The informal sector is an important segment of the African economy. Yet, actors are most of the time left to fend for themselves for various reasons. In Angola, an entrepreneur has decided to digitize the sector with a virtual marketplace. 

Roque Online is a digital platform developed by Angolan eponymous startup founded in 2018 by Geraldine Geraldo. It is a virtual marketplace allowing traders to take their businesses to the next level. Its name is inspired by Roque Santeiro, a famous Angolan market active between 1991 and 2011. 

“Our focus is to help anyone compete effectively in modern society. Whether you’re an informal market vendor, small business owner, or a large distributor, you can download our mobile application and start registering your inventory so we can start monetizing it on our website or through our partners’ e-commerce channels,” the startup explains on its platform. 

The digital platform has a mobile app available on PlayStore and AppStore. To assess its services, users must first create an account and put up goods and services for sale. To boost the user base, the startup invites market women to offer their goods and services online. That way, it helps create additional income for the women, who were not aware of the existence of an online market where they could reach more clients. 

Roque Online has become a reference marketplace to buy almost anything and get them delivered. From food products to services, customers can access anything they want from informal traders. This allows small family businesses to expand their consumer base and adapt to the changing business environment. In 2019, the startup won the first prize at Seedstars Luanda.

Adoni Conrad Quenum

Ushanga is an initiative supported by the Office of the Vice President, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, the various county governments, and the Ministry of Public Service, and Gender among others.

Ushanga is a digital platform set up by the Ushanga Initiative and supported by the Kenyan government. It aims to help women in West Pokot, Samburu, Narok, Kajiado, Marsabit, Baringo, and Turkana sell their beaded accessories online.

Speaking during the launch of the platform, the Sports, Heritage and Culture Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed explained that the platform would expose the women’s  “beautiful work” to the world, which will then respect their “intellectual capacity.”  

In Kenya, every pastoralist community has its special way to make beautiful accessories. With the platform, they can present such diverse offerings to potential customers in the local market and also to international buyers. Earrings, bracelets, chest plates, rings, and belts are some of the items that will be available on the platform. 

According to Hellen Nkaissery, chairperson of the Ushanga Initiative, “as pastoralists’ women, the women who are low in the radar, now they are being lifted up through the support of our government, through the program of Ushanga Kenya Initiative, and we are being put in a platform where other parts of the country have also been supported.”

In the framework of the Ushanga Initiative, the Kenyan government has decided to invest US$4 million to impact the lives of 5,000 women. Those women will be endowed with professional skills, leading to the creation of 60 cooperatives.  

Adoni Conrad Quenum

E-commerce platforms have gained popularity with the Covid-19 pandemic because they are more convenient and save time. 

Carniger is a website allowing users to quickly buy cars, motorcycles, trucks, and parts in Niger. The website was launched in 2017, by Africargroup, Africa’s first automotive marketplace.  

To buy a product on Carniger, users have to visit the website, check the information of listed cars/motorcycles/trucks, and select what they like. Users either register or login in and contact the seller either through the website’s chat feature or by dialing the number listed. Buyers can also directly make counter-offers for the products listed. 

The website also has a buy now and pay later service that connects potential buyers with specialized institutions for vehicle financing. To access that service, interested buyers must submit a valid Nigerien ID card or passport, justify a permanent source of income, and provide a bank statement dating six months before the financing request.  Then, they fill out a form to quickstart the process.

Let’s note that the platform also facilitates insurance subscriptions. 

Adoni Conrad Quenum

When the AfCFTA became effective in January 2021, it boosted the business opportunities available for actors. Yet, some players are still left out because they have poor or no access to market information. Ancestral House Eastern Africa wants to address that issue.

Online trading platform Ancestral House Eastern Africa recently launched its activities to facilitate intra-African trades. With offices in Abuja, Nigeria, and Nairobi, Kenya,  the platform acts like a facilitator offering administrative, technical, logistics, and commercial assistance. 

According to Ancestral chairman Ose Imoukhuede (photo), although most African SMEs can easily export or import goods from other continents it is hard for them to carry out intra-African trades despite the yearly US$1 billion potential of the market. 

Ancestral House Eastern Africa, therefore, wants to make intra-African trades easy for those firms by addressing a certain number of challenges. The said challenges are namely “lack of market information, inexperienced exporters/importers, poor logistics infrastructure, inefficient cross-border payment systems/infrastructure, cultural differences, gaps, and trust deficit, as well as  varied Competitive landscapes.”

For the time being, the online trading platform will connect East and West African traders with services like business matchmaking, market research, logistics, consumer trends, and behaviors. 

Ancestral connects “producers and consumers of goods and services across Africa through technology-driven go-to-market information and expertise,” explains chairman Ose Imoukhuede.

In January 2021, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) became effective in a market of 1.2 billion people covering 55 countries with combined GDP estimated to be some US$2.5 trillion. In those countries, SMEs represent 80% of the economic fabric but they are still struggling to penetrate overseas markets. With Ancestral’s trading platform, they can capitalize on regional markets to reach buyers outside the continent.  

