The digital medicine for pharmacies: How AI is powering Kenya’s chemists
15 January 2026 · Written by Catherine Bolgar
NAIROBI – A steady stream of customers enters Ryche Pharmacy, situated on a vibrant Nairobi street. Amidst serving them, Dr. Bramwel Othieno efficiently manages new inventory placement and administrative tasks on the pharmacy's desktop computer.
His workflow has significantly improved, and the pharmacy's operational efficiency has surged since implementing Zendawa, an AI-powered application. The name 'Zendawa' harmoniously blends 'zen' with 'dawa,' the Swahili term for medicine. Zendawa not only optimizes inventory management but also proactively alerts Dr. Othieno and his team to medications nearing their expiration dates.
“Prior to Zendawa, we incurred losses of approximately 6,000 Kenyan shillings [around US$45] monthly due to expired medications,” Dr. Othieno states. “Since adopting Zendawa, we've successfully tracked short-expiry items and managed to sell them before expiration, resulting in savings of at least 4,000 shillings.”
Having already reduced waste by two-thirds, the pharmacy is committed to eliminating losses from expired drugs entirely, he emphasizes.
These substantial savings are critical, as neighborhood pharmacies in Kenya, like Ryche, operate on extremely tight profit margins, explains Wilfred Chege, co-founder and CEO of Zendawa. While Kenya features several pharmacy retail chains, particularly in affluent regions, the majority consist of small, independent storefronts owned and managed by individual pharmacists, catering to local residents within a convenient radius.
Recognizing the acute pressures faced by these small pharmacies, Zendawa, in strategic collaboration with Microsoft, initiated an exploration into how technology could effectively support frontline pharmacists. The Zendawa app, powered by Microsoft Copilot 365 and leveraging Power BI tools, is instrumental in enabling these smaller pharmacies to serve a greater number of clients while simultaneously enhancing their modest profit margins.
On a continent grappling with a deficit of doctors and nurses, pharmacists deliver indispensable primary care. However, they too face significant shortages—Kenya reports only two pharmacists per thousand people, a stark contrast to the 111 per thousand in the U.S., according to the World Health Organization’s Global Health Observatory database. A typical 200-square-foot pharmacy currently requires three to four pharmacists to operate effectively, underscoring the imperative to maximize the impact of each professional to meet patient needs. Furthermore, efficient utilization of limited shelf space is paramount.
Primarily operating as small enterprises, pharmacies frequently encounter challenges in securing working capital for new inventory. Most function offline and lack sophisticated business management tools. Last-mile delivery to patients presents another significant hurdle, Chege notes.
Zendawa originated during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period marked by stringent curfews that restricted pharmacy operating hours and impeded public access to essential medicines. A friend of Chege’s, Dr. Victor Achoka, sought his expertise to devise a technological solution for this crisis. Chege had previously founded Shule Mall during high school, a platform enabling families to order supplies for children in distant boarding schools with delivery services. 'Shule' translates to 'school' in Swahili. However, school closures during the pandemic led to the cessation of Shule Mall's operations.
Consequently, Chege, in partnership with Dr. Achoka, pivoted to addressing the critical last-mile drug delivery challenges during the pandemic. “We recognized the potential to extend this solution to all pharmacies, not just those he was managing,” Chege explains. Since commencing operations in 2023, Zendawa has successfully onboarded 820 pharmacies, primarily concentrated in the capital city of Nairobi and in Nakuru, the hometown of both Chege and Dr. Achoka.
Speeding up business intelligence for pharmacies
The delivery solution uses machine learning to match orders sent to Zendawa with the nearest pharmacy that has the right products. Then it connects the order to one of Kenya’s many motorcycle delivery drivers. Zendawa’s mission quickly grew beyond deliveries to addressing other common problems of neighborhood pharmacies, namely in back-office operations. Real-time reporting on inventory, a function of the Zendawa tool, is the big boost for pharmacies. Especially in cases where pharmacies weren’t digitized, they would have had to close for a full day on a regular basis just to take stock manually, Chege says.
Thanks to Zendawa, Ryche Pharmacy only closes for a half day to take inventory. “Initially, we spent a whole day on stock taking, which was overwhelming,” the pharmacy’s Dr. Othieno says.
Pharmacist Dr. Bramwel Othieno checks stocks at Ryche Pharmacy in Nairobi. Zendawa’s platform helps pharmacies manage inventory and other back-office tasks. Photo by Afrikanna Production.
Meanwhile, Ryche Pharmacy's online presence through Zendawa has expanded its client base, driving a significant increase in average daily sales from 12,000 Kenyan shillings to 20,000 Kenyan shillings (approximately $154), he reports.
Zendawa’s AI tool, which integrates Microsoft 365 Copilot, not only accelerates business intelligence for pharmacies but also enhances demand forecasting. This empowers pharmacies with greater foresight to anticipate and manage customer flow effectively. Pharmacies can meticulously track their business performance metrics via Zendawa’s centralized dashboard.
For instance, if a pharmacy encounters a stockout of a specific medication, a pharmacist might recommend an alternative with a similar therapeutic effect. “This is not an ideal practice,” Chege concedes. However, “stocking five variations of the same drug from different manufacturers entails substantial capital investment.” Zendawa mitigates this by aggregating market data and utilizing Microsoft’s Power BI business intelligence tool, augmented with AI, to identify prevailing prescription trends for specific drugs, such as malaria treatments, enabling pharmacists to proactively adjust their orders.
Further leveraging Microsoft’s Power BI, Zendawa generates a credit score for each pharmacy. “This is our proprietary scoring system, and thus far, it has proven highly accurate,” Chege affirms. “Typically, if they require drugs, payment is due upon delivery; for inventory financing needs, our embedded credit financing solution is then activated.”
The credit score, meticulously calculated by Zendawa based on cash flow analysis and multiple other factors, empowers pharmacies to apply for financing from licensed credit providers specializing in small and medium-sized enterprises.
From pen and paper to AI
By embracing Zendawa, many pharmacies are making a monumental transition, moving from rudimentary pen-and-paper systems directly to advanced AI capabilities. The Zendawa team initiates this transformation by digitizing the point-of-sale process, which subsequently streamlines operations, exposes inefficiencies and waste, and furnishes pharmacies with crucial insights into their cash flow. This digital transformation paves the way for offering online sales and accumulating valuable data for credit scoring, thereby facilitating access to financing.
“Credit scoring represents a novel approach, as we are pioneering a data-to-credit model for capital access,” Chege explains. “This fundamentally differs from the conventional collateral-based model employed by traditional banks and major financiers.”
Historically, data meticulously recorded on paper was largely inaccessible, if recorded at all. In the absence of reliable data, financial institutions resorted to alternative risk assessment methods, primarily requiring collateral. This practice unfortunately excluded numerous small businesses from accessing essential credit.
“Zendawa is really championing for easing inefficiencies as well as administrative burdens within the pharmacy ecosystem,” Chege says. “There is huge potential for every pharmacist to be a business owner, because we will give them the tools to be able to serve a very wide market without breaking the bank.”
Wilfred Chege is the CEO and co-founder of Zendawa, based in Nakuru. Photo by Afrikanna Production.