Bayer East Africa will stop distributing pharmaceutical and consumer health products on May 1st of this year.
According to Bayer East Africa, beginning May 1, 2024, all of their pharmaceutical and consumer health products in East and Anglo-West Africa will be distributed by a third-party distributor.
The decision is intended to improve service delivery to consumers and patients, prompting the company to embrace a more sustainable business model in order to serve more customers and patients.
Our company approach is continuously evaluated to ensure future success.
Bayer is changing the pharmaceutical and consumer health business models in East Africa (Kenya and Ethiopia) and Anglo-West Central Africa (Ghana and Nigeria) with a new go-to-market strategy.
“Effective May 1, 2024, our pharmaceutical and consumer health products in East and Anglo-West Africa will be distributed through a third-party distributor.
“This approach is intended to simplify our value chain, reduce lead time between production and distribution, and hence reach more patients and customers, ultimately increasing our footprint in Africa by extending access to medicines across the two regions.
“We have ambitious goals to reach more people as we strive to deliver on our mission of health for all and hunger for none. We are calling this initiative ‘Smart Serve’, as it is intended to help reach and serve more people in Africa in a more sustainable manner.
We will be leveraging the expertise and networks of a third-party distributor to ensure sustained availability and access of our products and solutions,“ noted Jorge Levinson, Cluster Lead for the Pharmaceuticals Division in South East and West Central Africa.
“Through this approach, we strongly believe that Bayer will be better positioned to accelerate access to our health solutions, especially in family planning, cardiovascular, ophthalmology, self-care, and OTC (over-the-counter) therapeutic areas,” added Jorge.
Through the new model, Bayer will outsource transportation, local warehousing, distribution, and customer support to a third party.
The third-party distributor will handle the distribution aspect of the value chain, and the Bayer legal entities in the East and Anglo-West Central African countries will continue to handle business-related corporate affairs, including medical affairs, media relations, and stakeholder management such as government and partner relations.
“While the opportunities and possibilities to serve our customers more sustainably are exciting, we fully recognize the potential impact this will have on the current model, including our people.
We do not underestimate the possible disruption, and we aim to minimize its effects where possible, remaining committed to always treating everyone with respect, dignity, and care,” added Michael Meewes, Cluster Lead for Consumer Health in South East West Africa.
The company has reiterated its commitment to support and enable a world where health is for all and hunger is for none.
