Two of Africa’s most prominent B2B e-commerce companies, Kenya’s Wasoko and Egypt’s MaxAB, have completed the continent’s largest-ever tech merger following the signing of preliminary terms in Q4 2023.
Previously known as Sokowatch, Wasoko closed a US$125 million Series B equity round in March 2022. It enables retailers to restock products for their businesses at any time via mobile app with free same-day delivery, and is access across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
MaxAB, meanwhile, was founded in 2018, and allows local underserved merchants and mom-and-pop shops in Egypt and Morocco to grow, increase their revenues, and enhance their own quality of life. The company closed its own US$40 million pre-Series B equity round in October 2022.
Disrupt Africa reported last December that, amid challenging times for fundraising in Africa, the two companies had announced a “merger-of-equals”, which they said would bolster the growth and development of the pair to establish the most successful digital retail platform on the continent.
The landmark deal has now been completed. Conducted as an all-stock transaction, it establishes a truly pan-African platform for communities to access essential digital and physical goods, marking Wasoko and MaxAB’s evolution from B2B e-commerce companies to a multi-vertical ecosystem for Africa’s US$600 billion informal retail sector.
Leveraging Wasoko and MaxAB’s extensive, hyper-localised online and offline expertise across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Egypt and Morocco, the newly-formed entity boasts the continent’s largest network of B2B informal retailers of more than 450,000 merchants, connected to more than 65 million consumers.
The two companies have successfully integrated their tech stacks and operations, with the combined company’s unrivalled retailer network and offerings enabling the launch of new business units beyond e-commerce and the development of AI systems powering pricing, product selection, demand prediction, and route optimisation through an unparalleled archive of high-quality, localised data stemming from millions of transactions across its individual markets. Independent business units now handle fintech offerings including e-payments, credit financing and digital services topups in addition to e-commerce through a unified app with extensive services for African informal retailers.
With over 4,000 employees, the combined company will be led by Daniel Yu, CEO of Wasoko, and Belal El-Megharbel, CEO of MaxAB, who will serve as co-CEOs and company board directors alongside existing Wasoko and MaxAB investors.
“Building on burgeoning trade ties between North and East Africa, this deal unifies the leading B2B players in both regions, establishing an unmatched platform for serving communities across the continent. Through our integrated technology stack, our expanded Pan-African reach uniquely positions us to offer the best products and services from across Africa at maximum accessibility and affordability, supercharging our growth beyond what either company could achieve independently,” Yu said.
“This merger proves that massive, world-class tech companies can be built in Africa for Africa,” said Belal El-Megharbel, co-CEO at Wasoko and MaxAB. “As first-movers, we fully embrace our responsibility to drive the development of a mature and thriving ecosystem, building foundational infrastructure that will empower future companies to fully unlock Africa’s vast economic potential in years to come.”
