The appointment is fundamental to extending OmiRetail’s footprint across Francophone Africa, a region experiencing rapid economic growth and promising opportunities for the e-commerce sector.

Steve Dakayi brings a wealth of experience to OmniRetail, with a strong background in e-commerce and leadership roles. 

Before this appointment, Dakayi was the founder and CEO of BetaStore, a B2B e-commerce startup he established in 2020. Despite BetaStore’s eventual closure, the startup provided Dakayi with the required insights into the dynamics of the B2B e-commerce industry in Africa. 

His career also includes a tenure at Jumia, one of Africa’s largest e-commerce platforms, where he held important roles in commercial and fulfilment operations. 

His work at Jumia involved leading innovative teams, driving commercial strategies, and managing complex fulfilment processes, all of which provided him with the skills needed to scale through the challenges of expanding an e-commerce business in emerging markets.

OmniRetail’s decision to expand into Francophone Africa is driven by the region’s economic performance and the strategic advantages it offers. 

The Francophone African market is characterised by a stable currency, the CFA franc, which is pegged to the Euro, providing a degree of economic stability that is less common in other parts of Africa. 

This stability, coupled with high economic growth rates, particularly in countries like Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and Senegal, makes the region an attractive target for expansion. 

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), six of the seven fastest-growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa are in Francophone countries, stressing the region’s potential.

In his new role, Dakayi will be responsible for leading OmniRetail’s operations in Ivory Coast and spearheading the company’s broader expansion into Francophone Africa. 

He will report directly to Deepankar Rustagi, CEO of OmniRetail, and will focus on establishing strong local partnerships and driving the company’s growth in these new markets. 

Dakayi’s strategy is centred on maintaining an asset-light model to ensure operational efficiency and profitability. This approach aligns with OmniRetail’s business philosophy, which emphasises sustainable growth through strategic market entry and prudent financial management.

The Francophone region’s growing middle class is another factor driving OmniRetail’s expansion. This demographic shift is resulting in increased purchasing power and changing consumer habits, creating a fertile ground for the growth of e-commerce. 

Dakayi recognises the potential of this trend, noting that the rising middle class is a key driver of economic expansion in the region. He is confident that OmniRetail’s focus on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) will resonate well with consumers in Francophone Africa, allowing the company to establish a strong market presence.

OmniRetail’s expansion into Francophone Africa is a move that mirrors similarities with other major players in the B2B e-commerce sector. 

The company’s goal is to become the leading e-commerce platform in Africa, and the expansion into Francophone countries is a vital part of this vision.

The funding round was led by Algebra Ventures, with participation from existing investors like Silicon Badia and SANAD Fund for MSME. Camel Ventures and GlobalCorp contributed to the debt portion. 

With the capital, Cartona seeks to bolster its market presence in Egypt’s FMCG and HORECA sectors, while also exploring possible expansion into Saudi Arabia.

Cartona’s platform bridges retailers with FMCG suppliers and wholesalers, providing a streamlined, digital marketplace. In leveraging an asset-light model, Cartona enhances traditional supply chains rather than disrupting them. 

The platform enables retailers to browse and purchase products efficiently, offering real-time insights and inventory management. Cartona’s digital approach addresses inefficiencies in the conventional marketplace, supporting over 180,000 retailers across 17 cities that now handle over 40,000 SKUs.

Partnerships are key in Cartona’s strategy. Collaborations with major FMCG companies and local suppliers enable Cartona to provide a one-stop shop for retailers. 

This approach improves sales efficiency and also enhances market intelligence through real-time data insights. Notable partnerships include collaborations with Unilever and Talabat, the latter focusing on simplifying restaurant supply procurement.

Cartona’s focus on financial inclusion is seen through its adoption of BNPL (buy now, pay later) financing and embedded finance solutions. These initiatives help retailers manage working capital and inventory financing more effectively. 

Currently, over 90% of Cartona’s credit orders are financed through local currency facilities, showing a shift from equity-based financing.

Despite a competitive industry, Egypt’s retail market remains largely untapped, with B2B e-commerce platforms covering just a fraction of it. 

Cartona’s CEO, Mahmoud Talaat, points to the wide potential for growth, as the offline market still dominates transactions. The company’s success lies in its ability to support local partners, enhancing operational capabilities with technology while maintaining an established strength in supply chain management.

Cartona’s is leveraging its technology-driven model to penetrate deeper into existing markets and explore new opportunities. 

The Egyptian retail sector, valued at $120 billion, offers room for growth, and Cartona is well-positioned to capture a huge share in driving the digital modification of traditional trade practices.

These B2B businesses help retailers in the micro business ecosystem get goods at the manufacturers or accredited suppliers price and get the same delivered for free at the time they (retailers) want the goods delivered.

Adewale Opaleye, Alerzo CEO, hinted that tech firms helping retailers of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) shop with ease through their mobile phones, are setting a standard with their reputation and free delivery services.

“On top of that, what we need in this space is building trust,” he said. “Right now in this space, we are the only company that delivers within four hours; retailers get their products delivered to them within four hours depending on when they order for products,” he added.

