In this episode of Supply Chain Now, we continue our popular series, Supply Chain Leadership Across Africa as host Scott Luton explores how public-private partnerships are reshaping access to healthcare across Africa, particularly when it comes to affordable, quality medicines. Joined by Anderson Ti-Timi of VillageReach and Trip Allport of XS2Meds, we dive into the complex pharma value chain and the urgent need to build up local private distributors through improved procurement systems, working capital access, and internal infrastructure.

Anderson shares insights from the front lines—including a potential new partnership in the Democratic Republic of the Congo—and emphasizes the importance of trust, visibility, and scalable systems. Trip highlights how lessons from 15 years of outsourcing distribution can now be applied across the full value chain to accelerate innovation, integration, and cost reduction. Together, they underscore how collaboration among governments, donors, manufacturers, and distributors is the key to achieving universal health coverage.

Whether you're in global health, supply chain, or looking to make a difference, this conversation is a call to build smarter, stronger, and more connected systems.

Additional Links & Resources:

• Connect with Trip: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trip-allport-65aab3/
• Connect with Anderson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anderson-titimi/
• Learn more about VillageReach: https://www.villagereach.org/
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This episode is hosted by Scott Luton and produced by Trisha Cordes, Joshua Miranda, and Amanda Luton. For additional information, please visit our dedicated show page at: https://supplychainnow.com/supply-chain-leadership-across-africa-increasing-private-sector-engagement-quality-healthcare-1425

We have noticed that governments are starting to lean more on private channel partners, but they can't procure at scale because of capital and procurement constraints. We have great channel partners out there, but they need access to credits, quality assurance and procurement systems that don't leave them behind.

Welcome to Supply Chain Now, the number one voice of Supply Chain. Join us as we share critical news, key insights and real supply chain supply chain leadership from across the globe, one conversation at a time. Hey everybody. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever you may be. Scott Luton here with you on Supply Chain Now. Welcome to today's episode, folks. Today we're continuing our popular Supply Chain Leadership Across Africa series. We've been conducting the series for several years now focused on the innovation and leadership and sheer brilliance that can be found throughout the dozens of countries across Africa, the continent of Africa.

And we're pleased to conduct today's episode in partnership with our friends at VillageReach, a powerful nonprofit that is transforming healthcare delivery to reach everyone. Right. In fact, their critical work enables access to quality health care for almost 110 million people. How about that? You can learn more at VillageReach.org so great show coming up here today. It's going to be an informative conversation focused on healthcare supply chain management. In particular, we're going to be talking about some of the incredible work that's being done as well as some of the obstacles that do still remain. We're going to be discussing these powerful public and private sector partnerships and how they really can deliver all sorts of powerful consequential results. And we're going to make sure to share how you can help us support this noble mission to provide families access to quality health care and medicine.

So stay tuned for an outstanding conversation. Okay, we have got quite the one, two punch when it comes to our esteemed panel here today. I'm going to introduce them now. I want to start with Anderson Ti-Timi who serves as a manager private sector engagement group with our friends at VillageReach. Now Anderson leads consultancy services that support innovators and startups, ensuring that critical alignment between innovator products and services with the public health customer specific needs and contexts across Africa. He specializes in building the capacities of both private and public entities, preparing private companies for financing and investment and facilitating sustainable market entries. Anderson's expertise and background in finance further extends to market development and shaping, providing advisory support to ensure the long term success of innovations. Hey.

Hey Anderson. How you doing today? I'm doing well, so nice to meet you. I can't wait to learn from Your perspective and what you've been doing. And you're joined. Anderson, I said I'll call it a one, two punch. Let's get to the second punch. Your friend and colleague, Trip Allport, Chief Growth Officer with XS2Meds, which happens to be an I Plus Solutions company. Now, XS2Meds is focused on providing pooled procurement to the private sector.

The goal of XS2Meds is to increase affordable access to high quality medicines and health products. And Trip in particular brings a wealth of leadership experience to the table, having worked previously in critical roles for companies such as Kasha, the Africa Resource Center Project, Last Mile and Accenture. Hey, Trip, great to have you here today. How you doing?

Great to be here, Scott. Thanks for having me.

