Though I'm no longer on WRI and NextBillion's staff, I'm glad to announce the release of WRI's latest What Works business case study, CareShop Ghana: Improving access to essential drugs through conversion franchising. This study is authored by Joel Segre (Harvard Business School, '08) and myself, and was made possible through the generous support of the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation.

NextBillion has discussed pharmacy microfranchises in the health sector on numerous occasions, but CareShop is unique among them as a conversion franchise that recruits existing drug store owners, rather than a "green field" franchise model that establishes new outlets. A conversion franchising strategy has great potential especially in Ghana, where an extensive network of 8,000 individually run retail drug stores, known in Ghana as "licensed chemical sellers," already reaches every corner of the country.

CareShop's founders interpreted the prevalence of easily treatable infectious diseases in Ghana as significant unmet demand for better access to more affordable drugs, and endeavored to meet this demand by working with chemical sellers in a franchising arrangement. CareShop, as the frachisor, runs on a for-profit basis and generates revenue from product sales to chemical sellers as its franchisees. CareShop provides franchisees with valuable business and healthcare training, branded materials, and the convenience of having products delivered directly to their doorstep. CareShop is a program run by Ghana Social Marketing Foundation Enterprises Limited, which itself is a for-profit subsidiary of Ghana Social Marketing Foundation (GSMF), a non-profit organization.

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