Since its creation in 2016, the online platform Afrikrea has been promoting African-inspired fashion and crafts (clothing, accessories, decoration, etc.)  

Afrikrea offers customers the chance to buy African creations online under the best conditions. However the originality and added value of its approach lies above all in the support and the provision of sales management tools to designers.    

Since 2020, this service offer is accessible on a second platform, ANKA, and works on a subscription basis. ANKA is an all-in-one solution that allows any African seller (and not only fashion designers) to sell and ship their products worldwide and get paid quickly through international and local payment systems. 

Currently, Afrikrea federates a community of 7,400 sellers present in 47 African countries and offers a wide range of products with more than 120,000 available references to more than 200,000 users and 60,000 buyers in over 150 countries. 

The entrepreneurs

Afrikrea is led by a team of 4 promoters: Moulaye Tabouré (CEO), Kadry Diallo (CMO), Luc Perussault Diallo (CTO) and Guillaume Darnaudet (CFO), all with complementary profiles in auditing, IT, project management and finance.  

Having grown up in Bamako (Mali) before moving to France for their studies, co-founders Moulaye Tabouré and Kadry Diallo realized that African handmade products were as rare as highly prized and valuable.  

As for Luc Perussault Diallo, the company's CTO, he has over 20 years of experience in marketplaces and e-commerce. Guillaume Darnaudet joined the Afrikrea adventure in 2018 as CFO and shareholder, after a position as financial manager in a construction company in Ivory Coast. 

Partnership with I&P

I&P is committed to working with Afrikrea to support the company in: 

• Strengthening its technological and marketing team in order to ensure a better offer of tools and services and to offer the best possible support to sellers  

• Expanding its geographical scope

Expected Impacts

• Creation of economic opportunities for African creators by reducing barriers to accessing large markets 

• Job creation: over 50% job growth during the investment period 

• Strong impact on gender equality: 80% of the marketplace's sellers are women 

Zeepay is the fastest growing Ghanaian-owned fin-tech, promoting financial inclusion in Ghana. Zeepay focuses on digital rails to connect digital assets such as mobile money wallets, cards, ATMs, Bank Accounts and Digital tokens to International Money Transfer Operators, Payments, Subscriptions, International Airtime and Refugee payments.

Zeepay has experienced exponential growth since its launch in 2016 and currently terminates over 130,000 transactions on a monthly basis

In March 2020, Zeepay became the first Ghanaian-owned company to be issued an Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) licence by the Bank of Ghana. This license enables Zeepay to offer the full spectrum of mobile financial services in Ghana.

The entrepreneur

Andrew Takyi-Appiah is the Managing Director of Zeepay. Andrew is an expert in banking and mobile payments, having accumulated over 15 years of experience in banking and business development, from working in 3 continents: Europe, North America and Africa. His African experience spans across Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi and South Africa. Prior to founding Zeepay, Andrew previously worked at PwC (UK), PwC (Ghana), Barclays UK, UT Bank, Ecobank, GT Bank, Nestle and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Partnership with I&P 

The partnership between Zeepay and I&P (through its fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 2) aims to:

⇒ Help Zeepay meet regulatory capital requirements of the license

⇒ Support the company on talent acquisition, technology development and customer acquisition

Expected Impacts

⇒ Deepen financial inclusion, especially to underserved sections of the population

⇒ Catalyze economic development by promoting access to faster, safer and cheaper ways to access international remittances

⇒ Create decent jobs across the continent in the technology sector