NIGERIA – Nigerian anti-counterfeiting startup Chekkit has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health that will see the two parties partner in the fight against counterfeit medications in the country.
Chekkit is an anti-counterfeiting, asset tracking and consumer feedback analytics tool which produces tamper-proof unique ID labels, either as QR codes or numeric codes.
This ID Labels can be placed on premium packaged food and beverage products for supply chain and consumer feedback tracking.
The Chekkit Afghani project will begin with a three-month pilot programme and will utilise Chekkit’s product authentication technology to track and verify all drugs sold in Afghanistan.
Chekkit’s smart labels will be attached to 80,000 pharmaceutical products sold in the Afghan market, allowing for verification of these drugs before purchase or use.
Chekkit has also provided an oversight capability for the Health Ministry by providing special hand-held devices that they can use to verify the authenticity of the products at the point of entry into the country.
“The Afghan Ministry of Public Health had been looking for effective ways to verify the authenticity and effectiveness of drugs that are being imported into the country, and Chekkit provided them with a way to authenticate the drugs at the point of entry into the country and also at point of purchase.”
Dare Odumade- Chekkit Co-founder and CEO
Chekkit Co-founder and CEO Dare Odumade notes that he was confident that this double focus strategy will make it extremely difficult for counterfeiters to thrive.
“Through this partnership, we will provide the pharma companies involved with valuable consumer insights and a reward programme to encourage purchase and verification by buyers, as well as give the government a transparent view of the pharmaceutical market,” the Chekkit CEO explained.
Chekkit’s Afghan pilot can be traced back to a partnership agreed with blockchain ecosystem Fantom after Chekkit was a strong performer at a challenge run by the company at the AfricArena event in Cape Town last year.
Chekkit’s solution is deployed on Fantom’s DAG network, and Fantom, which was already in discussions with the Afghan government, is a co-signatory on the MoU.
Meanwhile, Chekkit is also working on a partnership with global pharmaceutical giant Merck, secured after the startup took part in the Merck accelerator.
Through this partnership, Chekkit is building out smart labels for last mile product tracking for the African market, and it is aiming to reach 10 million consumers over the next six months.
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