ecommerce – Page 2 – Africa Tech Digest

Building Shopify for Africa: Nigeria’s Bumpa plans to digitise thousands of African businesses

3Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Building Shopify for Africa: Nigeria’s Bumpa plans to digitise thousands of African businesses

Nigerian eCommerce startup, Bumpa, has raised a $200,000 pre-seed to digitise thousands of African businesses on its platform. Greencap Equity, HoaQ club, Rizq Investment Group, Microtraction, DFS Lab, Aidi Ventures, Prosper Otemuyiwa, Oo Nwoye, Perfect Makanju, Whogohost’s venture arm, and a few other angel investors took part in the round. Bumpa, formerly known as SalesCabal, was relaunched in February 2021 by Kelvin Umechukwu (CEO) and Adetunji Opayele (CTO). The company helps retailers manage and grow their businesses using their smartphones. Continue reading

Nigeria Prepares to Launch Own Cryptocurrency – “eNaira”

31Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Cryptocurrency, ecommerce, Fintech, Nigeria

Nigeria Prepares to Launch Own Cryptocurrency – “eNaira”

Nigeria is working with fintech Bitt Inc as a technical partner to launch the country’s own cryptocurrency – the eNaira – according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The Barbados-based Bitt Inc earlier in 2021 led the development of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union’s ‘DCash’ – the first digital cash issued by a currency union central bank. Reuters writes that the CBN plans to launch the digital currency in October after the country barred its banks and financial institutions from dealing in or facilitating transactions in cryptocurrencies at the beginning of the year in February. Godwin Emefiele, the CBN’s Governor, has said that the eNaira would operate as a wallet against which customers can hold existing funds within their bank accounts. In a statement on Monday, Emefi...

Digitization of Africa’s Transport Sector as Businesses Experience Post-COVID Recovery

28Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africa, Africans in Tech, ecommerce

Digitization of Africa’s Transport Sector as Businesses Experience Post-COVID Recovery

Truck and bus drivers in Nigeria are using Cellulant's technology - Tingg Proximity Pay (In store payments) - in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 LAGOS, Nigeria, August 28, 2021/APO Group/ -- Digitizing the transport sector has become inevitable. As the different countries adopted different measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, one of the first sectors to be hit hard was the transport sector as the movement of goods and people came to a standstill. We are seeing the tide turning with the availability of vaccines and the roads and air travel opens up more and more daily. However, businesses operating in the transport sector are having to relook at their operations, especially the need to digitize their payments. The universal quest for leveraging innovative ...

Join Juliet Anammah at the #FutureOfCommerce on the 24th of September

27Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africans in Tech, ecommerce, Education, Events

Join Juliet Anammah at the #FutureOfCommerce on the 24th of September

On the 24th of September, Juliet Anammah, Chairwoman, Jumia Nigeria and Group Chief Sustainability Officer will be speaking at the #FutureOfCommerce. Juliet will speak on a panel session tagged “The Future of Commerce in Emerging Markets” alongside Nkebet Mesele, Senior Director – Solutions Management at Visa Sub-Saharan Africa and other distinguished speakers. This panel discussion will explore what commerce will look like in Africa and other emerging markets over the next few years. It will also look at the biggest growth indicators for e-commerce, what the impediments to this growth are, and how innovators can harness the untapped opportunities. Continue reading

MaxAB extends Series A to $55M, largest ever by an Egyptian startup

25Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

ecommerce, North Africa, Start-ups

MaxAB extends Series A to $55M, largest ever by an Egyptian startup

MaxAB, an Egyptian eCommerce platform that serves food and grocery retailers, has raised an additional $15M from existing investors bringing its total Series A funding to $55M, the largest ever by an Egyptian startup. In addition, it announced its acquisition of WaystoCap, a Morocco-based e-commerce and distribution platform that connects retailers with suppliers across Africa. Founded in 2015 by Niama El Bassunie, Mehdi Daoui, Anis Abdeddine and Aziz Jaouhari Tissafi, WaystoCap was originally a cross-border trade platform for transacting business goods in Africa. Two years later, the company got into the 2017 Y Combinator’s Winter batch, making it the first company accepted from Morocco. It subsequently raised a $3 million seed round. Continue reading