Opaleye continued: “We own our infrastructure, that is actually important because you don’t solve a problem by being a third party in space.

“Right now we built our own logistics routing software that allows our drivers to walk around retail stores pretty quickly.”

Going further on using technology to help retailers run their businesses, he explained that e-commerce is pretty big “even before we started to talk about e-commerce, commerce already existed. Everyone was already buying and selling.”

He said further: “E-commerce needs two things to function: smartphones and the internet. Right now smartphones are becoming more accessible to the people.”

Meanwhile, e-commerce spending in Nigeria is worth about $12billion and is forecast to hit $75 billions by 2025.

This sector makes up 50 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), making it the major source of economic growth, productivity, and competitiveness.

However, this market is with its own challenges as it is clustered, with products often overpriced because prices are largely unregulated.

Existent are the challenges of adulterated goods, excessive intermediaries, and the long distances some retailers cover to get to the market, especially those in hard-to-reach locations.

With growing digital technology, B2B e-commerce operators are rising to these challenges by empowering micro businesses to grow and maximise profits.

Through their digital platform, retailers buy consumable goods at manufacturers’ and authorised distributors rates and even those goods are freely delivered.

These automatically save them stress, time and money of having to shop from the open markets.

Micro business owners are guaranteed genuine goods through the services of B2B e-commerce companies like Alerzo for example.

This is even made easier for them as they can use their mobile Apps and websites, e.g. Alerzoshop, which allows retailers to order goods and get the goods delivered directly to them.

Furthermore, they do not have to spend time for business and profit-making on the road to visit the open market for restocking when they get their goods ordered from Alerzoshop.

This has resulted in 85 percent of retailers reducing their two to four times a week restock trips to zero.

The micro business owners have eliminated intermediaries that usually contribute to excessive pricing of goods, as they are sure of buying at the manufacturers’ or legal distributors’ rate when they use Alerzoshop.

Through AlerzoPay, a digital payment and fintech platform for first and third party transactions, retailers no longer have to face the risk of moving around with heavy cash, as it is the case with retailers who shop from open markets.

Also with Alerzo logistics, micro business owners get their goods delivered without making any payments. Meanwhile, in less than four years of its existence, Alerzo, the B2B e-commerce business founded by Adewale Opaleye which focuses on supplying much-needed products to retailers, by sourcing products from manufacturers based on orders from customers has improved the profitability of over 80,000 retail owners.

The firm’s ecosystem of digital product consists of Alerzoshop – mobile App and website that allow retailers to order goods; AlerzoPay – digital payment and fintech platform for first and third party transactions; Alerzo Logistics – end to end logistics service: from first mile to last mile (delivery to retailers).

Largely, there is hope for micro businesses as the e-commerce businesses are passionate about empowering a broad community of micro businesses across the country, with the securing of right investments and partners. They assure continued engagement with governments and regulatory authorities to find the best solutions to challenges in the micro business environments.

No doubt digital technology is redefining manufacturing, distribution and retailing which in turn reflects on our day-to-day living.

There have been and will continue to be shifts in the way several sectors of the economy operate as the rising emergence of B2C and B2B e-Commerce platforms in Nigeria typifies how digital technology is driving the marketplace.

After the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, Technology Revolution energised by information and communication technology or digital technology, is another big wave that has had an unmatched impact on the world’s social and economic landscape in the 21st century.

At present, e-Commerce is helping manufacturers, distributors and the retail segment of the Nigerian economy to reach their customers faster, deepen market penetration and reach remote locations more easily.

Adewale Opaleye, CEO of Alerzo, a B2B e-Commerce platform, said his company’s mission is to empower the nation’s $100 million worth retail segment through digital products by equipping them to run as profitable and sustainable businesses.

To this end, the role of tech-driven B2B e-Commerce platforms is especially profound in their support for manufacturers, distributors and retailers by enabling efficient Factory-to-Retail distribution for food and consumer goods companies, thereby helping to bridge disruptions in the supply chain.

Manufacturers and business owners no longer have to wait for customers to walk to the shelf or market stall to buy products, as they are daily meeting buyers and prospective users of their goods and services on the digital space, providing them convenience and uptaking positive user experience.

Through working with fintech companies, payment solutions and financial services providers, B2B e-Commerce companies impact on the national economy by deepening financial inclusion and bridging the gap for the unserved and underserved.

This rise, both in volume of transactions and number of operators, is prompted by the success recorded by the B2C e-commerce operations, especially during the covid-19 quarter in-place (lockdown) period.

Just as in the B2C, the B2B e-commerce hinges its operations on digital processes to deliver on its promises to the other players in the e-commerce value chain. 

The B2B e-commerce platforms deploy digital solutions in its operations to streamline their processes in order to achieve improved efficiency as well as an improved business experiences for the retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and distributors on their platforms. 

While all platforms develop their digital solutions in their operations according to their needs and capabilities, B2B e-commerce players like Alerzo have distinguished themselves as leaders in the digitalization arena.

Their digitization process, relying on superior data quality – collection and structuring – has enabled them achieve a level of automation in their operations in Nigeria.

