By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Sub-Saharan African online marketplace is about to be disrupted by a Singapore-based fintech firm, Kiwi Pay Group with its planned entry into the ecosystem.
Already, the company has sealed a strategic partnership with one of the biggest transport and logistics businesses in Africa, Bolloré Logistics, which is based in Cameroon.
Kiwi Pay Group intends to penetrate the market through Bolloré Logistics, which boasts of more than 5,000 employees on the continent.
Business Post learned that on November 4, 2021, Kiwi Pay Group, Bolloré Logistics and the Customs Bureau of Cameroon signed a strategic agreement in Douala.
Before then, Kiwi Pay Group has been signing strategic agreements with different economic zones on the African continent like CEMAC, GIM-UEMOA and others, allowing them to offer transactions in the local currency, FCFA.
The company has been building its newest mobile application in stealth mode for the last few months and will use it to offer millions of products from European retailers to the African market, with affordable price, local payment methods including credit cards and mobile money, and 4 to 5 days shipping by air to various delivery collection points in the country.
Customers in Cameroon will be allowed to purchase products like books, DVDs, computers, cosmetics, games, appliances and millions of other SKUs through this strategic partnership and thanks to their mobile application in the weeks to come.
“This strategic partnership with Bolloré Logistics and the Customs in Cameroon is allowing us to benefit from the strong growth of the e-commerce in the country while leveraging from decades of experience from our partners to ensure a trustworthy experience for the customers and compliance with the local tax system,” the Director-General of customs in Cameroon, Fongod Nuvaga Edwin, stated.
On his part, the Regional Manager for Bolloré Transport and Logistics, Serge Agnero, disclosed that, “We are thrilled to initiate this strategic partnership in Cameroon and the region with an experienced player such as Kiwi Pay Group, to allow millions of local customers to benefit from attractive prices from retailers in Europe, and be able to order quickly and securely the products they are looking for, delivered at their place within a few days with our smooth service.”
Earlier this year, Kiwi Pay Group also launched its token KGO, which will be used as a way to reward users of the app, on all sides, vendors, drivers and customers, to allow them to hold it and use it later on for benefits on their e-commerce platform.
The company plans to push the token rewarding process as soon as they launch their e-commerce platform in Cameroon and other markets in the upcoming few months.