You bet. Okay, Anderson and Trip, we got so much to get to, but you know, we want to start with a little fun warmup question because this life is way too short and you are both are leading and part of big, important noble missions, but we gotta decompress sometimes. Now we hear you both are passionate about tackling new adventures in life, especially outdoors. Anderson, we hear that you have the most natural curiosity of anyone on the planet and that you apply that regularly to your daily adventures. You love good stories and the constant chase for excitement and discovery. So I want to ask you, Anderson, what's been one of your favorite recent adventures?

I would say I think Mount Kenya. It's very challenging, but rewarding and a powerful reminder of what takes to keep move forward, moving forward and one step at time. Yeah.

So Mount Kenya. Describe the view when you made it up to the top. The summit, I guess for those that climb mountains, describe the view.

Yeah, really amazing. You are at the top of everything, think everything. You are tired because of the challenge, but it's really rewarding the view that you get there.

Now did you jump and parachute back down, take the easy route or did you.

No, no, no. You have to come back. Yeah.

We don't have a whole bunch of mountains here in the state of Georgia, so I have to check out Mount Kenya, my next trip over to the fascinating continent of Africa. Well, Anderson, thanks to be here. Looking forward to learning more about your adventures on the professional side of things here in a minute. Now, Trip, you have been described as a full blown adrenaline junkie that enjoys things like downhill mountain biking, kite surfing, monohull sailing. I gotta learn what that is. And multi day hiking all around the world. So you and Anderson really are two peas in the pod. What's been one of Your biggest recent adventures.

My favorite of recent note was heading off to Chile in South America, hiking the W Trail in Torres del Penn. Fantastic five days hiking. Not quite as high as my friend at Mount Kenya, but fantastic. Patagonia is everything you imagine it to be.

So, Trip, when you do that, I think you said it's a five day hike. Do you pack a tent or do you stop at like local towns or where do you spend the overnights? Overnight?

Yeah, they call them refugios. They have a little refuge where you can stop and put your feet up and have a nice bite to eat a cold beer and get some good rest for the night.

Oh, Trip, I love that. Okay, we're gonna have to get pictures from both of y'all and these adventures. I can only imagine what else that you're not. We don't have time to get you here today, but Anderson and Trip, great to have you and I'm looking forward to learning from you both. All right, so let's level set a bit as we get into the reason we're all here. And Trip, I want to start with you. What are some of the major barriers for patients in Africa looking to access quality, affordable medicines? What are some of the barriers that those patients face across Africa?

Yeah, Scott, there are quite a number of major access barriers. I'll just quickly pick off four. First and foremost is just availability. In many cases around the continent, patients just simply don't have access. The medicines are not actually available at the point of service when they go there. Moreover, when, if those medicines are available, often the price can be three, five, eight times higher than what you might get it in the US or someone listening. In Europe, quality is a big issue in many countries. There are some standard manufacturers who are competing and entering these markets.

And moreover, the regulatory authorities don't necessarily have the capability to enforce the strict quality guidelines that ensure the medicines that you might feed your family are of the standard necessary for good quality care. And finally, I think it's worth saying medicines, you know, we continue in the world to develop new therapies, new, new medicines, new products. In many cases, they don't even reach the continent. Here, most patients won't be aware of them even though to ask their, their providers.

Okay, so Trip, what I heard there, access, costs, quality. And that last one I'll call maybe innovation, awareness, maybe a good way of putting it.

Awareness, new products.

All right, so as we're level setting here, as we get through the rest of the conversation, tell us about some of the various Actors in the pharmaceutical value chain.

Yeah, indeed. The pharma value chain in Africa is quite complex. On one end, of course we have a patient, on the other we have manufacturers. Those manufacturers might be branded innovators. Sanofi, Novartis, Novo Nordisk and many will know. And then of course generic manufacturers. They're all over the world, from the US to Europe, India, China, increasingly also here in Africa. So trying to get that basket of medicines from all over the world to a single patient or point of service is indeed complex.

And we have to tackle the public system side and the private system side. On the public healthcare side, governments are often procuring huge volumes of medicines on, you know, once or twice a year, often with donor money. I think that comes in multi year cycles. And the facilities, the providers, the hospitals are dramatically understaffed and under resourced. Now, the private sector side, you know, we have these channel partners and we're going to talk about them a lot today. These are the organizations that sell and buy medicines and health products into the health sector. And they include things like traditional distributors, wholesalers, but also innovators. Wholesalers.

Distributors will focus more on urban, affluent populations. But increasingly we see more and more innovators trying to reach new markets, new patients, new segments. But in both sectors, medicines are handled by many actors before reaching the patient. And this increases the cost, complexity, the risk in the supply chain and ultimately that hits the availability, quality and price for patients.

