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Esther 🇨🇲🇫🇷🇺🇸

@estietabal

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Engineer 🧬 | Strategy & Partnerships @dearwomeninstem | Ambassador @stemsoulcial | African Health VC Series @estherhamidoutabayi | @dream__vc Alumn

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Series 15 | The Business of Dialysis in Africa 🧡

Dialysis isn’t just about buying a machine.

Patients need treatment repeatedly, and every session depends on clean water, electricity, trained staff, working equipment, and a way to pay for it all.

This year, Kenya reported progress on a KSh 6 billion specialist kidney and urology centre with 30 dialysis machines. In Ghana, a GH¢4 million expansion increased one hospital’s machines from three to nine.

What also caught my attention was Kenya’s Renal Roads, which is bringing dialysis closer to rural communities through a mobile unit.

As I continue learning about healthcare investing in Africa, I’m interested in which models can make this type of care both accessible and financially sustainable.

Would you invest in dialysis centres, mobile treatment networks, or the infrastructure supporting both?

#AfricanHealthcare #HealthcareInfrastructure #HealthcareInvesting #AfricaInvesting #Dialysis ImpactInvesting

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The clinic is open. But does the power stay on? ⚡️

Only 40% of healthcare facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa have reliable electricity.

At least 25,000 facilities have no electricity at all, and another 68,350 are operating with unreliable power.

That is not just an energy problem.

It can mean vaccines losing refrigeration, oxygen equipment stopping, labs being unable to run tests, surgeries being delayed and facilities struggling to provide care safely at night.

And there is a major investment gap behind it.

SEforALL estimates about $2.6B is needed to sustainably electrify health facilities across seven markets it studied. Of the capital deployed in those markets over the previous seven years, roughly 95% came from donor grants.

So yes, there is a need for more solar and battery storage.

But I am also watching the opportunity in mini-grids, hybrid power, financing, maintenance, monitoring and energy-as-a-service models that can make reliable power sustainable long after installation.

Power is not separate from healthcare infrastructure. It is what allows the rest of it to work.

Swipe through ➡️

Sources: WHO + SEforALL

#AfricanHealthcare #HealthcareInfrastructure #InvestingInAfrica #EnergyAccess #HealthSystems

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I Have Graduated from Dream VC 🎉

When I interviewed for the Dream VC LIVC ‘26 fellowship earlier this year, my sole aim was to learn about venture capital and how funds were deployed into startups. I grew up around a lot of failed businesses, and often wondered what made successful businesses thrive. Then I found the Startup/VC space and yearned to be that bridge between founders and access to capital.

Over the course of 16 weeks, 32 hours of live lectures, 300+ hours of live lectures, individual assignments, block projects, all hands, panel sessions, simulations etc, I did not just learn about Venture Capital investing in Africa, I did/gained much more.

I worked on a thesis for Regal Ventures - my fictional (for now) VC firm that backs RegTech startups. Why RegTech? Innovation, technology and digitization are scaling at a rapid rate that outpaces regulations. Fragmentation, bureaucratic processes and lack of clarity makes compliance and implementation almost impossible, especially for founders. My thesis focused on the need to back founders building a centralized solution for regulation and compliance. A RegTech platform that came to mind while working on this thesis was TaxStreem, founded by Kelechi Ibe - a Dream VC alumni.

Beyond working on this thesis, I had the opportunity to really analyze startups, understand the rudiments of building conviction as an investor, write investments memos, interpret market trends, collaborate on block group projects with bright minds like Danladi, Afolake, Andrew, Emmanuel Chinatuka, Jean-Eliel, Cuan, to mention a few. Our final block project with Uchechi, Esther Hamidou Tabayi- M.S. Engineering Management, and June (Dream VC colleagues turned absolute besties 🤭) Portfolio Community Building for a VC Firmc, won third place during the graduation ceremony. What a way to sign out!

What I consider a major win aside from the knowledge gained, certificate, community and exposure, is the relaunch of Founders Stories With Daye (FSWD) during this program. I’m already deploying the insights I gained from Dream VC to building FSWD and speaking to founders all over Africa....

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Series #12 🌍🧡

Apologies for no post last week. I took a little time off, but I’m back.

My Dream VC fellowship has officially wrapped, but Dream VC is for life, and I’m keeping this weekly series going for now.

