FestAfrica Marketplace, a new pan-African digital trading platform, is seeking the support of Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, to help tackle the spread of counterfeit, substandard and untraceable products across Africa.
The initiative, unveiled in Lagos, is being developed to connect African businesses with a potential market of about 1.5 billion consumers, while making product verification and traceability central to online trading.
Founder of FestAfrica, Jude Irabor, said an app has already been developed to enable African businesses to list their products and services, but sellers and products will undergo verification before being allowed to trade.
He said the system is designed to help consumers know who they are buying from, what they are buying, where it came from and whether its source can be verified.
“Anyone across Africa can sell and add a product. I’m operating it as a 1.5 billion people market, not country to country. Africa cannot grow if we don’t have a common marketplace like Alibaba,” Irabor said.
Product on FestAfrica Marketplace
He described FestAfrica Marketplace as the “original home of African products,” saying the platform would provide legitimate African businesses with access to consumers beyond their immediate national markets.
The initiative is particularly focused on products vulnerable to counterfeiting, including food, cosmetics, toothpaste, bottled water and household goods.
Irabor said FestAfrica intends to work with manufacturers, brand owners, authorised distributors and legitimate suppliers to strengthen the authenticity and traceability of products listed on the platform.
Under the proposed model, a manufacturer in Nigeria could reach consumers in Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Botswana, South Africa and other African countries through a marketplace where both sellers and products can be verified.
Irabor said the support of Ambassador Odumegwu-Ojukwu would be important in giving the initiative wider visibility and encouraging other African countries to participate.
He described the minister as a woman of “standard and class,” noting that her diplomatic role and activities promoting Nigeria’s image could help advance the initiative across the continent.
Beyond commerce, FestAfrica Marketplace is part of the broader FestAfrica Festival initiative, which seeks to promote African culture, food, creativity, festivals, products and services.
For consumers, the organisers say the goal is straightforward: to create a marketplace where trust comes before the transaction and authenticity comes before the sale.
With Africa’s huge consumer population in view, FestAfrica believes a common digital marketplace could help legitimate businesses find new customers, deepen intra-African trade and make it more difficult for counterfeit and substandard products to find their way into consumers’ hands.
By Innocent Onoh