Lots of touches driving complexity and costs and alignment challenges and a whole bunch more. Anderson, want to bring you in here based on some of the channel partners that, that Trip identified there and many others. What are some of the specific challenges that these channel partners face?

Yes, Scott, this group is often overlooked, but they are critical if you are to achieve universal health coverage. As Trip mentioned, when we talk about channel partners, we can think of them like the building bridge between the manufacturer and the health worker. They are responsible for procuring, storing and distributing health products. But they face many challenges. First, there is financial pressure. You know, they are often asked to pay suppliers upfront, but wait months to get paid by health facilities or pharmacies. That ties up their cash and complicates restocking. And since corporates are very small, they don't have much room to absorb delays or losses.

And add to this poor infrastructure, changing regulations and the fact that many of them don't have good systems to keep track of their stocks or manage their money and it's easy to see why so many of them are struggling. The results are even if they want to deliver essential high-quality medicines, it's quite difficult to do so in a consistent way, especially in the most outreach areas.

And Anderson, we've got to. Would you agree, we've got to find ways to support these small private businesses and distributors and help make them more profitable so they can grow and serve more folks and families in need all across the continent of Africa. Would you agree with that, Anderson?

Yes.

Yeah. Okay. So Trip, back to you. In your last response, you were talking about the public side and the private side, Right. Over the last 15 years there's been a big focus to build public private partnerships between that public sector to government, which you touched on, and the private sector these distributors were talking about. Why is it so important that we optimize and continue to grow these public private partnerships?

Yeah, there's been a huge focus on creating public private partnerships in Africa for the last 15 years. The focus has largely been on the outsourcing of distribution. In that case, you know, governments often were running trucks routes to market and you know, you and many your listeners will know that also means having adequate fuel and maintaining your fleet and all sorts of things that really aren't our capability of government. So why not utilize local capacity and capability that exists and build those markets? There have been important gains, but in outsourcing distribution, but that is just one part of the value chain that we spoke about. There is now a shift to recognition to look at the entire value chain from the manufacturer all the way to the port and from the port all the way to the patient. And in so doing, procurement and working capital, they really come into frame as an important lever to improve availability, reduce the cost and drive greater integration and efficiencies across the value chain, including again, the importance of quality, making sure that those medicines, when they come from a manufacturer to the patient and her family, you know, they are of the highest quality.

Trip, do you see. As a quick follow up before I go back to Anderson, I'll talk more about these results here in just a second. Do you see big opportunities since we've made bigger gains in. When it comes to public and private partnerships, especially with outsourcing distribution over the last 15 years, do you see big opportunities where we can take those critical lessons learned and apply it to the bigger picture that you, as I think you said, from manufacturers to ports, from the ports to the patient, the whole, the whole value chain, you see big opportunities to apply, lessons learned.

Absolutely. Anderson, in a moment is probably going to talk about some of the challenges, but I will say one of the biggest gains is just getting all of us on the continent to really appreciate the power of these partnerships to do what we are best at. You know, it starts with that goodwill. In my years with Project Last Mile, it took five or six years just to convince people to think about outsourcing, let alone then do all the good hard technic work. Now governments, donors, funders, stakeholders around the world really do understand this and I think there's the opportunity to apply it to upstream procurement, financing and other such areas.

Undoubtedly massive opportunities even to move at the modern pace of business velocity, which I tell you can be, can make people breathless from time to time. Anderson, we are going to talk about opportunities in a second, but let's, let's start with some of the results in terms of what has been achieved. Let's start with the good news first. Anderson, your thoughts?

Yeah. So what we've seen is that in many countries private distributors are still underutilized in public systems because most of the focus has been on strengthening central medical stores. And we did a benchmarking study with the African Pharmaceutical Distribution association and what we noted is that out of 10 countries only four use private distributors in public supplies regularly. Others either don't use them or call them in only during emergencies.

So in that latter. So let me replay this to you and make sure I've got what you're sharing. You're talking about that, that benchmarking that VillageReach has conducted with the Africa Pharmaceutical Distributors Association. Yeah. You looked at 10 specific countries in Africa and you found that of the 10, only four countries use private distributors routinely to supply public hospitals, right?

Yeah.