Ruben Tchounyabe

In Africa, startups usually face management problems due to limited financial resources. Egyptian startup Milezmore wants to address that issue in the e-commerce sector by offering logistics and supply-chain management solutions.

Milezmore is an Egyptian startup founded in 2021 by Ahmed El Attar and Mohamed Abdulaziz. Through its eponymous platform, it offers a range of reliable, scalable, and cost-efficient logistics solutions. Its technology is based on cloud computing, which allows better supply chain management as well as optimization of performance and profitability.  

“What I witnessed during the past four years is that the traditional supply chain wasn’t built to solve today’s problem, and I believe Milezmore was built for that. In one year, we were able to build a strong and passionate team that drove the company forward and achieved tremendous results,” says MD and co-founder Ahmed El Attar explaining the idea behind the startup. 

The services offered by Milezmore are accessible through its SaaS platform (there is currently no mobile Milezmore app) with one simple subscription. They include stock management, warehousing, order fulfillment, last-mile delivery, return management, and payment collection. Small businesses, in the e-commerce sector notably, can therefore contract Milezmore for their logistics needs to save costs and reduce financial risks. 

The start-up has over 20,000 square meters of warehousing space and 15 delivery centers. With more than one million parcels delivered, it claims a 94% success rate. In February 2022, it raised US$5 million in pre-seed funding to upgrade its technology and support growth. 

Adoni Conrad Quenum

In his about one decade of entrepreneurship experience, Tesh Mbaabu has implemented several projects in Kenya. With his numerous national and international recognitions, he has won the trust of investors ready to support the East and West African expansion of his B2B platform. 

Tesh Mbaabu (photo) is a Kenyan entrepreneur and co-founder of MarketForce, a B2B platform that facilitates the retail distribution of consumer goods and digital financial services in Africa.  In 2020, the platform he co-founded with Mesongo Sebuti was improved with the integration of RejaReja, which allows users to make orders, pay, accept payments, and access online loans. 

About two years later, in February 2022, MarketForce raised US$40 million to enter new East and West African markets in addition to Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Kenya. 

Its co-founder and CEO is a serial entrepreneur. He quicked off his professional career in 2011, four years before his BSc in computer science from the University of Nairobi (2015). That year, he became the creative director of Tesh Technologies Ltd, a graphic design and printing firm, while attending university. Two years later, he co-founded Mesozi Group, an integrated business and technology solutions provider. In 2016, Tesh Mbaabu co-founded Cloud9xp.com, an online recreation marketplace, and booking platform. About one year after the creation of MarketForce, he joined traveltech startup HotelOnlline as a board advisor. 

His digital entrepreneurship experience also earned him prestigious recognitions. In 2018, he was a mentor at iHub Nairobi's Traction Camp, a “regional acceleration program aimed at nurturing startups in East Africa.” Three years later, he became an entrepreneurial growth mentor for accelerator JASIRI. Since April 2022, he has been teaching Entrepreneurship Without Borders (MS&E 272) at the University of Stanford, California. On April 21, he received the Fintech Investment Excellence Award during the Africa Fintech Summit in Washington DC. 

Melchior Koba

In Africa, thanks to technology, citizens now have easy access to alternative financial solutions. Lucky is one of those solutions. 

Lucky is a digital app that gives users in the MENA region the chance to win discounts, as well as access interesting offers, cashback, and credit products from 20,000 local and international brands. The platform was developed by the eponymous startup, Lucky, co-founded in 2018 by two Egyptians, Momtaz Moussa and Ayman Essawy (photo). 

In March 2022, some four years after its creation, the startup completed a US$25 million series A funding round to support its growth in the MENA region. Lucky gives users transparent offers and increased buying power in a region where consumers usually have poor or no access to credit. For Momtaz Moussa, “the MENA region’s huge unbanked, young population and cash-dominated economy is a significant market opportunity” for Lucky.    

All users have to do is to download Lucky from AppStore or PlayStore, register, and shop as they usually do to start accumulating points to be redeemed for discounts and cashback from the numerous e-commerce platforms Lucky is partnered with. Most of the time, the offers and cashback come from brands seeking more visibility. In their quest, they pay commissions to Lucky, which redirects part of those commissions to its users through the offers and cashback. 

Currently, the startup claims more than eight million users and a network of 30,000 stores.  

Adoni Conrad Quenum

After some 20 years of professional experience in the toy industry, Amir Shenouda returned to Egypt to implement a decade-long project, mumerz.com. 

Amir Shenouda (photo, left) is the CEO of mumerz.com, an online shopping platform selling items specifically dedicated to mothers, babies, and children under 12 in Egypt. It offers a wide range of products in several categories, including food, clothing, toys, accessories for mothers, etc.

The platform was launched in 2021, by Amir Shenouda and Nadia Gamal Al-Din (photo, right) after a decade-long maturation that started in 2011. That year, Amir Shenouda joined, as a business development manager for mumzworld.com, which is also an e-commerce platform dedicated to mothers and babies in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, and Lebanon. 

