When Mohammed Audu founded Kanemtrade, he was not trying to recreate Amazon or build a Western-style marketplace with African branding. His ambition was to build an e-commerce platform that actually understands how Africans buy and sell.
Audu realised that existing platforms simply ignored goods that characterise African commerce. Meanwhile, millions of diaspora Africans struggled to buy authentic products from home, blocked by currency barriers and unreliable logistics. Kanemtrade emerged as a solution to both sides of this long-standing disconnect.
In this edition of Techparley’s DRIVE100, where we spotlight Africa’s most promising startups, we turn our attention to Kanemtrade, an AI-driven commerce platform that is redefining how African sellers reach global buyers.
“We built Kanemtrade for Africa—not despite its complexities, but because of them,” Mohammed told Techparley. “Our markets are unique. Our commerce is dynamic. A one-size-fits-all model will never work here.”
What You Should Know
Kanemtrade’s core innovation is simple but powerful. Instead of forcing the market to adapt, it adapts to the market. The startup supports retail, wholesale, auctions, second-hand goods, digital products, and pre-orders. This flexibility enables sellers to operate exactly as they do offline, without compromise.
Buyers can upload a photo and instantly find similar products, no keywords required. For a market where product naming conventions vary widely, this is a game-changer.
An intelligent matching system connects buyers with relevant sellers, enabling product discovery across thousands of vendors. The platform instantly displays prices in the buyer’s local currency. For diaspora users, this removes a major barrier to cross-border shopping.
Through partnerships with GIG Logistics and Topship, Kanemtrade handles shipping from cities like Kano and Lagos to destinations including London, Toronto, and Nairobi. Sellers also get access to SEO tools, analytics dashboards, and campaign features typically reserved for large retailers.
Where Kanemtrade Stands Apart
Most African e-commerce platforms are, as Mohammed describes it, Western replicas asking African consumers to adapt. Kanemtrade took the opposite path: it embraced African patterns of trade.
Local giants like Jumia and Konga focus on structured retail only, with limited flexibility and minimal diaspora integration. Niche platforms such as Jiji serve specific verticals but lack the technical sophistication and multi-model commerce Kanemtrade enables. International diaspora platforms usually act as directories rather than dynamic marketplaces.
Kanemtrade says its true competition is not another app, it is the status quo, the belief that African e-commerce cannot function at scale.
In less than two years, Kanemtrade has achieved what many platforms attempt for years:
- 1,340+ active sellers using its multi-vendor infrastructure.
- ₦10 million+ in sales processed.
- Presence in 11 countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, Niger, the US, UK, and Canada.
- 400+ affiliates promoting the platform organically.
- Awards, including 1st place at the Northeast Creativity & Innovation Summit, and Runner-up positions at the AFCFTA and NASRDA hackathons.
The Team Building the Startup
1. Mohammed Audu: Founder & CTO
A Senior Python and Data Engineer with seven years of experience, Mohammed built Nigeria’s first visual search engine for e-commerce using TensorFlow and VGG16. His background includes working with US companies on machine learning systems, deploying AI in production, and architecting Kanemtrade’s entire technical infrastructure.
2. Engr. Umar K. Ahmadu: Co-Founder
A Computer Engineering graduate with expertise in systems architecture and technical operations, Umar brings strong analytical capabilities and operational discipline to Kanemtrade’s infrastructure and compliance frameworks.
3. Engr. Abba Bukar: Angel Investor & Advisor
The former Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining Company supports strategy, governance, and access to high-level networks.
The Vision
In the next 12 Months, the startup wants to grow to 5,000 sellers, facilitate ₦50 million in sales, launch the Kanemtrade mobile app, secure seed funding, and strengthen reach in US, UK and Canada.
2–3 Year Vision
- 25,000 sellers across 25 countries
- ₦500 million annual sales
- Introduce seller financing
- Expand logistics and fintech partnerships
Five-Year Horizon
- 100,000 sellers in 40+ countries
- License Kanemtrade’s AI as a standalone product
- Train 10,000+ African sellers in digital trade
- Cross billions in transaction value
“We’re not building the Amazon of Africa,” Mohammed says. “We’re building the Kanemtrade of the world.”
What Venture Capital Must Understand
For Mohammed, funding is essential, but vision-aligned support matters even more.
He highlights the importance of:
- Access to international partners
- Pattern-recognition mentorship
- Talent and operational support
- Credibility for global expansion
- Founder well-being
The best VCs, he says, are those who act not just as financiers, but as partners building an entire ecosystem.
Beyond infrastructure and funding, Mohammed believes Africa’s biggest challenge is a mentality that innovation must follow Western patterns.
Experts say Kanemtrade’s existence is evidence that Africa does not need an Amazon clone. It needs platforms that understand African buying behaviour, African sellers, and a global diaspora longing for seamless connection to home.
Talking Points
It is compelling that Kanemtrade has built an e-commerce platform rooted in the realities of African trade, addressing the long-standing challenges that prevent local sellers from reaching international buyers.
This single focus on meeting African commerce where it actually exists positions Kanemtrade as a practical, transformative solution for thousands of small businesses that have historically been shut out of global markets.
At Techparley, we recognise how innovations like this can reshape cross-border trade for Africa, enabling sellers in cities like Maiduguri, Kano, and Lagos to access customers across 11 countries without needing expensive marketing tools or complicated payment systems.
The integration of AI image search, smart recommendations, multi-channel selling (wholesale, retail, second-hand, auctions, digital products, and pre-orders), and automatic currency detection gives small sellers access to capabilities previously reserved for enterprise platforms.
With its AI-driven infrastructure and growing seller base, Kanemtrade has the potential to become a foundational player in pan-African digital commerce, reshaping how African products are discovered, bought, and delivered globally.
——————-
Bookmark Techparley.com for the most insightful technology news from the African continent.
Follow us on Twitter @Techparleynews, on Facebook at Techparley Africa, on LinkedIn at Techparley Africa, or on Instagram at Techparleynews.
