Nigeria, a nation with over 200 million people, has approximately 3,800 registered retail pharmacies. Roughly one pharmacy is stationed for every 57,000 people, starkly contrasting to countries like Kenya, which boasts one per 15,000. The prevalence of counterfeit medications further exacerbates this disparity. Estimates suggest that between 10% to 15% of the global drug supply is counterfeit, with figures rising to more than 30% in Africa. In Nigeria, some studies have argued that up to 70% of drugs in circulation are fake. But Abimbola Adebakin, a pharmacist and business strategist, saw these as an opportunity to transform the broken healthcare system.
Thus, in 2017, she founded Advantage Health Africa (AHA), a technology company that bridges healthcare access, affordability, and safety gaps. She uses platforms like myMedicines, myPharmacy, and The Advantage to restore Africa’s trust in healthcare delivery. What began as a pilot project with 55 pharmacies has grown into a network of over 1,000 fulfilment partners.
Adebakin moves to improve healthcare access in Africa
In a country of over 200 million people, only 5,000 licensed pharmacies operate effectively, mostly in urban areas. Rural communities struggled to access medicine, often relying on luck, which posed serious risks to lives. This sobering reality led Abimbola Adebakin to launch Advantage Health Africa in 2017.
Advantage Health Africa (AHA) has three branches: myMedicines (the online pharmacy), myPharmacy (the franchise chain of community pharmacies), and myAdvantage (a health community). In 7 years of operation, AHA boasts over 100 employees, 5,000 plus customers, and over 10 awards.
Its first platform, myMedicine, connects patients with licensed pharmacies nationwide to get authentic medications delivered straight to their doorsteps. For this to happen, a health worker uploads a patient’s prescription onto the platform. The system quickly identifies a pharmacy with the medicine in stock, picks it up, and delivers it to the patient’s doorstep.
Apart from convenience, myMedicine, is tackling counterfeit drugs by partnering exclusively with licensed pharmacies and verifying every transaction to ensure that only safe, authentic medicines reach users.
Its second platform, myPharmacy, was designed to help traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacies function better with technology. The platform uses inventory management and financial planning to help pharmacies operate more effectively and serve customers better.
The Advantage is a robust system that connects suppliers, distributors, insurers, and patients. It is a seamless ecosystem that powers Nigeria’s pharmaceutical supply chain and makes healthcare delivery faster and more efficient.
In the early days, Abimbola Adebakin partnered with NIPOST, Nigeria’s postal service, to use its extensive delivery network. Today, the team is exploring even more efficient delivery models. The ten-year goal is to roll out myMedicines in 20 African countries.
Adebakin is also eyeing opportunities in drug manufacturing to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on imports. Besides, she dreams of partnering with NGOs to expand access to critical services like family planning and HIV prevention.
