06/05/2026
EPSS Wins Global Digital Transformation Award as Pharmaceutical Sales Reach 11.5 Billion Birr
May 6, 2026
Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Service has secured the “SMB Transformation Project of the Year” award at the 2025 ERP Today Awards, following a large-scale digital overhaul of Ethiopia’s pharmaceutical supply chain system.
The international recognition comes as EPSS reported 11.5 billion Birr in pharmaceutical sales to health facilities over the last nine months, reflecting a sharp increase in operational scale and procurement coordination across the public health sector.
The award recognizes organizations generating under one billion dollars in annual revenue that demonstrate measurable institutional and operational transformation through technology implementation.
The recognition was awarded for “Project SMILE,” a reform initiative that replaced fragmented manual processes with an integrated SAP S/4HANA platform linking procurement, warehousing, finance, inventory management, and distribution operations.
Speaking on the transformation, Dr. Abdulkedir Gelgelo, Director General of Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Service, said the agency previously lacked a coordinated system to measure pharmaceutical demand and manage nationwide supply planning efficiently.
Additionally, Dr. Abdulkedir mentioned that the digital platform enabled EPSS and health facilities to implement a contract-based supply chain system that improved visibility over procurement needs, financing, and inventory flows.
He noted that EPSS’s annual procurement volume stood at around 3 billion Birr five years ago, while approved procurement financing later increased to approximately 8 billion Birr. Over the past nine months alone, however, the agency recorded 11.5 billion Birr in pharmaceutical sales to health facilities, excluding products currently in the procurement pipeline.
“For the first time, we are able to quantify aggregate pharmaceutical demand across health facilities nationally at around 24 billion Birr,” he said.
Officials say the integrated system has improved forecasting accuracy, reduced operational fragmentation, and strengthened medicine distribution efficiency across the public healthcare network.
The project was implemented with technical support from SEIDOR and Deloitte Consulting, while The Global Fund provided financial and strategic support.
The recognition comes as Ethiopia accelerates digital reform initiatives across public institutions under the Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy, with growing emphasis on technology-led efficiency and institutional modernization.
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