Kenyan startup GoBEBA, which says it is reimagining Africa’s utilities supply chain to help provide the infrastructure that can cope with the continent-wide explosion in urban growth, plans to expand into four more cities in the country over the next two years before expanding further into East and Central Africa.
Formed in 2019 by Peter Ndiang’ui, a former OLX general manager, and Lesley Mbogo, a former head of product at Amazon, GoBEBA is an online distributor of bulky refillable essentials.
The team has developed a robust technology stack to run a distributed logistics network of micro-fulfillment hubs, which it plans to continue automating through AI and robotics.
“We distribute bulky, unpiped utilities like drinking water and cooking energy in African cities,” Ndiang’ui told Disrupt Africa.
The average consumer in emerging markets cities replenishes their daily essentials at a rate of over 17 times per month.
“But this happens amidst high trafficked cities, chaotic public transport and a low penetration of modern retail formats. A business model that leverages tech to offer better convenience without increasing the cost of goods while operating at sustainable unit economics has been elusive,” said Ndiang’ui.
Until now, apparently.
“GoBEBA is leapfrogging 20th century retail development by bypassing traditional modern bricks and mortar retail formats in African cities to a more efficient technology-enabled distribution of daily essentials,” Ndiang’ui said.
Using a network of small micro-fulfilment stores backed by AI-enabled inventory management system, GoBEBA enables customers to order their daily essentials and have them delivered to their doorstep in less than an hour.
Currently operating from Nairobi, the startup intends to expand to four more Kenyan cities over the next two years, before moving into other East and Central African cities.
“Africa is urbanising rapidly. Due to lack of piped infrastructure, the growing urban population is driving significant demand in unpiped utilities,” said Ndiang’ui.
“In 2023, Africa experienced the highest growth rate in bottled water demand. But the infrastructure to distribute the unpiped utilities is broken. Customers endure high levels of inconvenience, unpredictable availability and growing safety concerns. GoBEBA addresses these concerns.”
Self-funded in the first year of operation, the startup raised a small friends and family round before attracting institutional investors like Madica and Praxis, and grants from DevelopPPP, last year.
