Joyce Moses, owner of a modest corner shop, faced the daily grind of sourcing everyday necessities like sachet beverages, grains, and toiletries from a multitude of vendors. It was a laborious process: endless phone calls to confirm stock, tiresome trips to various suppliers, and unexpected price hikes.
She says things changed in 2022 when she started using OmniRetail, an app which connected her to hundreds of manufacturers and distributors. Now, Moses orders directly, bypassing layers of suppliers and their markups, at lower prices. The platform allows her to compare costs across brands, tailoring purchases to her budget. When cash is tight, she can buy on credit, a crucial financial tool she likely wouldn’t have accessed through traditional lenders due to her limited credit history and systemic biases. What’s more, the goods arrive at her doorstep the next day.
OmniRetail, recently ranked Africa’s fastest-growing company, recently secured $20 million in funding. While this capital will fuel the company’s rapid growth, the biggest impact will be seen by women like Moses, who represent 78% of OmniRetail’s customer base.
Buy now, pay later (BNPL)
OmniRetail is one of several start-ups connecting retailers to manufacturers, and providing access to capital, the lack of which has been a persistent challenge, especially for women in Africa’s informal retail sector.
Women are less likely than men to secure loans due to limited credit histories and systemic biases in traditional banking. Many rely on predatory money lenders with exorbitant interest rates or face outright rejection from banks.
An African Development Bank Group report also claims that women do not apply for loans because they have a low estimation of their creditworthiness.
Buy Now, Pay (BNPL) services offered by e-commerce startups like OmniRetail offer collateral-free credit based on retailers’ order history and transaction behaviour. This allows traders to stock up without upfront cash, ensuring continuity in sales and income.
Currently, over 60% of OmniRetail’s BNPL users are women, and they demonstrate strong repayment discipline, the company said in an email. The women contribute to the platform’s remarkably low non-performing loan rate of less than 0.5%.
By providing access to working capital, OmniRetail enables women retailers to bridge cash flow gaps, particularly after covering household expenses, and maintain razor-thin margins in an economy plagued by currency devaluation and inflation.
“We’ve seen countless women micro-retailers in our network grow from operating a single kiosk to managing multiple outlets, or even moving up the value chain to become distributors,” the company said. “These are not isolated stories; they reflect a broader trend when the right tools and support systems are in place.”
Investors in the sector have expressly described venture investment in start-ups as an investment in women. TradeDepot, a start-up that offers the same services as OmniRetail, raised $10 million in 2020. The company, at the time, claimed that 75% of the retailers on its platform were women. Hanh Nam Nguyen, a programme manager at Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, one of the firms involved in the fundraising, described the investment as an opportunity to “catalyse more private capital for women.”
Scaling impact with $20 million
OmniRetail’s $20 million raise will enable the company to reach more women as it expands to more cities, establishes additional distribution hubs, broadens product assortments, and scales its credit and payment infrastructure. The company says it aims to enhance its data infrastructure and credit-scoring models to responsibly underwrite more users, particularly in underserved and remote regions of Nigeria.
Beyond Nigeria, OmniRetail’s $20 million raise will help the company to deepen its financial services in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire later this year, tailoring offerings to reflect local retail behaviours and needs.
The investment will also support targeted programmes for women, including tailored credit solutions, training, and community-building initiatives, OmniRetail told .
The trajectory of OmniRetail and other retail-tech startups shows how the line between venture capital and impact investing sometimes blurs. Startups backed by investors chasing financial returns can also drive profound social change, aligning with global efforts to reduce poverty, promote gender equality, and fuel economic growth.
