Bill Gates awards 18 billion funding to Axmed Health company to improve health care in Africa

A quick google search for the name Bill Gates defines him in a business domain as the richest business man globally – dealt in technology and real- estate business. Mr. Gates, the business magnet continues to tick all boxes in being among the most compassionate individuals in taking care of others especially those in need and dilapidated state.

World’s richest business man Bill Gates made a compassionate move that could spur his business clients and associates and family – grand son and daughters to live a legacy countrywide by initiating strategies aimed at extending assistance to vulnerable people in Africa on Wednesday in United States of America through finances and tangible resources for Human use and consumption.

The business magnet – Bill Gates renowned for the Microsoft business and holding numerous shares in technological business has spent partly of the profits and funds collected from businesses under Gates Foundation and lived on by giving back to the hungry communities.

As part of the global health movement to expand affordable access to high-quality medicines, under the Gates Foundation, Mr. Bill Gates has awarded a $5 million grant approximately shs: 18,256,97690 billion loosely translated as eighteen billion two hundred fifty-six million ninety-seven thousand six hundred ninety Ugandan shillings to Axmed, a healthcare technology company in Africa.

It is aimed at transforming lives of people and how lifesaving medicines could be procured across Growth Markets in pharmacies and hospitals.

The grant will be deployed as a matching fund, providing a 1:1 match on government procurement of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) commodities through the Axamed Medicines Platform.

The grant is expected to unlock up to $10 million in MNCH procurement across a selection of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. It aims to strengthen national procurement capacity by offering Ministries of Health near-term liquidity, access to quality-assured MNCH 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 led by Mr. Emmanuel Akpakwu also the chief Executive officer and founder of Axmed, Dr. Ebere Okereke and Ms Isra Chaker in United States of America.

“Reducing the number of preventable deaths of mothers and babies is key to our work in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Cynthia Mwase, Director of Health, Africa, Gates Foundation.

“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.”

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 in Africa, and Uganda is among the mostly infected countries in losing children and their mothers during their pregnancy due to poor health care system.

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.

“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 “ said Dr. Loko Abraham, Chief Executive Officer for Rwanda Medical Supply.

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.
“This fund is a clear example of how catalytic financing and technology can work together to deliver immediate and lasting impact,” said Emmanuel Akpakwu, Founder & CEO of Axmed. “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.”