Wasoko and MaxAB have announced the completion of their merger following the signing of preliminary terms in Q4 2023. This merger was conducted as an all-stock transaction and the new entity is set to have a new name.
When announcing the merger last year, MaxAB CEO Belal El-Megharbel, stated: “This merger is the culmination of developing excellent teams, a lot of hard work over the years and a commitment to innovative solutions adding up to our unique offering to retailers.
The newly formed entity will leverage on Wasoko and MaxAB’s localised online and offline expertise across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Egypt and Morocco. This merger will see the continent’s largest network of B2B informal retailers of more than 450,000 merchants, connected to more than 65 million consumers.
After a detailed diligence and planning, Wasoko and MaxAB have integrated the tech stacks and operations of both companies. . The combined company’s unrivalled retailer network and offerings have enabled 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.
The platform’s fintech offerings have rapidly overtaken B2B e-commerce in Egypt, the group’s largest market, with digital services alone generating over $180 million in annualised sales to 7 million consumers through 40,000 retailers. In the past year, the rollout of another fintech vertical focused on credit financing has disbursed over $20 million worth of financing to retailers with repayment rates exceeding 99% further demonstrating the impact of fintech within the company’s wider strategy to unlock the full potential of Africa’s informal retailers. This success is expected to continue with fintech revenue projected to more than double year-on-year by December 2024.
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. Other key shareholders of the combined company include late-stage growth investors such as Silver Lake, Tiger Global, Lunate, VNV Global, British International Investment, and Avenir Growth alongside leading regional and global venture investors such as Beco Capital, 4DX Ventures, Quona Capital, Amplo, Breyer Capital, AHL Ventures, Endure Capital, and Flourish Ventures.
Speaking on the announcement, Daniel Yu, Co-CEO at Wasoko and MaxAB, says, “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.”
“This merger proves that massive, world-class tech companies can be built in Africa for Africa,” says 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.”
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