Posted on: Fri 08-12-2023

A Nigerian Doctor, Founder and Chief Executive of Wellahealth Technologies, Dr Ikpeme Neto, has emerged winner of the 5th edition of the Africa Business Heroes, ABH Prize.

ABH is the Jack Ma Foundation’s flagship philanthropic program in Africa to support entrepreneurs.

Speaking at the Wellahealth Africa Business Heroes Winner’s Homecoming event, co-hosted by Founders Factory Africa, FFA, Neto said that the $300,000 prize award would help the company to achieve its goals faster.

He said: “At Wellahealth, we provide micro health plans which starts from N400 per month, and this covers common conditions such as malaria, typhoid and cold.”

“The first place we won, has a 300 thousand dollar award and that goes to the company, it helps the company to achive its goals faster. So a lot of our works are built on partnerships, so it means we can build those partnerships faster, with banks, phone network operators and healthcare providers such as community pharmacists.

“We also have agents who go about to sell, we have government who we help with health insurance scheme; this would enable us to fund ourselves to be able to make all those programs work with our partners.

“Everywhere I go, I want to feel proud of being a Nigerian. I get more satisfaction doing what I am doing in Nigeria than abroad, because I was delivering health service to Europeans, while people at home, including my mother were not having good healthcare, I had to return to Nigeria.

“At the moment we are serving over 300,000 people, our goal is to achieve one million in 18 months and 10 million in the next five years. Not just in Nigeria but over Africa, a lot of African countries are calling us to say come home we want you in this country.

“In the next five years, we also want to be a trusted brand for affordable healthcare; we intend to cover thousands of Nigerians across the country with affordable healthcare.

“I have always felt it was unfair to do amazing things for these people whereas people at home didn’t have access to any good healthcare.”

Meanwhile, ABH’s mission is to showcase and grow local talents, positively impacting their communities and beyond and inspiring a movement of African entrepreneurship.

The program would run for a 10-year period, recognizing 100 African entrepreneurs and providing grant funding.

The organisation’s vision is “By 2030, 100 Africa’s Business Heroes will inspire millions more.”

In its 5th year, the ABH award has produced 50 top 10 heroes, 30 top three businesses, and five champions from various African countries.

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