For many Africans living in the diaspora, accessing authentic African products—whether it’s traditional fabrics, spices, clothing, or art—has long been a struggle. Options often involve overpriced local stores, resellers on global platforms like Etsy with steep markups, or relying on travellers from the continent to bring goods back.
But what if it were possible to order directly from sellers in Africa and receive the items in just five days? GiriToday, a newly launched e-commerce platform, is aiming to make this a reality.
Founded in 2024 by Wale Ayantoye, the former VP at Flutterwave, and Ola Ajiboye, GiriToday is a ground-breaking online marketplace designed to connect African artisans and entrepreneurs with global buyers. The platform allows African sellers to list and ship their products worldwide, facilitating payments through both local and international payment systems.
Ayantoye’s vision for GiriToday was shaped by his experience as Director of Financial Crime Operations at Etsy. During his time at Etsy, he saw first-hand the challenges faced by African sellers, including long shipping delays and inflated prices due to middlemen. These issues led to African-made products becoming expensive for global buyers. GiriToday was created to cut out these intermediaries, reduce delivery times, and make authentic African products more affordable.
GiriToday provides a free platform for African merchants to list their products, manage inventory, and track orders from a centralized dashboard. Similar to Shopify, the platform enables sellers to set up customized online stores. Payments are processed via Flutterwave, while logistics and shipping are managed by CourierPlus, ensuring smooth and reliable delivery.
To guarantee quality, GiriToday has implemented a product authentication system, tackling the common issue of “what I ordered vs. what I received.” Before products are listed, they are verified by a network of trained entrepreneurs to ensure authenticity. Currently, GiriToday runs an authentication center in Lagos, inspecting goods from across Nigeria before approval. The company plans to expand this system to other African markets in the future.
To increase seller adoption, GiriToday takes an offline-first approach, engaging merchants through TV and radio campaigns, collaborating with local merchant associations, and directly reaching out to sellers in local markets. This grassroots method builds trust with potential customers and sellers, which Ayantoye believes is essential for success.
Selling African products internationally presents a significant but underdeveloped opportunity. According to a McKinsey & Company report, Africa’s consumer spending is projected to exceed $2 trillion within the next three years, with much of this spending still going toward imported goods. Platforms like GiriToday aim to shift this demand toward African exports.
The Nigerian diaspora is a key target market for GiriToday, contributing $20 billion annually to Nigeria’s economy through remittances. Ayantoye explains that immigrants are predictable in their buying habits, they often seek products that remind them of home, and when they do, they purchase in bulk.
While platforms like Etsy and Anka, a startup connecting African sellers with global buyers, also operate in this space, GiriToday offers unique advantages:
- Direct Shipping & Payment Integration: Unlike Etsy, which faces logistical and payment issues for African sellers, GiriToday streamlines shipping and integrates both local and international payments.
- Regional Focus: While Anka primarily serves Francophone Africa, GiriToday has a strong focus on Nigerian merchants, with plans to expand across sub-Saharan Africa.
- Eliminating Middlemen: GiriToday ensures that African artisans sell directly to buyers, unlike Etsy and Anka, where resellers often dominate the market.
- Faster Delivery: GiriToday promises delivery within five days, compared to Etsy’s 1-3 week delivery time and Anka’s 7-14 days.
- Seamless Payments: GiriToday’s integration of local and international payment methods makes transactions easier for both buyers and sellers.
Ayantoye is confident that GiriToday’s approach can disrupt platforms like Etsy. “If we disrupt their market enough, we can discuss a partnership down the line,” he says.
GiriToday operates on a multi-revenue model that includes:
- Transaction fees on sales and shipping
- In-app advertisements for merchants
- Trade financing for bulk sales
The platform generates revenue from transaction fees on product sales and shipping, while merchants can also pay for premium visibility through advertisements. One of GiriToday’s most innovative revenue streams is trade financing, providing sellers with credit for bulk orders and earning interest on these loans. This model is particularly valuable for African merchants who often lack the capital to scale their businesses.
“It’s about creating a win-win situation—for us, for the sellers, and for the buyers,” Ayantoye says. “We want artisans to earn fairly, buyers to get authentic African products at great prices, and GiriToday to continue growing as the bridge that connects both.”
Currently, GiriToday is raising a $1.5 million pre-seed round to expand its merchant network, scale authentication centres, and enhance logistics. The platform aims to extend its reach across Nigeria and into other African markets.
In the long term, GiriToday envisions:
- Expanding into other African markets beyond Nigeria
- Establishing multiple authentication and warehousing centres to streamline logistics
- Introducing financial tools to support African entrepreneurs with working capital and credit
With its unique approach, GiriToday is well-positioned to become a game-changer in African e-commerce, offering a fresh opportunity for the world to shop for authentic African products and redefining how African exports reach global consumers.
Main Image: Tech In Africa
