In a bid to boost e-commerce among the micro and small enterprises in Africa, Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Catalyst Fund, Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) and BFA Global have created Catalyst Fund Inclusive Digital Commerce program.
The Catalyst fund Inclusive digital commerce program which was launched in Ghana will support digital commerce companies in developing solutions that can better reach, serve, and benefit MSEs.
MSEs have struggled to participate in platform-based online marketplaces for a number of reasons – ranging from costs of technology, to low broadband penetration, to lack of knowledge. Moreover, MSEs may not be interested in such opportunities because they realize they would find it difficult to compete in traditional e-commerce marketplaces, as larger online retailers can sustain lower margins, launch slick marketing campaigns, and leverage vast swathes of data.
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Catalyst Fund Inclusive Digital Commerce Program
Over the next two years, the program will accelerate up to six companies as well as contribute to the growth of the overall ecosystem, leveraging our proven venture-building approach.
In Ghana, Boost Ghana and KudiGo have been selected as the first cohort of the Catalyst Fund Inclusive Digital Commerce accelerator. Other key digital commerce enablers that the program is keen on include Jetstream (Nigeria) and SokoWatch (Kenya).
Catalyst Fund has recently released an investment brief containing three areas of opportunity for inclusive digital commerce innovation.
Click here to access the brief and to commence the application process.
