Africa’s Tech Growth Stories: mPharma

Priscilla Asante, Chief of Staff & VP, Strategic Initiatives at mPharma, explains how mPharma is reshaping the role of the pharmacy in Africa—transforming it from a simple point of sale into a gateway for continuous care. In this interview, she discusses the company’s evolution, the realities of scaling healthcare innovation, and why Africa remains one of the most dynamic markets for growth and opportunity.



Can you tell us how mPharma was created and what inspired its founding?

mPharma was founded in 2013 to address a simple but critical problem: patients could not reliably access the medicines they needed. Stockouts were common, pricing was inconsistent, and quality was not always assured.

We focused on aggregating demand and managing inventory more centrally to improve availability and reduce costs—an approach that remains core today. But access alone was not enough. Patients were still dropping off treatment. The gap was continuity. 

Care is often organized around individual visits, with little support between them. Yet the one place patients return to consistently is the pharmacy. That insight shaped our evolution into a pharmacy-anchored care model, integrating essential services with ongoing patient engagement across the care journey.

Today, we combine access, care, and follow-up through partnerships at scale. The impact is clear: we’re identifying thousands of previously undiagnosed patients and improving adherence in measurable ways.

Access gets patients in the door. Continuity is what changes outcomes.