from middle-income clients to sustainably serve low-income communities. We chat today with Nicole Spieker, CEO of PharmAccess Foundation, about the public-private partnerships necessary to make healthcare affordable to everyone. 

Conversation highlights: 

  • (2m19s) - Introducing PharmAccess Foundation

  • (3m01s) - How PharmAccess is innovating in healthcare financing

  • (6m43s) - What makes M-TIBA different from other health insurance programs?

  • (9m55s) - The digital leapfrog opportunity in health insurance in Africa

  • (12m20s) - How public funds catalyze private investment

  • (14m45s) - Harnessing the value of data for the people who own it

Submit a question or comment to our mailbag, and we’ll discuss it on a future show. Emails or voice recordings can be sent to podcast@aidevolved.com 


Connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter (@AidEvolved) and access show notes at https://AidEvolved.com

]]><![CDATA[Curt LaBelle, M.D., Managing Partner of the Global Health Investment Fund and the AXA IM Global Health Fund]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/curt-labelle-md-managing-partner-fffhttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/curt-labelle-md-managing-partner-fffTue, 11 Apr 2023 10:33:30 GMTGHIF was a "first-of-its-kind investment product", the fund was created in 2012 through the surprising alliance of the Gates Foundation and JP Morgan Chase. Its supporters include a stellar cast of characters such as Grand Challenges Canada, AXA Investment Managers, the development finance institution of both Germany and the World Bank, GSK, Merck, and Pfizer. Its mission is two-fold: generating attractive financial returns to its investors, and improving lives for millions in low- and middle-income populations. This is accomplished by providing late-stage financing for innovative drugs, vaccines and diagnostics, and working with companies to introduce the products globally. The new AXA IM Global Health Fund is expanding the model with a larger fund and wider mandate that includes both communicable and non-communicable conditions. 

In this episode, we'll touch on:

  • The kinds of global health innovations Curt financed through GHIF

  • Curt's guidance for innovators seeking growth capital

  • Lessons learned for emerging fund managers

  • Curt's call to action for the global health community to ensure life-saving products are effectively delivered to communities as far as the last mile

This conversation was recorded live at the IFC Global Private Health Conference 2023 in Cape Town, February 2023. IFC is a development finance institution and the private sector arm of the World Bank Group.

Access show notes at https://AidEvolved.com and connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter (@AidEvolved).


Submit your questions or comments for a future episode to podcast@aidevolved.com.

]]><![CDATA[Margot Cooijmans of Philips Foundation]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/margot-cooijmans-of-philips-foundation-81ahttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/margot-cooijmans-of-philips-foundation-81aTue, 28 Mar 2023 10:43:00 GMTMargot Cooijmans is an impact investor, philanthropist, entrepreneur, corporate lawyer, and expert on essential Corporate Social Responsibility. For most of their existence, she has led Philips Foundation and Philips Foundation Impact Investments B.V. Tune in today to learn about Margot's career directing the contributions of global corporations to better serve the public good.

Note: this interview is about the personal experiences and perspectives of Margot Cooijmans. Nothing said in this interview should be construed as the position of Philips or any of its subsidiaries, affiliates, or partners.

  • (4m32s) – Margot establishes Good Company and dives into the world of corporate social responsibility (CSR)

  • (11m28s) - Margot joins forces with the global technology company, Philips, to define the strategy during the startup years of Philips Foundation

  • (21m38s) - Margot spearheads the creation of Philips Foundation Impact Investments Ltd, drawing expertise from Philips Ventures, the corporate investment arm, but with the goal of improving access to healthcare beyond where Philip can typically reach

  • (30m30s) - Rapid fire questions with Margot Cooijmans 

To find out more, access the show notes at https://AidEvolved.com 

Subscribe for updates or let us know what you think of this episode on LinkedIn or Twitter (@AidEvolved).

]]><![CDATA[Joseph Ssentongo of the Global Innovation Fund]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/joseph-ssentongo-of-the-global-innovation-b55https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/joseph-ssentongo-of-the-global-innovation-b55Tue, 28 Feb 2023 08:34:51 GMTAs the Senior Vice President of Impact at the Global Innovation Fund, Joseph Ssentongo works at the challenging nexus of innovation, evidence and impact. He sits down with Aid, Evolved today to share his efforts to generate evidence even from early-stage innovations; how to measure impact even when that impact might not mature until 10 years in the future; and how Big Aid can evolve to be more innovative by adopting the right model of risk.

The Global Innovation Fund (GIF) is a non-profit, impact-first investment fund which has invested over 100M USD in innovations with the potential to improve the lives of those living on less than 5 dollars a day. It is backed by grant capital from UK, Canadian, Swedish, US and Australian governments as well as corporate and philanthropic donors. This interview reflects the personal experiences and views of Joseph Ssentongo and does not represent the position of GIF or any of its partners.

Conversation Highlights

  • (4m35s) - Joseph recalls his work with the Investment Climate Facility for Africa working with government to improve private sector investment across 14 countries

  • (13m08s) - What is the Global Innovation Fund (GIF)?

  • (18m19s) - How does GIF remain accountable not just to its major donors but also to the people and communities it claims to serve?

  • (20m33s) - Joseph unpacks the tricky balance between delivering world-class evidence and also investing in novel innovations which may not yet have a strong track record of evidence

  • (23m04s) - Joseph shares his personal experience and the unique contribution of GIF to the waste pickers of Mr. Green Africa, a new kind of recycling company in Kenya

  • (26m49s) - How GIF strives to be a catalyst that can lead the way for other donors to invest in risky innovations

  • (30m20s) - What's next for GIF? Joseph describes the launch of GIF's Innovating for Climate Resilience Fund as well as the Innovating for Gender Equality sub-fund

  • (31m22s) - Joseph tackles our Rapid Fire questions, from people who inspired him to his favourite podcasts

To find out more, access the show notes at https://AidEvolved.com 

Let us know what you think of this episode on LinkedIn or on Twitter (@AidEvolved)


A note from our sponsor: this episode is brought to you by idealist.org. Are you looking to hire dedicated and talented professionals? Idealist is the #1 job board for the social impact sector. Sign up to start posting jobs today! Go to idealist.org/aid to get a credit for one free 30-day job listing.

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