Alerzo raises $10.5M Series A to bring Nigeria’s informal retail sector online

20Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

ecommerce, West Africa

Alerzo raises $10.5M Series A to bring Nigeria’s informal retail sector online

The process of digitizing the operations of mom and pop stores in Nigeria is serious business right now. In fact, it might be the second-best thing after fintech at the moment. Today’s news is from Alerzo, a little-known B2B e-commerce retail startup based in Ibadan, Nigeria. The company is announcing a $10.5 million Series A round led by London-based Nosara Capital. FJ Labs and several family offices from the U.S., Europe and Asia, including Michael Novogratz’s, participated in the round. In total, Alerzo has raised more than $20 million since its launch. Early investors include the Baobab Network, an Africa-focused accelerator based in London, and Signal Hill, a Singapore-based fund manager that participated in its $5.5 million seed round last year. The company also said it c...

Soccer media business Goal is exploring in-game commerce

15Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

ecommerce

Soccer media business Goal is exploring in-game commerce

Soccer — or football — media business Goal launched a virtual clothing line in the latest Fifa game. Next stop: in-game commerce. Over the last month, players of the game have been able to deck their in-game avatar out in kit from the football-inspired lifestyle brand from Goal — Goal Studios. The collection includes T-shirts, hoodies and flip-flops from popular collections from the range as well as an exclusive digital outfit that’s only available in the game — specifically the Fifa Volta street football mode. Clothing can be unlocked after players complete various in-game challenges or use Volta currency to purchase them. Continue reading (Image Credits: digiday.com)

African e-commerce firm Jumia targets tech and user growth

11Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

ecommerce

African e-commerce firm Jumia targets tech and user growth

NAIROBI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Africa’s Jumia Technologies said on Tuesday it plans to spend more on marketing and hire more technology professionals after reporting an increased loss in its second quarter. Jumia, which became the first Africa-focused tech startup on the New York Stock Exchange when it listed there in 2019, reported the fastest growth in order volumes in five straight quarters in the period to end-June. The company, which operates in more than 10 African countries spanning Morocco to South Africa, offers an online market place for vendors and food sellers, as well as associated services. Continue reading (Image Credits: Jumia)

Nigerian eCommerce startup, Omnibiz, secures $3m seed to expand across West Africa

10Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

ecommerce, Start-ups, West Africa

Nigerian eCommerce startup, Omnibiz, secures $3m seed to expand across West Africa

Nigeria-based Business to Business (B2B) eCommerce startup, Omnibiz has announced securing $3million in a seed round. It plans to expand into other cities in West Africa and participate in Seed Stars’ accelerator program. Led by V&R Africa, Timon Capital and Tangerine Insurance, this seed round also saw investments from Launch Africa, Sunu Capital, Musha Ventures, Rising Tide Africa, and Lofty Inc. Swiss-based emerging markets investment company, Seed Stars also joined the round. Founded by Deepankar Rustagi — CEO — in 2019, Omnibiz connects manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) with local retailers using a mobile app, WhatsApp and a phone number. This enables direct communication between manufacturers and retailers. Continue reading (Ima...

DHL Expands eShop Platform Across Africa

6Jun

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

ecommerce

DHL Expands eShop Platform Across Africa

Global logistics company, DHL has extended its e-commerce offering to now be available for consumers across 20 African countries. DHL's Africa eShop is an e-commerce platform that allows African consumers to shop on hundreds of USA and UK online shops such as Amazon and Ralph Lauren and have their orders delivered using DHL Express delivery. What is interesting is that the app, which was launched in April 2019, will likely provide competition to e-commerce platform JUMIA which has positioned itself as a Pan African offering. However, unlike JUMIA, DHL has the logistics capacity across several African countries to fulfill deliveries. “DHL Africa eShop provides convenience, speed and access for online customers in Africa. As the global leader in express l...