Building Commerce Foundations for African Growth

Payaza Africa officially launched Shopaza, a cloud-based commerce platform designed to address the operational challenges that hinder e-commerce growth across the continent. The launch event in Lagos on June 18, 2026, brought together industry leaders who emphasized the need for robust infrastructure rather than simply adding more online stores.

Shopaza offers merchants a unified environment to create shopfronts, process payments, manage inventory, and handle operations—all from a single platform. This addresses a common pain point: businesses often juggle multiple disconnected tools that create inefficiencies across sales, payments, customer engagement, and logistics.

The Infrastructure Imperative

Payaza’s Head of Engineering, Kehinde Omotoso, argued that while digital adoption is growing rapidly in Africa, many merchants still struggle to convert interest into sustainable businesses. He pointed to persistent bottlenecks in payments, logistics coordination, and platform fragmentation as key barriers.

“Growth in online transactions hasn’t automatically translated into operational efficiency,” Kehinde explained. “Long-term success will depend on whether businesses gain access to systems that reduce friction rather than increase it.” Shopaza was built with this challenge in mind, offering features like:

  • Multi-currency payments: Seamless operations across 23 global markets and 54 African nations
  • AI-powered product population: Automatically categorizes products and suggests pricing based on image uploads
  • Integrated logistics management: Streamlines order fulfillment and delivery processes

Beyond Transactions: Building Trust

The panel discussion highlighted that trust remains a critical factor in African e-commerce. Former Jumia Nigeria Finance Manager Chioma Ifeanyi-Eze noted that cart abandonment often stems from concerns about platform legitimacy, delivery reliability, and customer support—not just price.

“If you spend time building trust,” Chioma argued, “you will sell more than if you focus on trying to get the lowest possible price.” She emphasized that merchants should prioritize:

  • Clear return policies and guarantees
  • Transparent communication about shipping times and costs
  • Responsive customer service channels

Shopaza’s launch represents a strategic shift toward building foundational commerce infrastructure in Africa—one that goes beyond simply connecting buyers and sellers to create truly sustainable digital businesses.