And of the of the other six, two didn't use them at all. And on your last point there, four used them, but only used them in emergency situations. Which Anderson, my hunch there is, is when we only use certain relationships in emergencies, it's really tough to bring the full weight and, and power of the relationships to bear. Would you agree? And is that what you're seeing?

Exactly. And most of time private distributors are not really prepared to play their role during such time because they don't have the capacity to support effectively the public health system during this time emergencies. And also they don't have money they use to supply for a certain capacity. But when emergencies are there, they are unable to do that because of, because of the lack of previous partnership with the governments. And we saw in a countries where they ultimately supply the public systems, they are able to effectively support even the public system during emergencies.

Yes. Okay. So folks, to all of our listeners out there. The good news is we've made great progress, especially when it comes to supply chain management and these distribution channel partners. We've made gains there, but we're going to get Anderson and Trip to chime in on next is to a two part question. Anderson, I pose this to you first. Why has progress not been faster and what more is needed? And my hunch, because what you were just sharing a second ago is we need more capital, we need more a cash infusion. But tell us more.

Why has progress not been faster and what else is needed? Anderson?

I would say because it's hard. We have noticed that governments are starting to lean more on private channel partners, but they can't procure at scale because of capital and procurement constraints. We have great channel partners out there, but they need access to credits, quality assurance and procurement systems that don't leave them behind. You know, we need assistance that grows local businesses while improving merchants access.

And Trip, I want to get your thoughts here and and maybe we start with to play on something you were sharing earlier. The world of procurement has changed dramatically, right? And so many organizations are using procurement in powerful strategic ways to do massive things and including and the tech in the procurement space has also evolved dramatically. And this is, as Anderson points out, this is a big opportunity when it comes to healthcare supply chain management and its success. Your thoughts? Trip?

Absolutely. I mean many of your listeners will know as supply chain professionals just building and running routes to market myriad complexities that come with it. That's a big job in itself, let alone then as I said before, trying to source hundreds, possibly thousands of skiers from all over the world, very difficult to get right in a regular way that patients and their families can rely on. It's also worth saying this is hard in terms of the procurement finance piece because this is not where traditional finance, risk underwriting and insurance play the geographies, the patient segments, you know, the places we're talking about. This is where you typically get, you know, banks, finance institutions, insurance agencies saying we're not going to play there, we're not going to cover it. So we leave these channel partners to do it on their own. And I thought Anderson covered it well before, you know, it's very difficult business as it is. Without that infusion of cash and support on risk management, it becomes all that much harder.

No shortage of complexities. But again, progress is being made and it's so important to tell those stories as we seek out bigger partnerships, new partners that can help us make more progress and faster. Trip let's talk about why the focus and, and I'm going to play devil's advocate for a second because both you and Anderson have been answering this question kind of throughout all your last couple responses, but let's just make sure we don't miss anything. So why the focus now on more working capital and strategic procurement? How else do you see that impacting things?

We here at XS2Meds, we're trying to simplify the procurement piece, right? So we're trying to have it be a single place where channel partners could come and they can get all the not just medicines, but health products that could include medical devices, diagnostics and other needs for the health sector, including even kitting out health centers. Florida ceiling. We're trying to make that really simple. Let them focus on the ground. Let them focus on getting products where they're needed. Again, essential to that is the necessary financing solutions. We're working with a number of financing partners to look at things like extended payment terms to channel partners all the way up from the supplier down to down to the facility that'll allow them to pay after they've been repaid and smooth out that part of the supply chain. So I think these things go really hand in hand.

But again, we have to pull together many different actors and talk about that a little later.

Yeah, excellent points there. Some of the impact can be on helping to simplify these operations, helping to overhaul those operations, including, as Anderson pointed out, in some cases, like many businesses around the world, especially small businesses, we don't always have the, the rigorous and powerful internal processes, whether it relates to finance or supply chain stuff or just small business stuff. And there's an opportunity there. And I think also by making more progress on working capital, it's going to help us gain other critical things such as more supply chain visibility, which will open up the doors of all sorts of opportunities. We all, I mean, we're in the age right now where supply chain visibility is fast, not across the board, but it's fast becoming table stakes. Doesn't mean it's easy to get it. It doesn't mean every organization has it, especially as you go deeper and deeper into various tiers. However, technology has allowed us to reach more and more visibility than perhaps ever before.

And it sounds like there's not big opportunity for that as well here. All right, so Anderson, when it comes to the challenges and or risks associated with working capital and how we mitigate them, what are your thoughts?

