Nigerian B2B e-commerce startup Sabi laid off roughly 50 staff members, about 20% of its workforce, in a broad restructuring to pivot to traceability services in Africa’s minerals and agricultural commodities market. In recent months, the company, founded in 2021 to provide digital tools for logistics and financing to merchants, has scaled back certain products to focus on its TRACE platform, which tracks minerals and agricultural goods for global buyers.
Sabi’s narrower focus rendered some roles redundant, driving the job cuts. The layoffs, spanning multiple departments, are typical of businesses when they recalibrate strategies.
“We’re doubling down on the part of our business seeing the most demand, built on the strong foundation we’ve laid since 2021, by supporting African merchants and their growth,” a company spokesperson wrote in an email to .
Sabi’s pivot centres on its TRACE platform, developed in partnership with Minespider, which leverages blockchain technology to create digital passports to trace the sourcing and shipment of mineral and agricultural goods. These passports track environmental, social, and governance data, as well as quality certifications, providing end-to-end transparency for buyers in Europe, Asia, and beyond. TRACE aims to standardise small- and medium-scale mining operations to ensure commodities meet international standards, a service that has become more essential as global scrutiny of ethical sourcing intensifies.
Sabi, founded in 2021 by Ademola Adesina and Anu Adedoyin Adasolum, has been scaling rapidly to serve over 300,000 merchants and facilitating more than $1 billion in annualised gross merchandise value, per reports. The company has raised nearly $60 million to scale the business. The latest round, a $38 million Series B round in 2024, valued Sabi at $300 million, underscored investor enthusiasm for platforms digitising Africa’s trade economy.
“While tough, this shift positions us for long-term success and ensures we remain focused on building scalable, responsible supply chains,” the company said in an email to . “Our mission remains the same, and we’re more committed than ever to transforming how the world sources from Africa.”
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