Payaza, a pan-African payments infrastructure company, has launched Shopaza – a cloud-based e-commerce platform that allows small businesses across Africa to sell products in branded online stores and collect payments with less friction.
The e-commerce platform was launched on Thursday in Lagos, introducing an AI store builder that creates product listings from a single photo, setting prices, sizes, and variations without coding.
The platform integrates directly with Payaza’s payment infrastructure, promising instant settlement for merchants. Shopaza also includes order and inventory management, analytics, and team collaboration tools, targeting founders and entrepreneurs who currently lack checkout carts and automated pricing.
In his keynote address, Kehinde Omotoso, head of engineering, Payaza Africa, said the goal is to reduce friction for small businesses selling online.
“We have our integrated payment, which handles multiple currencies for you.” “We have instant settlement, which makes sure that as you put goods in your store, you are able to sell those goods and recoup your funds, and also immediately fund your store and put goods in them again.”
Omotoso noted that Shopaza is built to solve problems for small businesses, saying that African merchants on Shopaza will not require developers to manage their stores or a frustrating payment system to handle transactions.
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“Our vision is actually inclusion, scale, and fast transactions. No matter who you are, no matter what you sell, no matter what you do, Shoppaza was designed, developed, and built for you.”
Opeyemi Disu, VP product, Payaza, highlighted the growing opportunities in Africa’s e-commerce space. With 600 million people projected to shop online by 2027, and 60 percent of transactions happening on mobile phones, Nigeria is poised to drive Africa’s e-commerce growth, accounting for 26 percent of the continent’s revenue.
Disu shared the story of Amara, a micro-business owner who sells bags, shoes, and electronics on social media, leveraging her 12,000 Instagram followers. However, Amara’s experience reveals challenges faced by many sellers: limited reach, fragmented tools, and a lack of trust.
Payaza aims to address these issues with a unified platform that offers verified merchants, secure payments, buyer protection, and real-time confirmation, he said, adding that sellers can create customized stores, manage inventory, and access analytics.
“The platform also enables seamless online and offline sales, with features like POS integration and automated payment links,” he said.
By building trust and providing a comprehensive solution, Payaza empowers sellers like Amara to grow their businesses and reach a broader audience. “Trust is the actual infrastructure” driving e-commerce success in Africa,” he added.
In his closing remarks, Taiwo Adeeko, country manager, Nigeria/VP global acquiring, Payaza, described the launch as an incredible milestone for his organisation.
He explained that Payaza has spent months building the platform from the ground up, saying that the essence is to build an ecosystem that ensures security for customers and financial stability for businesses.
“We have a bank 24/7, which is an ecosystem that also ensures that as a business we have the finances to ensure business continuity,” he said.