Malaria, masks and machetes: a billion labels improve lives in Africa

Chemnitz, 2022 –

Frank Theeg, CEO of authentic.network, has just been to the Ivory Coast for the third time in succession. The purpose of his most recent visit was to secure the protection of a further ten million surgical masks, the authenticity of which is verified by means of the company's app. Also on the agenda was the authentication of machetes – bush knives are one of the most important working tools in the African economy.

Our engagement in Africa began with the protection of medical products, providing proof of authenticity for malaria drugs and surgical masks. To this area of activity, we have now added the protection of machetes.Frank Theeg, CEO

The world's biggest manufacturer of machetes, which has a subsidiary in Ghana, had approached the German entrepreneur because they had seen a drop in turnover of more than 50 percent due to counterfeits imported from the Far East. It is an unwelcome development that has severely damaged the local business ecosystem, destroying employment and resulting in farmers working with inferior tools. "It's about protecting local producers, safeguarding regional economic cycles and keeping jobs in Africa," adds Theeg.

Thanks to the new partnership, the authenticity of the machetes is now guaranteed by means of an app developed by authentic.network. The app encrypts a proprietary code that is printed on sticky labels. When this code is scanned with a mobile phone – an item of equipment that a billion people worldwide already carry around with them – the associated blockchain technology accesses the code and compares it with its digital twin. If there is a successful match, a green tick is displayed on the screen of the mobile phone and the user knows in seconds that the product to be procured is genuine.

Since the launch of our app, we have secured the authenticity of more than 30 million goods in Africa, ranging from malaria medications and surgical masks to machetes. Our vision for the medium term is to protect one billion products with our app. The positive impact this will have on the lives of Africans is immense.Frank Theeg, CEO

Authenticity codes combatting deadly counterfeit medicines

The unmanipulable proof of authenticity delivered by authentic.network is a potential life-saver, for example in the distribution of vital medicines. According to estimates compiled by the World Health Organization, somewhere between 30 and 60 percent of all medicines in Africa are counterfeit, and in some cases this rises to 80 percent. The more expensive the medication – for example those used against AIDS or malaria – the higher the counterfeit rate. Worldwide, almost 400,000 people die of malaria. According to WHO estimates, a further 116,000 people fall victim to counterfeit malaria drugs in Africa alone.

The project has been made possible thanks to the active support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development working in partnership with GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH) and to funding received from DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH).