Microsoft and Kenyan health-tech innovator Zendawa has announced a collaboration to deploy an AI platform designed to transform independent pharmacies across the country.
By leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot, Power BI, and Microsoft Azure, the partnership is helping healthcare retailers digitize inventory, eliminate medicine wastage, and drive significant sales growth.
Independent pharmacies serve as the frontline of Kenya’s healthcare system, yet many remain hindered by manual processes and thin profit margins. Zendawa’s platform addresses these hurdles by replacing traditional pen-and-paper logs with predictive analytics and automated demand forecasting, allowing pharmacists to transition from reactive ordering to data-driven management.
“Small pharmacies are the backbone of healthcare access in Kenya, but operational inefficiencies often threaten their sustainability,” said Wilfred Chege, Co-Founder and CEO of Zendawa. “By integrating Microsoft’s AI technologies, we are providing pharmacists with the sophisticated tools needed to reduce losses, optimize stock, and focus on what matters most: patient care.”
Dr. Bramwel Othieno, a pharmacist at Ryche Pharmacy in Nairobi
The impact on the ground is already visible. Pharmacists utilizing the platform report:
- Precise tracking of expiry dates has drastically lowered losses from unsold medication.
- Real-time insights into fast-moving goods allow for better stock availability and higher daily sales.
- Automated stock-taking eliminates the need for frequent shop closures, keeping essential medicines accessible to the community longer.
“Expired stock used to cost us thousands of shillings every month,” said Dr. Bramwel Othieno of Ryche Pharmacy. “With AI-driven insights, we no longer guess our inventory needs; we predict them. This shift has allowed us to spend less time on paperwork and more time with our patients.”
Beyond the storefront, the platform is solving a systemic hurdle: access to capital. By digitizing transactions and inventory, pharmacies can now build robust, data-based credit profiles. This enables them to secure financing from lending partners without the need for traditional collateral.
Since its launch in 2023, Zendawa has scaled rapidly across Nairobi and other urban hubs.
“AI has the potential to unlock productivity for businesses of all sizes,” said a representative from Microsoft. “Through our partnership with Zendawa, we are demonstrating how global AI capabilities can be tailored to strengthen healthcare supply chains and support the digital transformation of Africa’s independent business sector.”