This week, I’m looking at some of the health conversations coming out of UNGA week, including financing, country ownership, local manufacturing, supply chains, and what it takes to turn conversations into real progress.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading, sharing, commenting, and engaging with this series. One of my favorite parts has been having a platform to connect with and learn from people across Africa’s healthcare and investment ecosystem.

I’m always open to spotlighting African founders, funds, investors, and organizations doing interesting work in healthcare, and I’d love to meet more people building and investing in this space. 🧡

More to come.

#AfricanHealthcare #AfricanStartups #AfricanVC #GlobalHealth HealthTech AfricaInvesting HealthcareInnovation

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Series #11: mPharma 💊

What happens when the medicine a patient needs is available somewhere in the country, but not at their local pharmacy?

That gap between availability and access is what makes mPharma interesting to me. The company is working to strengthen community pharmacies and the supply chains that keep them stocked.

I wanted to highlight this because healthcare infrastructure is not always a hospital, a laboratory, or a new medical device. Sometimes it is the system that makes sure a pharmacy has the right medicine when someone walks through the door.

And from an investment perspective, there is a lot to unpack. How do you finance inventory without putting too much pressure on pharmacies? How do you forecast demand? How do you maintain quality across suppliers and markets? And how do you build a model that can scale while keeping medicines affordable?

These are the kinds of questions that make healthcare distribution such an interesting space.

Swipe through for a closer look at mPharma and the infrastructure behind medicine access.

What other healthcare products do you think could benefit from stronger distribution systems?

#AfricanHealthcare #HealthcareInfrastructure #mPharma #HealthcareInvesting MedicineAccess AfricanStartups HealthTech

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The test exists. But can it reach the patient?

For Series #10, I looked at Reme-D, an Egyptian healthtech company developing temperature-resilient molecular diagnostic tests for diseases including tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis and HPV.

In July 2026, Reme-D raised $1.45 million in pre-Series A funding to expand its manufacturing capacity, develop new diagnostic products and enter more African markets.

What stood out to me is that Reme-D is not only developing tests. The company is designing them around the infrastructure realities that can determine whether a product reaches the patient.

Across Africa, only 19% of patients have access to appropriate diagnostics at the primary-care level. Even when a test exists, refrigeration, reliable power, transportation and procurement can limit access.

Temperature-resilient diagnostics can reduce some of those constraints, making storage and distribution into remote or under-resourced facilities more practical.

From an investor perspective, the opportunity goes beyond demand. It also requires evaluating regulatory approvals, manufacturing yield, quality systems, pricing, procurement, distribution partnerships and real-world clinical performance.

The innovation is not only the test. It is removing a costly constraint around the test.

What other healthcare products could reach more patients if they were redesigned for the infrastructure that actually exists?

Sources: Impact Global Health and PATH, Wamda, Disrupt Africa and EgyptInnovate

#AfricanHealthcare #HealthTechAfrica #Diagnostics #HealthcareInfrastructure

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The hospital can be fully equipped. But without reliable medical oxygen, critical care can still stop.

For Series #9, I looked at Hewatele, a Kenyan medical oxygen producer building local supply for hospitals across East Africa.

In June 2026, Hewatele’s new liquid oxygen facility in Tatu City began production. The facility has the capacity to produce 20 tonnes per day at 99.6% purity.

This follows a $10.5 million investment from AfricInvest’s Transform Health Fund to support its construction and operations.

What stood out to me is that Hewatele is not simply producing oxygen. Its model connects production, storage, distribution and delivery to the hospital.

As an engineer, I have seen how much healthcare depends on the systems behind the equipment. A product can meet its specifications, but it still needs reliable infrastructure to reach the patient when it is needed.

From an investor perspective, this means looking beyond demand. It also means evaluating asset uptime, quality systems, supply-chain resilience, unit economics and last-mile delivery.

The opportunity is not oxygen alone. It is the reliable infrastructure surrounding it.

What other overlooked healthcare inputs could become investable infrastructure across Africa?

Sources: Finnfund, AfricInvest, MedAccess and Grand Challenges Canada

#AfricanHealthcare #HealthTechAfrica #HealthcareInfrastructure #venturecapital

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The machine is there. But can it work?

Series #8 looks at one of the least visible parts of African healthcare infrastructure: medical-equipment uptime.

A study of 2,338 devices across Ugandan hospitals and research institutions found that 34% were faulty. It also found that 85.6% lacked operating manuals.

That statistic made me stop.

Buying the equipment is only the beginning.

