Nairobi-based startup Real Sources Africa Thursday unveiled two digital trade platforms aiming at spurring cross-border trading among African countries.
The platforms dubbed BiasharaLink and Deal House were launched in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital in the presence of government officials, African Union (AU) representatives, ambassadors, multilateral institutions, and private sector leaders.
Developed in partnership with Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, and supported by Equity Bank for trade financing, the platforms aim to close Africa’s unrelenting trade execution gap.
BiasharaLink allows embassies, exporters and investors to capture, structure and track trade opportunities aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) priorities.
The platforms will serve as deal houses, act as the execution layer, validate deals and connect them to financing and help them reach completion levels.
Real Sources Africa is now in discussions with local Ethiopian banks including Bunna and Awash Banks to expand trade financing, remittance conversion and transaction facilitation for local exporters.
Felix Chege, founder and chief executive of Real Sources Africa, said at the launching event that integrating the platform with existing banking systems would streamline payments and simplify cross-border trade for clients already active in the market.
The technology has been piloted for six months and generated more than 4,000 trade inquiries, including around 1,000 from Ethiopia, predominantly from coffee exporters.
“Our goal is to build the infrastructure and ecosystems that can drive trade, investment and financing to move this continent forward,” he said.
The platforms are expected to spur trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and reduce intra-African trade barriers, promote regulatory alignment, and enable interoperable payments across the continent.
It also facilitates the movement of data within the economy and includes provisions aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, young entrepreneurs, informal traders, and smallholder farmers.
MG/abj/APA