NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr-2, mPharma has scooped the top position in the 2019 Skoll Award for social entrepreneurship as it announced its intention to acquire Kenya’s 2nd biggest pharmacy chain, Haltons Pharmacy.
“What excited me about Haltons was its vision to bring high quality and safe medicines to the mass market. The pharmacy plays an important role in increasing access to affordable healthcare in Africa. We look forward to using our experience in vendor managed inventory and conversion franchising to build Haltons into a mass market retail pharmacy brand in Kenya,” said mPharma Chief Executive Officer Gregory Rockson
He said the award has encouraged the company to work harder to serve all patients.
The recognition comes with $1.5 million that will assist mPharma scale their work and increase impact.
The pharmaceutical company stood out for its ability to create a vendor managing inventory model for pharmacies in Ghana.
Pharmacies do not manage their own inventory but instead, mPharma sources, procures and finances it for them at no cost to the pharmacy.
The pharmacy then pays mPharma for what they dispense to patients which aids in reducing inventory stock-outs and the need for pharmacies to have access to capital to purchase their inventory.
The Skoll Foundation is known for awarding social entrepreneurship each year, selecting entrepreneurs whose innovations have had an impact on the worlds pressing problems and creating a great impact at sale.
By investing in organizations when innovation is ripe for accelerated and scaled adoption, the Skoll Awards help unleash the full global potential and reach of social entrepreneurs.
Currently, over 250 pharmacies across Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia using mPharmacy model have been able to serve 400,000 patients in 2017.
The company also gains leverage through their long-term participation in a global community of visionary leaders and innovators dedicated to solving the world’s most pressings problems.
