By Gabriel Olawale

In recognition of its commitment towards elimination of counterfeit drugs, increase access to pharmaceutical products and improve transparency in pricing for healthcare providers in Nigeria, DrugStoc has been shortlisted as one of the 10 African startups finalists for Jack Mas Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative.

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The announcement which came after more than seven months of comprehensive, rigorous and competitive selection process from over 10,000 applicants from 50 African countries with several judges.

The e-Health startup will be pitching directly to Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba Group, Strive Masiyiwa, Founder of Econet, Joe Tsai, Vice Chairman at Alibaba and Ibukun Awosika, Chairperson of First Bank Nigeria in November to receive a share of the $1million USD grant prize pool.

Reacting to this development, Co-Founder DrugStoc, Chibuzo Opara said that Drugstoc which was founded in 2015 seeks to eliminate counterfeit drugs, increase access to pharmaceutical products and improve transparency in pricing for healthcare providers and the product supply chain in Nigeria.

“The drug procurement platform enables healthcare providers and professionals to purchase genuine pharmaceutical and healthcare products within 24hours. Today, between 10 to 30 percent of drugs sold in open and informal markets are fake, and others can be ineffective due to improper storage, a growing threat to Africas biggest economy.

“To solve some of these challenges, Drugstoc operates an Internationally accredited end-to-end traceable supply chain with zero tolerance for fake drugs. We are honoured to have been selected as one of the top 10 finalists for the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative.

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“To be selected alongside other entrepreneurs changing the narrative of our continent is a great feat not just for the Drugstoc team but for Nigeria as a whole. We are super eager to pitch Jack Ma at the grand finale in Accra, Ghana next month. Opara,

The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative is Jack Mas flagship entrepreneur program in Africa led by the Jack Ma Foundation with a mission to identify and spotlight African entrepreneur heroes and their stories to inspire the continent and beyond.

Vanguard