For instance, retailers on Alerzo’s platform can order products via the internet, short messaging service (SMS), voice and WhatsApp and have such products deliver them to their stores in less than four hours.

Additionally, Alerzo’s digital app, Alerzoshop, allows the retailers on its platform to buy their products at cheaper rates, enjoy huge discounts and have their orders delivered to them at no extra cost.

The app has taken the Nigerian retailer to a whole new world of opportunities with a lifeline of numerous mouth-watering incentives.

It also helps these retailers in inventory management, guaranteed product quality and time savings. 

B2B e-commerce players also boost the profitability of retailers. One of the ways they do this is by taking the burden of logistics off the retailers on their platform. While retailers who are not on the platform pay the logistics costs of hiring a ‘carrier’, paying market exit fees, and getting public transport to carry their goods to their stores, Alerzo for example delivers the orders to the informal retailers on its platform at no cost.

Also, the company recently launched the Alerzopay – its cashless payment and lending platform – to provide informal retailers with working capital to keep their stores running and to drive financial inclusion.

Additionally, the company advances POS terminals that run on the Alerzopay platform at no cost to interested retailers who want to act as agents.

Digitization of customer data such as order history and order status can substantially increase the customer’s satisfaction. Through digitization of orders, the B2B e-commerce platforms have made it possible to keep the customer in the know as to when his or her order will arrive. 

Alerzo and its peers have gone along to digitize products information, customer order, stock to generate new insights for the manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and their businesses. Such in-depth analysis of data can unlock a huge potential for businesses that make use of them. These digital products also help manufacturers and distributors get feedback on consumer perception, product preferences etc.

Alerzo and other frontline B2B e-commerce platforms are also empowering manufacturers, distributors and retailers by digitising the value chain and enabling efficient factory-to-retail distribution for food and consumer goods companies.

They facilitate faster and quicker inventory movement for FMCG companies to help bridge possible disruptions in the supply chain.

The rise of B2B e-commerce in Nigeria is going to gather momentum in the coming years, given the ease that comes with increased digitization of operations of the platforms as well as the increasing number of other players – manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and retailers – that are coming on board the sector.

To propel the country towards attaining a vibrant digital economy, the federal government unveiled a roadmap in the form of a National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020 to 2030.

Led by the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, government agencies such as National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) have been formulating policy directions towards a vibrant digital economy for Nigeria.

Achieving a digital economy however goes beyond policies. To spark digital activities and generate traffic needed for the desired growth, more businesses, especially in the retail sector, have to transit online.

At the forefront of this transaction is e-commerce. With 58 online marketplaces in the Nigerian e-commerce space, activities in the business-to-consumer segment of the market have been remarkable.

While the B2C segment gained acceptance, the informal retail sector which is an integral part of Nigeria’s economy was hitherto left behind.

In the last three years, innovative e-commerce brands like Alerzo, TradeDepot, Omnibiz have taken up the challenge of bringing the $100 billion Nigerian informal retail market into the growing digital community. As evident in advanced markets, bringing hundreds of thousands of retailers online tends to have a ripple impact on the development of the economy.

By their business models, B2B e-commerce platforms are a chain of activities that open up economic opportunities such as job creation, financial inclusion and technology advancement.

An industry innovator and expert, Adewale Opaleye, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Alerzo Limited, explained that through their activities, B2B e-commerce platforms allow local retailers to improve their businesses and become profitable and thus encourages them to hire more staff to support their production and/or distribution activities. Beyond this, he explained that there are far reaching impacts of these platforms combined to drive overall growth of the economy. “B2B e-commerce or digital platforms enable hundreds of SMEs across Nigeria to run profitable and sustainable businesses, benefiting from the economics of digitization to achieve a significant increase in their activity level. This facilitates economic development in Nigeria by allowing many entrepreneurs (retailers) to embark on new innovative projects. 

B2B platforms like Alerzo are also shaping the Nigeria narrative by showcasing the attractive investment opportunities to the world, while also reaching people in rural areas and giving them access to extensive catalogue of products and logistics. We also facilitate development and financial inclusion through digital payment platforms. For instance, Alerzo, through AlerzoPay, is contributing to the development of dematerialized payment solutions which are key to the success of e-commerce and an important asset for Nigeria when it comes to development prospects,” Opaleye explained. According to him, Alerzo directly employs more than 1,700 people in its operational chain.

The Federal government recently espoused the improving impact of e-commerce on the country’s economy, saying the current e-commerce spending in Nigeria has grown to  $13billion per annum and expected to hit $75billion in revenue per annum by 2025.

It also said e-commerce grew in Nigeria from 14% in 2019 to 17% in 2020.  The government has also expressed passion about the growing investment opportunities in the e-commerce value chain, which are capable of contributing significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

With increasing internet penetration riding on mobile smartphone adoption, the pillars for a vibrant digital economy are gradually falling in place.

At this point, it can be safely said that Nigeria’s digital economy plan is heading towards the right direction; thanks to innovative e-commerce brands facilitating needed activities.