So I would say that as you mentioned, working capital can be a game changer. But only if it is well managed. And one of the bigger challenges is that many distributors don't have the systems or tools they need to manage the cash stock payments, just as mentioned. So even when the finance is available, it might not be used in the most efficient way. There is also a concern about quality of health products. So governments and donors want to make sure that products being procured and stopped and served meet regulatory standards. That means we need strong oversight and collaboration with national regulators. And also it's all about trust and transparency.

Financing partners need confidence in how money is flowing, but also on how end products are managed. So without good data sharing and relationship, it's quite difficult to scale these models.

The power of trust. We've been talking about this for years. It feels like should be probably decades. But especially when it comes to supply chain ecosystems, trust is how we move mountains and how we really optimize relationships. It's so critical to your point, Anderson. And I think the other thing that I heard, one of the things I was going to pull out from your response there is as we gain working capital, ensuring that it's well managed, ensuring that it abides by all the various regulations and you name it. And by doing so, Anderson, by showcasing how well we can manage and make the most of working capital, that's probably one of the best ways we can ensure that the flow of working capital continues to come in both with current and new providers. Would you agree?

Yeah, exactly. Because we think that it's not just about unlocking capital, you know, it's all about making sure that the capital is really well used and the system around it are strong enough to support the long term impact.

Well said, Anderson. Well said. Okay, so Trip, beyond what we've shared thus far, what other initiatives, innovations and strategic partnerships are emerging to try and address the set of access barriers that Anderson has pointed to here?

Yeah, there are far too many great initiatives underway for me to list them. But let me just pick off a few points here. I mean one, just to our manufacturers around the world, they're making enormous investments to increase access to medicines. Be that equity investments into innovators, grant investments into health system capacity building, establishing new access programs and even developing new therapies that are fit for the continent. We've talked a lot about our channel partners. A lot of my years at Project Last Mile, you know, we were working with them to try to innovate new routes to market. You know, how does Coke has, you know, Coke available everywhere, all the time. Cold, you know, why can't we do the same with medicines.

Of course there are new procurement platforms like ourselves, XS2Meds, you know that are finding that aggregation and trying to drive down cost and simplify process as we discussed. And he brought up the tough point earlier, making sure we have the data visibility across all these actors and string together that data chain that allows us to optimize the supply chain for patients at the end of the day. And of course a whole lot of new financing mechanisms like working capital funds being set up by Gates Foundation, MedAxcess, others suppliers extending payment terms and then we're starting to discover and there's anyone listening and knows more alternative risk underwriter to insurance products. We need to think about how to manage the risk in the supply chain and we are actively seeking additional partners in that space as well.

Okay, all kinds of things. Anderson, before we're going to get an example of a potential strategic partnership from you in just a second but I want to ask you both two things there. Trip, you brought up the manufacturers around the globe, but is it Yalls hope as well that we, we see manufacturing and production operations grow their roots on the African continent and creating more value and, and probably addressing a lot of the opportunities and challenges by taking out some of these logistics legs that you know, global manufacturing poses. Anderson, are you optimistic about more manufacturing on the African continent?

Yeah, definitely, because we are seeing some innovative financing models encouraging manufacturers to grow in Africa. I can talk about the International Finance Corporation which is providing financing for local pharmaceutical manufacturing, you know distributors and pharmacists which something that's been really and many manufacturers to grow in Africa. And yeah, many other donors also are now launching dedicating working capital financing to support pharmaceutical supply chains.

Okay. And Trip, one other quick follow up based on your response I want to ask you, I loved your point you made. Why can't we make access to medicines as common as being able to go get a, a Diet Coke from a vending machine trip? That's a great, that's a great vision to wrap our heads around, huh?

Yeah. And that's credit to one of my friends at Project Last Mile and Coca Cola company. I mean there's so much we can learn from engaging the private sector. We talked about it earlier. Why, why not learn from them and translate that to the health sector.

And once we make it as accessible as a Diet Coke, we will then make it as a, as, as accessible as a caffeine free cherry Diet Coke which happens to be one of my favorite Coca Cola products. I can only get it with the freestyle machine. But hey, that's a whole another subject. Anderson, I love good examples and again appreciate the great work you and Trip and your respective organizations are doing. I hear something about a potential strategic partnership in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the drc, around procurement and working capital, which of course is two of the big themes that we've been working through here today. Can you share more?

