Tappi, a Kenyan digital commerce platform designed for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs), has announced its expansion into Côte d’Ivoire.
This marks the company’s third African market after establishing itself in Kenya and Nigeria.
The expansion leverages Tappi’s existing partnership with the telecommunications giant MTN, mirroring its presence in other African countries served by the telecom.
This move follows a successful pre-seed funding round of $1.5 million in December 2023, which hinted at the company’s plans for geographic and service expansion.
Founded in 2022 by Kenfield Griffith and Louis Majanja, Tappi empowers MSMEs by providing them with tools to create websites, run online advertisements, and gather verified customer reviews.
The company boasts over $3 million in verified consumer transactions, engagement with more than 150,000 consumers, and over 5,000 indexed online pages.
Tappi’s services in Côte d’Ivoire will be available for a monthly subscription of $8. The company has also partnered with MTN Côte d’Ivoire to offer bundled access to its platform through the telecom’s data packages.
Notably, Tappi allows users to pay for online advertising using their mobile airtime, a feature already available to MTN users in Nigeria.
“This expansion signifies a strategic move to empower MSMEs and tap into the vast potential of Francophone Africa, with over 150 million consumers,” said Kenfield Griffith, CEO of Tappi. He highlighted Côte d’Ivoire’s impressive GDP growth rate of 6.9%, making it an ideal market for digitizing MSMEs.
Griffith acknowledged the crucial role of MTN as a partner, praising their shared commitment to digitizing African MSMEs.
He emphasized the advantages of leveraging MTN’s extensive customer base and mobile money network in Côte d’Ivoire to reach a wider audience.
Djibril Ouattara, CEO of MTN Côte d’Ivoire, echoed the company’s commitment to empowering businesses.
“We aim to provide them with the tools they need for long-term growth through connectivity, communication, collaboration, and cloud solutions,” he stated. Ouattara reaffirmed MTN’s pursuit of digital leadership through its Ambition 2025 strategy.