While working for mumzworld.com, he got the idea to leverage the experience he acquired while working for U.S. toy manufacturer Toys“R”Us to create a mumzworld.com-like platform that would be focused on the Egyptian market.  

He later left mumzworld.com to join Cartoon Networks as Retail Business Manager (from 2013 to 2014). From 2014 to 2018, he was a senior regional manager for Amazon’s Toys and Babies department, and from 2018 to 2021, he was the e-commerce director of Toy Triangle LLC, a Dubai-based toy store. In July 2021, after years of evaluating the market, he decided to launch mumerz.com.  

Months later, on March 1, 2022, the entrepreneur successfully raised US$1.2 million in a pre-seed round, led by DisrupTech Ventures, to develop its market offerings.

Melchior Koba

For many development agencies, e-commerce is now one of the key factors that will boost Africa’s post-Covid-19 recovery. The momentum generated by the pandemic attracted investors from all horizons to the sector, which is growing day in and day out.

Four Cameroonians launched Kuruba.cm, a wholesale e-commerce platform last week. They are namely Pierre-Lionel Ebe, Ivan Kharl Manga, Armel Fotso, and Simon Mbelek. All four are former employees of Jumia Cameroon, which ended its operations in Cameroon in November 2019. Through Kuruba.cm, they aim to help retailers quickly source their products from reference brands and get them delivered anywhere they like in Cameroon. 

“We launched Kuruba to help retailers, who are crucial parts of our daily lives, to access millions of products at better prices than what they are currently offered. We connect independent merchants with a wide range of suppliers, allowing them to easily buy their products,” explains Pierre-Lionel Ebe, CEO of the eponymous start-up that launched the e-commerce platform. 

In Cameroon, there are currently thousands of supermarkets, stores, and small shops that usually turn to wholesalers, resellers, distributors, and producers to acquire their merchandise. Kuruba.cm wants to facilitate this costly and time-consuming task by allowing them to quickly contact producers and distributors.  

With its online platform, the startup is positioned in a market segment with high economic potential in Africa. In Morocco, chari.ma has been doing the same thing since January 2020, with much success. For instance, it claims nearly US$2.5 million orders processed monthly. In January 2022, it was valued at US$100 million. 

In Cameroon, Kuruba.cm has a warehouse and large storage facilities, and pickup points to reduce delivery time and costs. To quickly attract clients, it unveiled an aggressive commercial policy.  For instance, the startup promises free delivery for orders exceeding XAF100,000 (US$164.66). It also announced discussions with financial partners to allow clients to obtain supply credits they can pay after 30 days.

Currently, the startup claims over 200 reference brands in categories like household appliances, agri-food, cosmetics, and home maintenance. Its ambition is to expand out of Cameroon once it consolidates its presence in the country. 

“We are only at the beginning of the adventure because the African e-commerce market is growing exponentially and Kuruba wants a large share of that market. We want to offer an innovative, convenient and affordable online service for African retailers and help them meet their customers’ daily needs,” said Pierre-Lionel Ebe.  

Muriel Edjo

In Kenya, transactions at the Mombasa tea auction house are now exclusively performed online through the electronic portal iTTS (Integrated Tea Trading System). With the US$2.12 million portal, the Mombasa Tea Auction House officially ends its physical interactions with tea traders. 

For Arthur Sawe, chairperson of the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA), the portal funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), will boost tea traders' and farmers’ benefits by reducing operating costs. 

“The digitization seeks to fill gaps in the current procedures, which are done manually including membership and cataloging,” he added

According to Morgens Strunge Lursen, Councilor at the Danish embassy in Kenya, "the launch of the iTTS is particularly exciting because it helps position such a critical sector for future growth and success by driving efficiency and supporting both increased traceability and information exchange."

The Mombasa Tea Auction House serves Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi, Burundi, Ethiopia, DRC, Rwanda, Madagascar, and Uganda. Its digitization, which led to the creation of the iTTS portal, began in May 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. It helped the industry respect social distancing requirements by allowing buyers to place their tea bids online.  After a two-year pilot phase, the iTTS portal was launched on March 31, 2022. 

According to a release announcing the launch, “in time, iTTS is expected to shorten the pre-auction, auction and post-auction stages; create the potential for increased frequency in trading volumes; reduce the tea trading cycle by about 65 percent from the current 45 to 60 days to less than a month; and, fast track payments to farmers and reduce the need to take loans to finance farming operation.” 

Users will only need connected devices (phones for instance) to track the tea they bought through auctions from factories to shipping companies. The portal also includes features allowing resellers to analyze global market trends.  According to Kenya's Permanent Secretary for the East African Community, Kevit Desai, “the manual procedure involves middlemen, producers, warehouses, brokers, buyers. (...) The trickle-down effect was that farmers had little say in the prices of their tea but the new system is inclusive, and farmers will benefit immensely.” 

The iTTS “will ensure that stakeholders of the tea auction, including farmers, buyers, and sellers receive real-time information on what is happening on the auction bourse, which will boost confidence in the Process,” concludes EATTA Managing Director, Edward Mudibo. 

Ruben Tchounyabe