Letter from the CEO

Letter from the Chief Executive Officer

Jembi was fortunate to begin two new five-year awards with the CDC in Mozambique and South Africa in October 2020, which will potentially result in further increases over the five-year grant period.

During this particularly difficult time amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, I am pleased to be able to report on the accomplishments of Jembi in the 2020 to 2021 financial year. Despite the challenging circumstances, Jembi has continued to implement our vision and mission. 2020 was also a year of transition for Jembi as several projects came to a natural end and there was a substantial reduction of certain on-the-ground activities.

After a spike in turnover during the previous financial year, Jembi’s

turnover stabilised at R86.6 million during this financial year

and staff numbers at 108. Jembi was fortunate to begin two new five-year awards with the CDC in Mozambique and South Africa in October 2020, which will potentially result in further increases over the five-year grant period.

During this period, Jembi also continued the process of rationalising its organogram around its two main programmes, supported by our Corporate Services division. The Mozambique programme operates in Mozambique with the majority of programmes and technical staff based in Maputo and some management staff based in South Africa. The Programmes Division operates projects in South Africa and a number of other countries in Africa, and it supports CDC HQ in the USA with staff based mainly in South Africa and some contractors in other African countries. Projects are being conducted in several African countries, including Cameroon, DRC, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Malawi. Jembi has consolidated activities around its core competencies in programme management, digital health, health informatics, health information systems, software and product development, and system integration. Some of the core technologies we support include: health information exchange, standards, system integration, mobile health and electronic medical record software.

Jembi’s Corporate Services Division has continued to provide a high level of financial, legal, human resources, administrative and ICT support to Jembi’s divisions, programmes and offices. The Finance team achieved another unqualified audit for this financial year. The ICT team has also diversified its IT operations, providing additional support to the programmes in specialised areas related to the deployment and implementation of ICT hardware and services. The HR team also developed a number of new policies for Jembi to strengthen the management of its human capital.

Jembi’s Mozambique Programme experienced another excellent year. The programme continues its longstanding partnership with CDC Mozambique. This was the final year of Jembi’s second fiveyear cooperative agreement with CDC Mozambique, culminating in the successful award of a third five-year cooperative agreement. Jembi is supporting a number of key health information systems in Mozambique, including the national implementation of a medical record system for HIV patient and treatment management, based on OpenMRS as well as several additional projects with UN agencies and other international organisations and funders.

Jembi’s South Africa-based Programmes Division consolidated its operations over this period under the leadership of new Jembi Programmes Director, Wayne Naidoo. The Programmes Division advanced and completed a number of key projects, including ongoing work on the HealthConnect project, funded by the South African Department of Science and Innovation and Elma Philanthropies; the innovative Journey immunisation app for cross-border populations; and the digital register system (OpenSRP) for perinatal health facilities in Malawi funded by GIZ. The Programmes Division also initiated four projects with PATH Digital Square over this period and continued the Better Health Programme South Africa funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office through Mott MacDonald.

The Division continued its work with UCT in supporting the development of information systems for the Western Cape Provincial Health Data Centre, including for COVID-19 case management in the Western Cape province. A highlight of this period was the award of a five-year technical assistance programme with CDC headquarters. This flagship project includes the development and implementation of innovative new data integration projects in African countries supported by PEPFAR. The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) – Jembi Collaborating Centre for Digital Health Innovation (CCDHI) completed its final year of activities, some of which were delayed as a result of COVID restrictions.

It has been a pleasure and privilege to lead Jembi over this period and I firmly believe that Jembi will continue to deliver on its vision and mission into the future. It will also continue to adapt to the increased global interest in digital health.

With best wishes,

Dr Christopher Seebregts

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

2017

Income rose by 61%

to ZAR 60.2 million

Expenditure rose by 59%

to ZAR 58.5 million

2018

Income rose by 11%

to ZAR 66.6 million

Expenditure rose by 15%

to ZAR 67.2 million

2019

Income rose by 48%

to ZAR 98,6 million Expenditure rose by 46%

to ZAR 98 million

2020

Income rose by 75% to ZAR 172.2 million Expenditure rose by 75%

to ZAR 171.1 million

2021

Income reduced by 50% to ZAR 86.6 million

Expenditure reduced by 49%

to ZAR 87 million