The Skoll Foundation announced Ghanaian based mPharma as a recipient of the 2019 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.
The award will be presented on April 10 at the Skoll World Forum at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England.
In addition to this, mPharma has entered into an agreement to acquire Haltons Pharmacy, Kenya’s 2nd biggest Pharmacy Chain.
This deal is subject to regulatory approval from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
mPharma chief executive Gregory Rockson said he was excited by Haltons’ 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,” he said.
He added that the aquisition would see Haltons propelled into a mass market retail pharmacy brand in Kenya.
As a Skoll Award winner, mPharma will receive Ksh151 million investment or core support grant from Skoll to scale their work and increase their impact.
The Skoll Foundation presents the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship each year to a select group of social entrepreneurs whose innovations have already had significant, proven impact on some of the world’s most pressing problems, and invests directly in the promise of even greater impact at scale.
mPharma was awarded for pioneering the vendor managed inventory model for pharmacies in Zambia.
Instead of pharmacies managing their own inventory, mPharma sources, procures and finances it for them at no cost to the pharmacy. The pharmacy only pays mPharma for what they dispense to patients.
It operates in more than 250 pharmacies across Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia.
“We are honored to see the work we started receive this acknowledgment from the Skoll Foundation. It encourages us to work harder in ensuring that no patient is denied access to high quality medicines due to cost or stock outs,” Rockson said.
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