Yeah, sure. You know, in DRC, VillageReach is leading a strategic initiative to improve access to medicines by strengthening local distributors. Many of them face many financial challenges that we mentioned earlier, you know, such as paying suppliers within 30 days but waiting like over six months to get paid by health facilities. And we stepped in on just notes, just not with analysis but also with ends on support. You know, helping them improve working capital management and how they manage cash flow. Stocks matter improve the way that they track their payments. And we are also working with the national regulatory authority to assure that our products are of high quality, but also advocates for better distributors integration. Its initiative is for how to build resilience investment ready distributors that can truly support national health systems.

And we believe that this model can be scaled across Africa.

Oh, love that. So working with your partners in the DRC to really optimize cash flow management and in a greater sense building more and more resilience in these organizations. So perhaps they'll be in a better position to grow and, and do more good. Right, which is what, which is what we're all after. All right, so let's break it down. You know, Trip, earlier in the front, front part of our conversation was kind of talking about all the various players across the pharma value chain. And there's a lot of different, in a similar vein, there's a lot of different players that are part of this mission that Anderson and Trip, you both are a critical part of. And I want to break it down and I want to get each of y'all to address four specific types of players and how they can perhaps help us make more progress.

So Anderson, I want to start by getting your thoughts for all those innovators out there, whether they're startups and entrepreneurs or maybe folks changing industry, you know, around the globe. When it comes to supply chain or anything else. How can those innovators out there help us more?

I would say for innovators it's important to design with the world supply chain in mind. You know, don't just think about how a product will be used in a facility, but think about how it will be stored, transported, financed or Distributed. And if those pieces don't work, access breaks down quickly.

More and more holistic thinking. And not just holistic thinking, but how we can challenge long held assumptions and change the game once we have it mapped out end to end. Kind of going back to Trip's example of from manufacturers to the ports and to the ports to the patients. All right, so Anderson, that's our challenge for innovators out there. How about those distribution and channel partners? What else would you suggest that they can help us more here?

I would say invest in internal systems. You know, that means better tools to track stock, you know, manage credits and plan procurements. It's not just about selling, it's also about knowing where your money is tied up and how to keep the business sustainable over time.

Anderson, you know, you're as you're sharing there on the emphasis and the importance of optimizing and building up our internal systems, it reminds me of this analogy. I may get it wrong, but maybe y'all have heard of this one. It is an analogy to like an oxygen master. Right. You know, in the event of a plane crash. Right. If we don't take care of ourselves first, there's no way we can help others. Right.

And that's more morbid than I want, but. But I think that the principle is still there. If these organizations, these distribution and channel partners, the more they develop stringent and powerful and scalable internal operations and systems, the more they can help others across the ecosystem, Right?

Exactly. Definitely.

Yeah.

The more they can support the public health system, the more they can grow themselves, the more they can increase their sales and profits. And also the more they can expand their operations and access innovative financing.

I'm careful to use this cliche that everyone wins, but I mean, it's really true. It is really true. Okay, so Anderson spoke on the innovators and those distribution channel partners that can, that can help us more. And some examples of how. Trip, let's talk about the suppliers, the various suppliers out there. How can they help us move the needle more?

Yeah, the suppliers have a big role to play. I mean, continue to do what you're doing and in developing new therapies. That's fantastic. Extending payment terms we talked about, if you extend from the manufacturer, we can flow that through down the value chain. So that's great ideas like considering strategic stockpiling for fast moving pharmaceuticals closer to the continent or on the continent would be very helpful. And then many of the supply chain folks listening will understand the power of things like vendor managed inventory and consignment stock that'll play a big role as well in their supply chain, among others.

You know, on the first point you made new therapies, I think you'd referenced more customized thinking in it when it comes to the development of new therapies with certain geographic, certain regulations, certain customs, you name it, and certain specific challenges in mind. You see that as a big opportunity trip for our suppliers.

Absolutely. I mean, things like finding ways to transport medicines that don't require a cold chain right away will make a huge difference. Or finding long lasting injectables where patients don't need to take a pill or medicine every single day, these sorts of things have a huge impact on the value chain and patient health overall.

Love that, Trip, Love that. All the more reason to have regular conversations with folks that have boots on the ground and into various places where we're trying to drive more traction and drive more access and drive more savings and drive more health. Right. You know that all of that, at least to me, speaks to the need to challenge even, you know, we talk about long held assumptions, even short held assumptions because the pace of change is so great. What worked well last year may not necessarily work as well this year based on a variety of factors that change. Right?

