By KT Reporter
The Gates Foundation has awarded a $5 million grant to Axmed, a healthcare technology company transforming how lifesaving medicines are procured across Growth Markets.
The grant is expected to unlock up to $10 million in of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) procurement across a selection of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
A statement from Axmed is part of the global health movement to expand affordable access to high-quality medicines,
The grant will be deployed as a matching fund, providing a 1:1 match on government procurement of maternal, newborn, and child health commodities through the Axmed Medicines Platform.
It aims to strengthen national procurement capacity by offering Ministries of Health near-term liquidity, access to quality-assured maternal, newborn, and child health commodities, and the benefits of pooled procurement and aggregated demand – driving both cost-efficiency and supply security.
The initiative was announced during a high-level roundtable held alongside the 78th World Health Assembly, which convened Ministers of Health, national procurement leads, and representatives from key multilateral organizations and philanthropic partners.
Cynthia Mwase Kasanda, Director of Health, Africa, Gates Foundation said reducing the number of preventable deaths of mothers and babies is key to the Foundation’s work 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.” she said.
Addressing Persistent Gaps in Medicines Access
Every year, 287,000 women die from pregnancy and childbirth complications, and 2.3 million newborns die in their first month—despite the availability of proven, cost-effective interventions.
Weak procurement systems, constrained budgets, and fragmented supply chains continue to limit access to essential MNCH commodities across low-resource settings.
The current global liquidity crunch, coupled with reductions in donor funding, has made it harder for governments to secure the medicines they need. This grant responds to that challenge—unlocking immediate financing while enabling longer-term procurement reforms.
Dr. Loko Abraham, Chief Executive Officer for Rwanda Medical Supply said “Through our partnership with Axmed, the Government of Rwanda has shown that meaningful improvements in the efficient and sustainable delivery of high-quality medicines across multiple therapeutic areas can be achieved. Now, through this matching fund, our 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”
The Axmed Platform: Unlocking Scale, Speed, and Savings
Axmed’s digital marketplace connects institutional buyers directly with vetted suppliers, aggregating demand across countries and consolidating procurement at scale.
In 2024, Ministries and other procurers using the platform achieved average savings of 20–30%, with select MNCH products realizing up to 80% cost reductions.
Axmed also partners with global logistics providers to manage end-to-end delivery, from manufacturer to last-mile distribution, with full tracking and traceability. The platform has been deployed across multiple LMICs to support national and regional procurement strategies.
Emmanuel Akpakwu, Founder & CEO of Axmed “This fund is a clear example of how catalytic financing and technology can work together to deliver immediate and lasting impact,” said d. “Our goal is not just to deliver quality medicines faster and more affordably, but to help build more resilient and efficient procurement systems for the future.”-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
