Purelife Pharmacy has secured a $100,000 grant from the African Business Heroes (ABH) competition to support the expansion of its Carehub model, which aims to convert traditional pharmacies into decentralised primary care centres across Nigeria.

The grant was awarded to Mobolaji Ajayi, founder and chief executive of Purelife, after he emerged as one of the top 10 finalists at the ABH pitch competition held in Rwanda.

The funding is expected to drive key elements of Purelife’s strategy, including the roll-out of Carehubs in underserved areas, digital upgrades for diagnostics and telemedicine, and new partnerships with health maintenance organisations (HMOs) to broaden service access.

“Purelife’s Carehubs bridge the critical gap in healthcare access, ensuring people don’t have to travel far, wait long, or pay excessively just to receive basic care,” Ajayi said. “This is about bringing healthcare to the people — where they already are.”

The Carehub model, designed to meet the healthcare needs of communities that rely on pharmacies as first points of contact, integrates services such as doctor consultations, diagnostic testing, and medication therapy.

According to the World Health Organisation, over half of Africa’s population lacks access to essential healthcare. In Nigeria, pharmacies often serve as the primary option for medical assistance, despite limited infrastructure. Purelife aims to close these service gaps using technology-enabled solutions deployed through existing community pharmacies.

The company currently operates in 18 states and reports that its services have reached more than 200,000 people, with patient wait times reduced from an average of three days to less than three hours.

“This is not just a business — it is a healthcare movement,” Ajayi said. “We are working towards a future where healthcare is local, tech-enabled and accessible to everyone.”

Purelife’s approach focuses on improving primary care access through existing retail pharmacy networks, which the company says are underutilised in Nigeria’s healthcare ecosystem.

With the ABH grant, Purelife plans to scale its efforts and strengthen its digital health infrastructure as part of a broader push to make primary care more accessible in Nigeria.