Its prototype was a low-cost solution developed to test the viability of the founder’s idea. Once corrected and refined, the solution is now accessible in five countries, helping thousands of users. 

Lisungui Pharma is a digital platform developed by a Congolese startup founded in 2015. The health tech platform geolocalizes pharmacies located within a 10-kilometer radius from the user. It also helps determine drug availability and prices and acts as a medication reminder.

To develop the prototype of the digital platform, the Congolese startup contracted Indian developers, to check whether the idea could be embodied in an app, indicated its founder, Rufin Ovoula Lepembe. 

“Due to its low-cost design, the prototype had several bugs but, it proved that the concept was valid and needed just refinements,” he added. 

The platform is operational in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon, and Congo. It is accessible only via an Android app. To use its features, users must register an account and enable geolocation. 

Apart from showing the pharmacies accessible in the neighborhood, the platform also gives directions from the users’ location to the selected drugstore. In 2016, it earned its founder the first prize in the business competition organized by the Congolese foundation Perspectives d'Avenir. Two years later, the founder became one of the winners of the  Tony Elumelu Foundation program. Rufin Ovoula Lepembe hopes his solution will be available in at least 20 countries in the coming years.

Adoni Conrad Quenum