Temie Giwa-Tubosun: Revolutionising African Healthcare Supply Chains

Temie Giwa-Tubosun is the founder and CEO of LifeBank, a pioneering health-tech and logistics company that uses data and mobile technology to deliver critical medical supplies, blood, oxygen, vaccines and more to hospitals and clinics across Nigeria and beyond.

Driven by personal experience and a bold vision, she has transformed how lifesaving products reach patients in regions where traditional supply chains often fail.

Early Life and Education

Born in December 1985 in Ila Orangun, Osun State, Nigeria, Temie spent her early years in Ila, Ilesha, and Ibadan before moving to the United States at the age of ten when her family won a diversity visa lottery.

She completed high school in Minnesota (Osseo Senior High School, 2003), earned her bachelor’s degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2007, and an M.A. from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in 2010.

During graduate school, a three-month internship in Abuja exposed her to the stark gap in maternal healthcare, an experience that would later inspire her life’s work.

From Awareness to Action: The One Percent Project

Back in Nigeria in 2012, Temie launched the One Per cent Blood Donation Enlightenment Foundation, known as the One Per cent Project, to tackle chronic blood shortages.

By educating communities on donation and improving distribution networks, the NGO laid the groundwork for a more reliable blood supply. The project highlighted both systemic gaps and the need for a scalable, technology-driven solution (en.wikipedia.org).

Founding LifeBank: A Tech-Driven Lifeline

On Valentine’s Day 2014, after surviving a complicated childbirth with lifesaving access to blood, Temie recognised how few Nigerian mothers enjoy the same luck. In January 2016, she turned the One Per cent Project into LifeBank, a for-profit health-tech startup.

Incubated at Co-Creation Hub in Lagos, LifeBank began as a simple app and two-person team, using data to locate available blood units and optimise delivery routes to hospitals in need (aljazeera.com).

Scaling Impact Through Logistics and Technology

LifeBank’s platform integrates real-time inventory tracking with last-mile delivery via motorbike and van fleets. Hospitals place orders through the app or WhatsApp, and LifeBank dispatches supplies—blood, oxygen cylinders, vaccines, even in traffic-choked Lagos.

By early 2020, LifeBank had delivered over 26,000 units of medical products to more than 10,000 patients in nearly 700 hospitals across Nigeria (aljazeera.com). During the COVID-19 pandemic, LifeBank expanded its offerings to include oxygen and PPE, further demonstrating the model’s flexibility.

Partnerships, Funding, and Global Recognition

LifeBank raised its first $25,000 pre-seed round in 2016, followed by support from Y Combinator, the Skoll Foundation and Guinness Enterprise Centre. In August 2016, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg highlighted LifeBank during his visit to Lagos, calling Temie’s work a model that could benefit other cities worldwide. Temie has since won numerous awards:

• World Economic Forum Innovator (2017)
• BBC 100 Women (2014)
• Cartier Women’s Initiative Award finalist (2018) 
• Jack Ma Africa Netpreneur Prize winner (2019)

Transforming Healthcare in Challenging Environments

By solving Nigeria’s persistent medical-product shortages, Temie demonstrates how technology can overcome infrastructural hurdles. LifeBank’s model is now expanding to other African markets, with pilots in Kenya and India.

Hospitals report reduced patient mortality and fewer treatment delays, proving that agile logistics paired with simple tech can save lives even in the most difficult circumstances .