Absolutely. This is why it's helpful to work with groups like VillageReach who are on the ground right there in drc. We're talking to global manufacturers, global partners like ourselves. We need to map global opportunities, ideas, solutions to very local solutions and build that trust and that understanding.

Love that trip. And I've had limited purview into the ecosystem you just described there, but that's what I see. And that's the role that VillageReach plays with folks, you know, bridging the gaps, folks from afar that want to help and putting them in touch and helping to facilitate the communication with folks right there in country, in a variety of countries and a variety of villages and towns, you name it, across the continent of Africa. Love that. All right, so Trip, we got one more bucket of industry players to tackle and that is potential investors, funders and donors. Trip, how can they help us more here?

Yeah, I'll throw in that same bucket. Governments, I think, you know, this group, Investors, donors, governments continue to help connect the dots. You know, what we're talking about is bringing together five or six players, you know, to make the value chain work, maybe more. That doesn't happen naturally. That trust doesn't happen naturally, especially in the world of procurement, supply chain financing. And so the more our friends in Government and funders and donors can help create that environment that convening that they do all the time is I think very, very helpful for us to build the value chain that we're talking about.

Yes, well said Trip and Anderson. So there's four different folks, all kinds of ways you can help. But if you happen to have maybe both feet in one of the innovator bucket, or maybe one foot in the innovator bucket and one in the investor bucket, you name it, there's opportunity for, for so many folks to help our drive to ensure that access to quality health care and quality medicines is had by so many more families and people and not just across Africa, but around the globe. So Anderson, as we start to wrap here with all that you're involved in, I want to make sure folks know how to connect with you and the VillageReach team. So how can folks connect with you? Anderson, what's the easiest way?

Yes, so I'm available on LinkedIn. Anderson Ti-Timi, you can definitely find me there. I think that this is the easiest way to get in touch with me and with my organization. Thank you.

Outstanding. So fine. Anderson Ti-Timi, who serves as manager, private sector engagement group with VillageReach on LinkedIn. You can also learn more about VillageReach at villagereach.org Trip, same question. How can folks track you down whenever you and Anderson aren't spelunking or climbing mountains or monohull sailing which I got to figure out what that is. How can folks track you down Trip?

Well just come down here to beautiful Cape Town. We'll go sailing together. Otherwise you can find me on LinkedIn here. I'm the only Trip Allport on LinkedIn. Otherwise XS2meds.org and we'd love to hear if you have ideas, solutions, feedback. Please be great to hear from you.

Outstanding. So find Trip Allport, Chief Growth Officer with XS2Meds which is a plus solutions company. You can learn more, connect, connect with him on LinkedIn and you can learn more about his organization at xs2meds.org learn more there. Okay, Trip and Anderson, thank you so much for your time here today. But more importantly, big thanks to what you're doing industry to help so many folks so that eventually we can be in position where no one is left behind in terms of access to quality healthcare or I mean you are really. What an incredibly noble mission. Thanks for being here.

Thanks for having us, Scott.

You bet, Trip.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much Anderson to our audience. So folks, lots of actionable conversation had here, lots of insights into some of the specific challenges when it comes to pharmaceutical or healthcare supply chain and some of the missions and some of the successes as well as some of the barriers. There's so many opportunities to get involved and help help us in this fight. So if you're in position to contribute resources to the critical mission that VillageReaches on, we invite you to do just that. As we mentioned on the front end, their efforts enable access to quality healthcare for almost 110 million people. And there's a lot more work to be done so you can join in the mission. You Learn more@villagereach.org Thanks again to Anderson and Trip. Great conversation here today.

But to our audience, not only do I hope you've enjoyed this conversation as much as I have, but you've got homework. You got to take one thing that you heard here from Anderson or Trip, one opportunity to help jump in the fray and put all of that into practice. Deeds, not words. That's how we're going to solve these challenges. And with all that said, on behalf of the entire team here at Supply Chain Now, Scott Luden challenge you do good, get forward and be the change that's needed. We'll see you next time right back here on Supply Chain Now. Join the Supply Chain Now community. For more Supply Chain perspectives, news and innovation, check out supplychainnow.com, subscribe to Supply Chain Now on YouTube and follow and listen to Supply Chain Now. Wherever you get your podcasts.