In many African retail shops and distributor networks, growth can look deceptively simple. Customers line up at the till. Delivery bikes idle outside. New products arrive in cardboard boxes stamped with foreign brand names. But behind the scenes, many of these businesses are still run on paper trails, memory and spreadsheets that do not speak to one another. Expansion has come. Integration has not.
That disconnect is becoming more costly as competition intensifies and margins tighten. Across the continent, small and midsize retailers are scaling into multi-branch operations and social commerce storefronts. Yet the systems underpinning their businesses often remain fragmented. Without integrated enterprise tools, inventory decisions are reactive, financial reporting is slow and marketing is guesswork.
Globally, enterprise software has already entered a new phase. According to research firm Market US, the market for artificial intelligence embedded in enterprise resource planning software is projected to grow from $4.5 billion in 2023 to $46.5 billion by 2033, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of more than 26 percent. Retail and manufacturing are leading adopters, using AI-powered ERP tools for demand forecasting, inventory optimization and automated financial reporting.
Africa is participating in that growth, but unevenly. Cloud ERP adoption across the continent is expanding at roughly 16 percent annually. The Middle East and Africa ERP software market, valued at $5.38 billion in 2024, is projected to reach $10.2 billion by 2032. More than 40 percent of African organizations have begun experimenting with or deploying generative AI solutions, according to McKinsey’s State of AI Africa survey, with Kenya reporting a 42.1 percent ChatGPT usage rate driven largely by mobile access.
Yet most of the ERP and AI tools shaping these statistics were designed for markets with stable connectivity, deep capital pools and dedicated IT teams. For a retailer in Kisumu or a distributor in Kumasi, such systems can feel distant and impractical.
With expanding economies, a burgeoning young population, and increasing digital adoption, the continent is ripe with opportunities. But the prospects come with challenges that require strategic planning, technological adoption, and investment in skills.
Those structural realities point to a deeper need. Africa does not only require access to ERP and AI. It requires ERP and AI built for its commercial terrain.
KiliMax, a Nairobi-based company, was built around that premise. Its founder visited more than 200 stores across eight African countries before developing the platform. The pattern was consistent: retailers wanted integration and intelligence without the cost and operational burden of imported enterprise systems.
“International ERP systems were too complex and expensive. Local tools were simple but limited. Businesses needed something powerful yet practical,” says Justa Kinya, SaaS Branding and Marketing Manager at KiliMax.
The resulting platform combines enterprise resource planning, point-of-sale processing, e-commerce, customer relationship management and an AI assistant into a single system. It is engineered to operate even with unstable internet connectivity and designed to require minimal onboarding in a sector where staff turnover is high.
“While businesses in more developed markets use AI-powered tools for forecasting, automation, and marketing optimization, many African businesses lack solutions built for their realities — tools that are affordable, practical, and easy to use,” Ms. Kinya says.
The company reports specific operational outcomes from early deployments. “Stock turnover rose by 2.8%, while stock-outs dropped by 70% and overstock was cut by 45% – restoring balance across inventory,” she notes. “Month-end closing was completed in under a day instead of dragging on for weeks. Cashier training time shrank from one week to just one day. Most importantly, loss rates fell by 35%, strengthening overall profitability and operational control.”
Taken together, those figures suggest more than incremental improvement. They indicate a compression of the friction that has long constrained retail growth. Fewer stock-outs mean fewer lost sales. Lower overstock frees up working capital. Faster month-end closing provides clarity on cash flow, often the decisive factor in whether a business can expand.
“KiliMax doesn’t just automate tasks, it improves operational efficiency, cash flow, and decision-making,” Ms. Kinya adds.
The platform’s integration of sales, inventory and financial data into one system addresses a persistent structural weakness in many small retailers: data fragmentation. The AI layer supports demand forecasting and automated marketing recommendations, including integrations with WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, channels that increasingly shape purchasing behavior across sub-Saharan Africa.
In a region where social commerce drives discovery and sales, responsiveness can define competitiveness. A slow-moving product can be promoted within hours. A surge in demand can be detected before shelves are empty.
The larger economic context amplifies the stakes. In 2025, over 75 percent of young Africans used AI tools weekly, according to research by Cisco and Carnegie Mellon University Africa. By 2030, AI could contribute as much as $2.9 trillion to Africa’s GDP, according to projections cited by researchers tracking adoption trends.
The question is not whether ERP and AI will shape African commerce. It is who will build the systems that do.
“KiliMax demonstrates that AI solutions built for local realities can unlock meaningful growth,” Ms. Kinya remarks. “It proves that technology doesn’t have to be imported or overly complex to make an impact.”
If mobile money redefined how Africa moves money, the next transformation may be quieter but just as consequential: redefining how Africa manages goods. In the back offices of supermarkets and distribution hubs, homegrown ERP and AI systems could determine whether growth remains improvised or becomes intentional. And in that shift from guesswork to visibility lies the foundation for a more resilient retail economy built not on borrowed software, but on systems designed at home.