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Africa’s first B2B marketplace platform for African brands looking to access the global market, Craftmerce, has been launched in Nigeria.
According to Cynthia Asije and Sarah Odiavbara, the founders, “Africa has a large market, and these industrious people deserve the opportunity to sell their products on a global scale.
To make Craftmerce into what it is, our corespondent learnt that Asije started building a team with the best players in the field. Amongst them is Sarah Odiavbara (CTO) who oversees the technical part of building a functional and user-friendly website that helps African brands reach retailers worldwide. After months of meticulous planning, the team has unveiled its website, along with major plans to bridge the gap between the local and international markets.
“At the heart of it, Craftmerce hopes to help African manufacturers gain access to international retailers; connect international retailers with exceptional African products that are only made via small-batch production processes; sustainably market their brands to retailers to stock their products.
“Crafmerce believes that these will not only bridge the gap between local and international retailers and wholesalers but also foster a long-term global business relationship.
“A look at the new Craftmerce website shows that it is user-friendly, simple to navigate and organised into easily accessible categories. Ultimately, the founders want to keep to its simple mission: solely dedicating it to African-made products and assisting brands in getting their goods to more eyes.
“So, whether you are an African wholesaler who creates handcrafted products, brand owners looking to export African made products or a retailer looking for the perfect set of African made products to stock your store, Craftmerce is the wholesale marketplace with African made products that connects everyone.
“Craftmerce is committed to collaborating with reputable African brands that are authentic, into small batch production of high quality, trustworthy, as well as socially and environmentally responsible goods. The company is a curated B2B marketplace that allows African brands to sell their products to international retailers and wholesalers and allows international retailers to shop for unique and high-quality African products for their stores,” she said.
Be Ondeck Accelerator backs Craftmerce to facilitate its growth and scale its product. Craftmerce has also partnered with DHL, a global logistics company, to ensure easy carriage of the brands’ products.
Craftmerce has onboarded hundreds of brands across 13 African countries and a network of over 3000 retailers in the US, UK, Canada, and Europe. They hope to gain even more coverage before the end of the year.
When asked about their next plans, Asije stated that “new features will be rolled out after this launch. Retailers will be able to apply for Craftmerce credit, our Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) feature to shop from African brands. Also, rolling out is an advanced credit product for African brands and manufacturers, giving them the tools and financing to scale their production.”
