TradeDepot acquires Accra-based Green Lion to accelerate expansion across Ghana
TradeDepot, the leading B2B eCommerce and embedded finance platform in Africa, has announced the acquisition of Green Lion, the biggest and fastest growing B2B eCommerce platform in Ghana, to accelerate the delivery of its services across the country.
Founded in 2018, Green Lion has been committed to revolutionizing access to essential goods and services, and enabling digital commerce for neighbourhood retailers in Ghana. Building on this work, TradeDepot will leverage its data, technology and robust logistics operations to connect more neighbourhood retailers in more Ghanaian cities to suppliers and make financing more accessible and affordable.
Ghana’s retail sector is valued at $24.4 billion and is expected to reach $33.16 billion by 2024, with SME retailers accounting for about 90 percent of the market.
TradeDepot already has active operations in Ghana, as well as its operations in Nigeria and South Africa, and this acquisition will expedite the delivery of its game-changing services to more cities to enable increased sales, higher margins and other value-added services for all parties across the retail value chain.
TradeDepot has built a network of leading consumer goods brands and SME retailers across Africa, and created a proprietary risk scoring engine that uses retailers’ purchase history, previous repayment performance and other related data points to predict their creditworthiness.
Via its ShopTopUp platform, the company offers a broad range of consumer goods to SME retailers within its network and provides credit lines to enable these retailers to access inventory and pay in instalments as they sell on to their own customers.
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Commenting on the acquisition, Onyekachi Izukanne, CEO and co-founder of TradeDepot, said, “Ghana represents a significant market for consumer goods in Africa and we are excited to bring the Green Lion team onboard to drive growth and prosperity for more retailers and distributors in the country. We look forward to deepening our relationship with the market and working with more partners to maximise the opportunities that abound in Ghana and beyond.”
Jorge de Rojas from Green Lion said, “We are delighted to be joining the TradeDepot family and continuing our work to help neighbourhood retailers across Africa thrive. It is an exciting time for B2B ecommerce in Africa and we are thrilled by the opportunity to drive more value in the Ghanaian ecosystem and all over the continent.”
TradeDepot will take on all existing Green Lion Africa relationships and assets in Ghana. The Green Lion team will also be joining TradeDepot to support the mission to build the future of retail and make food and supplies more accessible and affordable for even the most remote consumers on the continent.
About TradeDepot
TradeDepot Inc (“TradeDepot”) is a fast-growing B2B eCommerce and embedded finance company that connects consumer goods brands in Africa directly to a target market of several million retail outlets across the continent. We are committed to building the future of retail in Africa; to make food and supplies accessible and affordable for even the most remote consumers on the continent.
We started out with a mission to make milk distribution to small retailers on the continent better, using technology. Today we are scaling out our platform to help reliably distribute food, beverages and personal care products to more and more communities. Our goal is to be “the supply partner” for Africa’s retail outlets, and help every neighbourhood store in Africa consistently get all their supplies at the best possible prices.
