This Mastercard-backed startup says it will likely be AfCFTA’s implementation engine

Regardless of Africa’s immense financial potential—a mixed GDP exceeding $3 trillion and a inhabitants of over 1.4 billion—simply 17% of its whole commerce happens throughout the continent. Small and medium-sized companies (SMBs) face challenges together with excessive tariffs, a pervasive belief deficit, complicated foreign money conversions, restricted market visibility, and bureaucratic hurdles, which make intra-African commerce unnecessarily troublesome.

Brydge needs to unravel that drawback. The Nigerian startup, based in late 2023 by Nathan Agama, is a B2B platform that connects SMBs to verified suppliers and logistics companions. It additionally allows prompt cross-border settlement. 

Agama says the corporate hopes to be the working system for intra-African commerce—an engine for the realisation of the objectives of the African Continental Free Commerce Space (AfCFTA) settlement, which goals to cut back commerce obstacles. 

Thus far, the startup has obtained funding from 54 Collective and Mastercard. It has processed ₦4.8 billion ($3.1 million) in transactions and disbursed ₦100 million ($61,000) in commerce financing to 42 small and medium companies.

How Brydge received began

Agama launched Brydge after going through firsthand the commerce hurdles frequent to African SMBs. As an importer-exporter working throughout a number of African international locations, he encountered recurring challenges, later confirmed in conversations with over 1,000 companies. Agama recognized three core obstacles to intra-African commerce.

This features a belief deficit. Belief is scarce, even inside Nigeria. “You don’t belief somebody in Aba when you’re in Lagos,” Agama says. Tales of suppliers disappearing with funds or delivering substandard items are frequent, deterring cross-border commerce. 

In 2022, the dying of a provider led to the lack of a 40-foot and a 20-foot container’s price of products, costing him dearly. The ordeal, compounded by psychological well being struggles, pushed him to go away social media and relocate to the U.S. briefly. “I went by means of hell,” he remembers. “I realised that younger merchants like me wanted an answer to keep away from such losses.”

There are additionally foreign money conversion challenges. Altering cash from Naira to Kenyan Shillings is dear and sluggish. African central banks desire holding USD or Euros, not one another’s currencies, forcing merchants to navigate costly black-market exchanges or unreliable banking techniques.

Thirdly, many SMBs are unaware of sourcing alternatives throughout Africa. For instance, Agama’s expertise importing cowhides from Kenya and Tanzania stunned many fellow tradesmen on the time as a result of there are hardly means past one’s community to platforms that lack entry to such market intelligence.

These challenges are exacerbated by fragmented infrastructure—fee techniques are sometimes WhatsApp-based, procurement is handbook, and logistics are unreliable. Agama noticed a chance to bridge these gaps, making a platform that not solely facilitates transactions but additionally builds belief and discoverability.

Act one: Streamlining funds

The primary part targeted on simplifying cross-border funds. Nathan performed intensive buyer discovery, talking with over 1,000 SMBs, together with merchants at Lagos’s Alaba Worldwide Market. He discovered that fee points have been common: suppliers disappearing with funds, accounts being blocked, or funds delayed as a consequence of bureaucratic banking processes. 

“I realised it was quite common for somebody to say, ‘I despatched cash to China, and so they blocked that account,’ or ‘My fee man ran away with my cash,’” Agama mentioned.

Brydge addresses this by partnering with licensed fee service suppliers (PSPs) like Fincra. Companies onboarded onto the platform endure Know Your Enterprise (KYB) verification and obtain digital accounts by means of companions. These accounts permit seamless transfers, comparable to shifting funds from a Nigerian naira account to a Tanzanian cellular cash account..

Agama says the shorter fee cycles are serving to clients scale their companies. For instance, he says, Zuba Gold, a Nigerian firm importing white cement and sisal derivatives from Egypt, Kenya, and Tanzania, began with $10,000 transactions on the platform and has elevated weekly transactions to about 10 instances.  

Act two: Enabling discoverability and commerce

Recognising that funds alone have been inadequate, Brydge expanded its providers to e-commerce.  By aggregating suppliers and logistics suppliers, Brydge creates a market the place companies can supply items, organize clearing, and even discover warehouses in markets like Ghana or Kenya. 

“For commerce to occur, discoverability must be there,” Nathan emphasised. This includes connecting consumers with verified suppliers and offering market insights to establish commerce alternatives. 

For instance, a Nigerian purchaser can entry South African suppliers by means of Brydge’s partnerships with native aggregators like Procure Africa. 

Brydge joins many new gamers on the scene, like Hizo, Kishi,  and Kuraway. Nevertheless, Agama says Brydge’s holistic method units it aside. Not like Hizo’s give attention to funds, Brydge integrates and orchestrates APIs from these suppliers in funds, like Cash Charges, procurement, and logistics, aiming to be the “working system” for commerce, Agama notes.

The corporate hopes that by working throughout these three crucial areas—and with growing collaboration between platforms—it could actually grow to be one of many main platforms enabling commerce consistent with the ambitions of initiatives just like the African Continental Free Commerce Space.

Nevertheless, Agama informed TechCabal that coverage alone isn’t sufficient. “AfCFTA is a framework, just like the UN’s Sustainable Improvement Targets,” he famous. “It outlines what must occur, nevertheless it’s as much as startups and firms to make it a actuality.”

How Brydge makes cash

Brydge generates income by means of transaction charges (0.5–1%, capped at $500 for giant transactions) and overseas alternate (FX) conversion margins. It plans to introduce subscription tiers with options like approval workflows and different options that streamline operations for its enterprise customers. 

Brydge has additionally launched commerce financing, offering credit score to companies. Agama says that, not like many suppliers, the loans are tied to accomplished offers quite than laborious collateral.  Thus far, the corporate has disbursed about ₦100 million ($65,189).

Brydge is fundraising

Agama says the startup is engaged on finishing a $750,000 pre-seed spherical by means of a friends-and-family spherical.

He notes that he has a conservative method to funding, emphasising sustainable progress over vainness metrics. This resonates with impact-focused traders however might problem conventional enterprise capitalists anticipating fast scale. 

“I’m a conventional man,” he says. “If one plus one appears like 5, there’s an issue beneath.

The funding will assist the corporate scale its operations throughout lively commerce corridors. It plans to broaden into Kenya, South Africa, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Egypt, and Tunisia—key commerce hubs driving the continent’s commerce. 

Past funds and procurement, Brydge needs to supply a market for providers like clearing brokers, warehouses, and logistics suppliers, making a complete ecosystem for merchants. 

By 2030, Brydge goals to realize a GMV of $50 million, onboard 5,000 lively consumers, and broaden to 10 African markets, concentrating on a 20% improve in intra-African commerce quantity.

“To spice up intra-African commerce from 17% to 81%, a know-how platform like Brydge is crucial to create that market,” Agama mentioned.

*At an alternate fee of ₦1,534 per USD.

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