April 21, 2026 • Consumer-focused ecommerce in Africa faces the challenge of high customer acquisition costs and complex residential delivery. Yet in Sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 90% of consumer spending remains anchored in physical retail: mom-and-pop shops, neighborhood kiosks, and market stalls. Consequently, ecommerce is shifting toward B2B distributors that serve these retailers directly. These platforms are moving beyond delivery apps into core supply chain infrastructure, taking on inventory sourcing and trade credit. Retail Aggregation Nigeria-based TradeDepot is a prominent B2B distributor. Image: TradeDepot. In many African cities — Lagos, Nairobi, Cairo — consumers make frequent, small-value, in-person transactions. Supplying these sellers in bulk lowers overall restock costs. In Lagos, for instance, where gridlock can reduce a B2C courier’s daily capacity, a B2B truck delivering to a concentrated retail node can move five times the volume in a single trip.…