A machine still needs:

⚡ Reliable power
🔧 Preventive maintenance
📦 Spare parts and consumables
👩🏾‍🔧 Local biomedical engineering capacity
📋 Asset visibility and service accountability
📶 The right connectivity and operating environment

Without that surrounding system, equipment access can break down after procurement.

From an investor lens, the opportunity may not simply be selling more machines.

It may be building the operating layer that keeps African healthcare technology working.

Not equipment sold. Care delivered.

Swipe through for the full breakdown.

What overlooked part of equipment uptime could become a scalable African health business?

Read the source:
https://globalce.org/index.php/GlobalCE/article/view/127

#AfricanHealthcare #AfricanHealthInfrastructure #HealthTechAfrica

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Series #7 is one I’m especially excited about because it sits right at the intersection of healthcare, infrastructure, technology, and venture. ❄️🌍

Meet Figorr, a Nigeria-based cold-chain technology company helping businesses monitor temperature-sensitive products in real time.

What caught my attention is that Figorr is not just tracking temperature. Its platform also monitors humidity and location, sends alerts when deviations happen, and supports access to refrigerated transport, cold storage, inventory management, and data-powered insurance.

From a VC lens, that is where it gets interesting 👀

The opportunity is bigger than a sensor. It is about becoming part of the infrastructure that helps protect vaccines, pharmaceuticals, insulin, diagnostics, and other temperature-sensitive products from origin to destination.

And the traction is meaningful: Gavi reports that Figorr’s footprint touches 22 countries, with 200M+ items worth about US$600M tracked.

For me, this is also such a fun company to study because I’ve worked closely with temperature mapping and monitoring. I know how important visibility, excursions, and reliable data can be operationally, so seeing an African company turn that pain point into a scalable technology platform is incredibly exciting.

My VC question is: where does the biggest moat come from here? The monitoring technology? The data? The insurance layer? Or becoming the operating system for cold-chain infrastructure?

Swipe through and tell me what you think 👇🏾

Cold chain is not just logistics. It is healthcare access.

#AfricanHealthInfrastructure #Figorr #AfricaVC #HealthTech ColdChain HealthcareInfrastructure AfricanStartups VentureCapital TemperatureMonitoring DigitalHealth InnovationInAfrica

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The African Health Infrastructure Series is back! 👋🏾

It’s been a little while since my last post in this series, and I’m excited to continue sharing what I’m learning through Dream VC.

One of my favorite parts of the @dream__vc program has been connecting what we’re learning with real startup investments happening across Africa.

This week, I wanted to highlight Nawah Scientific’s $23M Series A.

What stood out to me wasn’t just the funding itself. It was realizing that startup financing isn’t always one-size-fits-all.

Before Dream VC, I mostly thought of fundraising as raising equity from investors. As I’ve learned more about venture capital, I’ve realized that different forms of capital can play different roles in helping companies grow, especially in deep-tech and life sciences.

Swipe through to see one of the biggest lessons I’ve taken away from this deal.

What surprised you most about this funding round?

#DreamVC #HealthTech #Africa #VentureCapital #DeepTech AfricanStartups StartupFunding LifeSciences Innovation

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💭 One lesson from Dream VC that changed how I think about startups.

Before the fellowship, I naturally focused on the product. If a startup was solving a meaningful problem with a compelling solution, I saw it as a strong company.

Now, I’ve learned that investors look at much more than the product.

📈 Is the market large enough?

🌍 Can it scale?

💰 Do the unit economics make sense?

👥 Can the founders execute?

One takeaway that’s really stuck with me:

A great product may get your attention. A great business is what earns an investment.

I’m grateful to @dream__vc for challenging the way I think about evaluating startups, and I know this is only the beginning of my learning journey.

💬 What’s one lesson that has changed the way you think about your industry?

#DreamVC #VentureCapital #Startups #HealthTech #Africa Entrepreneurship Innovation Investing

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One thing I keep coming back to is that healthcare infrastructure is not just physical.

It is not only hospitals, labs, supply chains, or equipment.

It is also the policies, standards, and regulatory systems that determine how far innovation can scale.

Africa Health ExCon 2026 reinforced this for me, especially as conversations continue around digital health, AI, data governance, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and stronger health systems.

My takeaway: African healthtech startups that understand regulation early may be better positioned to scale across markets.

What do you think? Is regulation mostly a barrier, or can it become a competitive advantage?

Sources in comments.

#AfricanHealthTech #AfricanVC #HealthcareInfrastructure #DigitalHealth #Africa VentureCapita

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