Mali’s Sodishop, a B2C and B2B marketplace that sells and delivers almost all categories of products, has expanded across several markets in West Africa and shows no sign of slowing down.
Sodishop allows customers to easily buy goods across numerous categories, including clothing, electronics and sports equipment, and have them delivered within 24 hours in urban areas and 72 hours in rural areas.
Beyond the products available on the African market, through Sodishop Express, customers can have products delivered from Europe, Asia and America within seven days. And with Sodifood, Sodishop enables households to access fresh, well-treated and packaged products.
Boubacar Biro Balde, founder and CEO of Sodishop, said the marketplace has more than 1,000 sellers.
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“Sodishop allows everyone to create and manage their online store easily in a few clicks. Through Sodishop and the interconnection of African markets, customers will be able to order “Made in Africa” products in another country from 2023 and have them delivered to their respective country,” he said.
Sodishop, which was recently selected to take part in the ASIP accelerator run by Startupbootcamp AfriTech, was launched in 2019, in response to the fact African consumers for the most part did not have the possibility of accessing catalogues of local online stores.
“You have to travel for miles sometimes without finding the desired product, although this product is available with a seller who is struggling to find a customer,” Balde said.
“One of the biggest shortcomings lies in accessibility for consumers. You often have to make several trips to different markets to complete your shopping, and delivery times are often very long, not to mention the lack of professionalism of certain players in the sector.”
Sodishop, Balde said, has developed an African strategy and solutions based on African realities.
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“We have a good experience of the markets of the sub-region and had already had to work in several of these markets before Sodishop.” he said.
“Our young team, passionate and experienced in several fields related to our business, has only one and unique vision, to become the leader of e-commerce in Africa in the next five years, in order to deliver everything, everywhere, and to everyone.”
Self-funded thus far, Sodishop has taken on a small amount of capital as part of the ASIP programme, but has been doing just fine without investment. It monetises via commissions and delivery charges.
“We operate in Mali, Guinea and Senegal, with teams present in these countries, and in Ivory Coast with a digital presence and partnerships,” said Balde.
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“We wish to expand for the first phase in the French-speaking West African countries by 2025, then in turn to the more mature economies such as Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco and South Africa. We wish to deploy in the majority of African countries with identified potential and existing basic infrastructure by 2030.”
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry