1. The LifeBank journey began with a deeply personal experience. Can you take us back to that moment and how it inspired you to found LifeBank?
The idea for LifeBank was born out of both personal conviction and professional frustration. I had a high-risk pregnancy while living in Nigeria, and I realized how fragile access to life-saving care can be. I survived, but it left a deep imprint. Later, while working in public health and development, I saw systemic gaps; especially in how blood and medical supplies were accessed and delivered in African communities. It felt unconscionable that people were dying simply because a hospital couldn’t locate a safe unit of blood or oxygen in time. That’s what pushed me to act — to build a company that could solve this life-and-death problem at scale.
2. For those who may be new to the story of LifeBank, could you share the mission you are pursuing and the services you provide to the clients and communities you serve?
LifeBank exists to ensure no one dies from a lack of access to essential medical supplies. We operate in Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone, serving both urban hospitals and hard-to-reach communities. Our innovations — like SmartBank, Nerve & OneBox — are designed to improve safety, ensure supply chain integrity, improve last-mile delivery and make medical logistics smarter and more affordable. We deliver blood, oxygen, consumables, vaccines, antivenoms, medical equipment, and more; all the critical resources that care centers need to save lives. Our mission is deeply rooted in equity: to close the gap between those who have reliable access to care and those who don’t.
3. You once said, "a woman who gives birth should watch her child grow." How does this personal belief shape your leadership, especially in building a values-driven team and company culture?
Indeed. That belief is central to who I am; and to the culture we’ve built at LifeBank. We lead with empathy. We serve with urgency; and we build for impact. Every team member understands that our work isn’t abstract; it affects real people. We’ve embedded values like respect, excellence, and ownership into everything; from how we treat our customers to how we support each other. We hire people who care deeply and are relentless about solving problems. Because ultimately, this isn’t just a business. It’s a mission to save life through innovation.
4. It is one thing to want to make a difference, and another to build a company that endures for close to a decade, serves entire communities, and employs more than 100 people. What has enabled you to move from inspiration to sustained execution?
Three things: discipline, partnerships, and an obsession with solving the right problems. Vision alone isn’t enough; you need systems, talent, and tenacity. We’ve stayed close to the communities we serve, constantly listening and iterating. We’ve also built strategic partnerships with governments, funders, and technology allies that have helped us scale.
Importantly, we’ve expanded beyond being just a marketplace. By embedding ourselves in the day-to-day operations of care centers, offering tools for procurement, financing, logistics, AI-powered inventory management, and a healthcare learning platform, we’re creating long-term value for our customers. That’s what has allowed us to grow with purpose and remain relevant nearly a decade on.
5. Building and scaling a venture like LifeBank requires significant capital. Can you walk us through how you approached fundraising from early seed capital to more recent rounds? What were the biggest challenges and key relationships that helped you secure the resources to grow?
Fundraising is never easy, especially in Africa, especially for women. But we’ve been blessed with early believers who backed us because they saw both the social urgency and business potential. We started with grants and angel funding, then moved into impact investment and growth capital.
One key lesson was learning to communicate our impact in both emotional and economic terms. We also built data-driven reporting systems early, which helped convince institutional funders. Relationships with groups like MSD for Mothers, Johnson & Johnson, the Skoll Foundation, and others were pivotal in both capital and credibility.
6. You have integrated blockchain technology ("SmartBag") to ensure blood supply safety and piloted drone delivery in Ethiopia. What inspired these innovations, and how scalable do you believe they are across Africa?
These innovations were born directly from listening to the people on the frontlines of care — the doctors, nurses, and patients navigating broken systems. In many African countries, the blood supply chain is fragmented, opaque, and dangerously paper-based. Blood may go missing, expire unnoticed, or get transfused unsafely. The consequences are devastating: unsafe or unavailable blood is a leading contributor to maternal deaths, neonatal fatalities, and preventable child mortality. According to the WHO, sub-Saharan Africa faces chronic shortages in safe blood, with only 6 units collected per 1,000 people; far below the global average. Unsafe transfusions due to poor traceability and screening continue to claim lives every day.
That’s why we developed SmartBag, a blockchain-enabled, temperature-monitored blood bag that tracks every unit from donation to transfusion. It builds trust, ensures safety, and brings radical transparency to a life-critical system. An independent evaluation by Nigeria’s Institute of Medical Research found that SmartBag reduced transfusion-transmissible infections by 57% compared to standard practice; a powerful validation of its potential to transform blood safety on the continent.
However, we knew that safer blood needed more than traceability; it needed an entirely new infrastructure. So we built SmartBank, a containerized, modular platform that combines transparent donation, advanced screening, secure storage, blockchain tracking, and last-mile cold-chain delivery all in one. Powered by SmartBag intelligence and operated using our SmartSystem platform, SmartBank has been deployed in Nigeria, Kenya, and Sierra Leone; and it is already helping to improve the availability and safety of blood products in the communities it serves.
We also designed a sustainability model to make it last: SmartBank is deployed using a Build-Operate-Transfer model, enabling local governments and health agencies to eventually take full ownership. SmartBank is a tested, working innovation built for African realities.
Now, we’re ready to scale. With the right partners; governments, funders, and local health actors, we can expand SmartBank across the continent. Ultimately, we believe that the ability to access safe blood shouldn’t depend on your location or luck; it should be a basic, guaranteed right for every African life.
7. LifeBank sits at the intersection of technology, logistics, and public health. What do you hope policymakers, tech leaders, and investors better understand about building resilient healthcare ecosystems in Africa?
I want them to understand that healthcare innovation isn’t optional, it’s urgent. Africa’s healthcare systems need bold, scalable, sustainable solutions. Policymakers must create enabling environments for health-tech infrastructure. Tech leaders must design for local realities; and investors must recognize that healthcare logistics is not just social good; it’s a massive market opportunity. Resilience comes from building systems that can respond quickly, adapt rapidly, self-sustain and reach everyone; not just the wealthy or urban few.
8. You have spoken about your goal to save one million lives. How far along are you on that journey, and what does it truly take to scale to that level of impact?
We’ve served over 230,000 people directly and support care centers that serve over 96 million people across four countries.. But we’re not slowing down. To get to one million people served, we need two things: scale and sustainability. That means stronger partnerships, deeper systems integration, and smarter financing models. But it also means putting our stories out there; so that people understand just how urgent and solvable this challenge is. We are well on our way.
9. LifeBank is a good example of mission-led entrepreneurship with deep local roots and global ambition. What advice would you give to other social entrepreneurs striving to balance purpose with scale?
Hold your mission tightly, but your methods loosely. You’ll need to evolve; but don’t let the world force you to compromise on the reason you started. Build a team that shares your values, and listen to your customers. It's also important that social entrepreneurs learn the language of capital, because without funding, even the best ideas die.
Purpose and scale are not enemies. In fact, to create sustainable, purpose-driven impact, you must scale. Just do it on your terms, rooted in the communities you serve.
10. You’ve been on this journey for close to a decade now. How would you say you’ve evolved as a leader from your early days as a founder to where you are today?
In the early days, I was hands-on in everything. Now, I lead leaders. I’ve learned to delegate, to coach, and to build systems that outlast any one person. I’ve become more resolute, and more urgent. I’m constantly balancing the long-term vision with daily execution. Most importantly, I’ve learned that resilience is a skill. You grow it by surviving hard seasons and staying rooted in purpose. I’m still evolving, but now I do it with a stronger team, a sharper strategy, and a deeper commitment to the work we do.
