Kenyan B2B Distribution Firm MarketForce Expands to Nigeria

MarketForce, a Kenyan company providing B2B distribution for retail clients, is expanding in the wake of a recent funding round.

As Disrupt Africa reported on Friday (Oct. 8), the company plans to begin operations in Nigeria, helping merchants with FMCG (fast-moving commercial goods) issues.

“Africa is reported to have over 100 million merchants,” said Tesh Mbaabu, the company’s co-founder and chief executive officer. “A whopping 40 million of them are in Nigeria, with the highest annual FMCG purchasing in the whole continent, signifying how significant the market opportunity is for MarketForce.”

“Nigeria FMCG retail distribution operates very much like Kenya: It is very fragmented and competitive, which gives us the opportunity to make a real impact for both retailers and manufacturers,” Mbaabu added.

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MarketForce raised $2 million in a Series A round in July. The company said at the time that it would use the funding to expand its B2B marketplace RejaReja, which lets retailers buy and sell products and offers a variety of financial services.

Co-founded in 2018 by Mbaabu and Mesongo Sibuti, MarketForce’s platform leverages mobile devices by letting field agents record custom interactions in the field in real time. From there, it aggregates this data and presents it through live dashboards.

The Disrupt Africa story notes that MarketForce’s expansion is linked to its hiring of Arthur Bourekas as its new chief commercial officer. Bourekas is a veteran in the world of fast-moving consumer goods, and was most recently with Alerzo, a Nigerian B2B retail-tech startup.

“FMCG distribution in Africa is yet to be done effectively,” he said. “Even multinationals with years of experience often can optimize their distribution and add real sales growth to their business. Innovation and focus is key. I am confident that with the platform MarketForce has built so far, along with the expertise being built within the organization, we are destined to revolutionize the sector and become a formidable force.”