African B2B e-commerce businesses Wasoko and MaxAB have completed the continent’s largest technology merger after signing preliminary terms in Q4 2023.
Done as a wholly owned transaction, the deal merges both entities to become a community of access to essential digital and physical goods, marking the evolution of Wasoko and MaxAB from B2B e-commerce companies to a multi-vertical ecosystem for Africa’s informal retail sector 600 billion dollars.
Details
Leveraging Wasoko and MaxAB’s extensive, hyper-located online and offline expertise across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Egypt and Morocco, the newly formed entity has the continent’s largest informal B2B retailer network of over 450,000 merchants, connected with more than 65 million consumers.
After detailed due diligence and planning, Wasoko and MaxAB successfully integrated the technology stacks and operations of both companies in less than 60 days.
By The Numbers
The platform’s fintech branches quickly surpassed B2B e-commerce in Egypt, the group’s biggest market, with digital services alone generating over $180 million in annual sales to 7 million consumers through 40,000 retailers.
Over the past year, the growth of another fintech branch focused on credit financing has disbursed over $20 million worth of funding to retailers with repayment rates in excess of 99%, further demonstrating the impact of fintech within the company’s broader strategy of unleashing the full potential of informal African retailers.
Digging deeper
With more than 4,000 employees, the combined company will be led by Daniel Yu, CEO of Wasoko, and Belal El-Megharbel, CEO of MaxAB, who will serve as Co-CEOs and directors of the company’s board along with existing investors Wasoko and MaxAB;
Other key shareholders of the merged company include late-stage investors such as; Silver Lake, Tiger Global, Semilunar, VNV Global, British International Investmentand Avenir Growth alongside leading regional and global venture investors such as Beco Capital, 4DX Ventures, Quona Capital, Amplo, Breyer Capital, AHL Ventures, Endure Capitaland Flourish Ventures.
What They Say
Speaking of the announcement, Daniel Yu, Co-CEO of Wasoko and MaxAB, says, “Building on the growing trade ties between North and East Africa, this agreement brings together the leading B2B players in both regions, creating an unparalleled platform to serve communities across the continent. Through our integrated technology stack, our expanded pan-African approach uniquely positions us to deliver the best products and services from across Africa with maximum accessibility and affordability, supercharging our growth beyond what any company could achieve independently”.
“This merger proves that massive world-class technology companies can be created in Africa for Africa“, he says Belal El-Megharbel, Co-CEO of Wasoko and MaxAB;. “As pioneers, we fully embrace our responsibility to drive the development of a mature and thriving ecosystem, building foundational infrastructure that will empower future companies to fully unlock Africa’s enormous economic potential in the coming years.”
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