Read the Conversation
Conversation highlights:
- National Footprint Expansion: Kalapeng Pharmacies is actively working to expand its presence beyond its core regions, aiming for a more balanced national footprint across provinces such as Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape.
- Courier Business Growth: The company is developing tailored courier pharmacy services for major clients, including a large medical scheme, with the aim of solving delivery inefficiencies through custom solutions.
- G20 Health Engagement: Phasha actively participates in the G20 health workgroup, with discussions focusing on universal health coverage, pandemic preparedness, and the importance of local pharmaceutical manufacturing.
- Technology & Innovation: Kalapeng is integrating new technologies, including AI-driven tools from Vienna, to enhance customer service and operational efficiency in its courier division.
- Talent Development: Emphasizing internal growth, Kalapeng promotes long-term employees into leadership roles, aligning individual career progression with the company’s expansion.
EF: What opportunities and challenges do you anticipate in 2025, and how do you view this year?
MP: As we expand our courier pharmacy business, Kalapeng Pharmacies anticipates and is working to make this a very significant year. We are in the process of acquiring a large medical scheme company as a new client. Therefore, our goal is to onboard them sometime in August of this year. We are also proud to have recently completed an acquisition to add 13 new pharmacies to our network.
Overall, we have a very busy year ahead of us, and I am excited for the challenge. Additionally, I have been spending some time on the G20 with the health work group. I attended the meeting in Johannesburg last week, and the other meeting in Durban was held in March. It has been a learning curve for me, as I have never participated in such engagements. Speaking with global health leaders from all the G20 and invited countries was very interesting. Overall, it has been an exciting year with many new developments that we look forward to.
EF: What are the key topics of discussion at the G20 meetings, given that you are attending with leaders of global health and organizations that influence health globally?
MP: The primary focus of the first meeting, held in March, was Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The conversation was focused on lessons learned by other countries in adopting universal health coverage and the growth pains that arose over time. The fact that countries with mature UHCs continue to face challenges that they are still working to resolve was both fascinating and encouraging, demonstrating that learning is a lifelong process.
Pandemic preparedness, access to life-saving medications, and vaccines prepared in case of another pandemic were the main topics of discussion at the most recent meeting, which was held last week. As a member of the Presidential Health Compact and the leader of Pillar 7, I was particularly interested in discussions surrounding pandemic preparedness. We had nine pillars at the first summit, which did not include pandemic preparedness. The tenth pillar, pandemic preparedness, was included during the second summit, which took place last year, following the COVID pandemic. I also contributed significantly to the preparation of this new pillar for the Presidential Health Compact.
EF: You mentioned the courier company, where you intended to enhance your wholesale offerings for corporate clients. How do you pitch to companies to use your courier services?
MP: We are small enough to care but big enough to deliver. Therefore, we can customize solutions for clients when they require specific details that are unique to them. In contrast, the large pharmaceutical companies typically have a single box that you, the consumer, must fit into. Our ability to tailor the solution to suit the client is what sets us apart from the competition, and that is what we plan to achieve.
We are still under contract with the mining company, but we have recently discovered an opportunity with the medical schemes as well, as they utilize our courier pharmacy services. We therefore presented our courier to a medical scheme, and we are currently developing a solution especially for them. We offered to address their pain points by fixing and providing a solution after they informed us of the issues they were having with their present service provider. Although we are still working on the model and its implementation, we plan to have the solution in place within two months.
EF: What kind of strategic vision guided the decision to buy 13 pharmacies, and how do these pharmacies enhance your current portfolio?
MP: The strategic goal of the Momentum deal, which we completed about two or three years ago, was to attempt to establish a national footprint. That was our mandate and our plan; we needed a big brother to help us carry it out, so we could establish a footprint in the country. However, we chose to proceed slowly, and it took us three years to reach this point, where we were considering options outside of Gauteng and our core regions. We wanted to be able to be in areas such as KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
However, we didn't want to have just one pharmacy in Cape Town because we are based in Pretoria and Johannesburg. We benefit from the acquisition of this 13-member pharmacy group since they operate four pharmacies in Cape Town. Therefore, it makes sense for us to have a location to transport our medications from Pretoria to Cape Town. Additionally, when our personnel are in the Western Cape, they can look after four pharmacies.
We have acquired two pharmacies in KwaZulu-Natal, which allows us to establish a presence there immediately. Since we have two, we can add one or two more in the future. It provides us with a starting point and gives us a footprint of a sizable number of pharmacies. Johannesburg, the country's financial hub, is another location where we have never had a presence. For this reason, being in Johannesburg is crucial. Since none of the 13 pharmacies are located in our current geographic areas, their acquisition is highly strategic for us. It fits us well because of this.
EF: How do you attract and retain top talent? What makes Kalapeng a desirable place to work?
MP: We make an effort to ensure that the people working for the company are well-developed. For instance, we have been developing one employee who has been with our financial team for the past 12 years. He has been in the industry for a long time, and it so happens that our expansion, which includes the purchase of 13 pharmacies, is providing him with an opportunity. He is completing his MBA with Wits Business School at the end of this month. He has seen us buy stores and onboard stores throughout the years, and now he is coming in to help us onboard these new pharmacies. I spoke with him last week to bring him up to speed and assist us in the implementation of the expansion. We are promoting someone like him from being part of the financial team to a managerial role. Over the years, we have developed the majority of our operational managers internally.
In response to your question, I would say that it primarily involves retaining talent and ensuring that employees enjoy their work. You can also help them advance by offering them roles as they become available, rather than developing them and leaving them stagnant. Those are the most crucial things we do, and they encourage individuals to stay. We have people who choose to stay with the company for a long period rather than leave, and I believe this is simply a result of our culture. Additionally, I think that people want to be a part of a growing business, a success story.
EF: What excites you the most at the moment?
MP: I am excited about expansion and new challenges. I am excited about the new pharmacies and the courier, but especially the courier, since it's a market that has been left to a select few in the country. With the changes we're making, we're going to shake up the market a bit, and that's quite exciting.
