A ‘super app’ serving Francophone Africa

Gozem combines transport, e-commerce, and finance all in one app, and aims to increase the disposable incomes of its drivers

Spotted: Gozem is a Togo and Singapore based company providing a host of services: transport, e-commerce, and finance – all in one single app. The company operates across Francophone West and Central Africa.

The company was originally founded in 2018 as a motorcycle ride-hailing service, before adding taxis and tricycles to their portfolio. But as COVID-19 put the brakes on geographic expansion, Gozem decided the best course of action was to expand its services, leaning into e-commerce and logistics. The company started provided merchants with the opportunity to have their products delivered through Gozem drivers. The next stage was then to introduce an asset financing option for the drivers, allowing them to lease vehicles and equipment.

The founders say their aim is to provide three verticals to increase the disposable income of drivers. 

Now, the company has raised Series A financing to re-commence geographic expansion, focusing on Francophone African countries such as Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, and Ivory Coast. And of course, in the style of its growth to date, Gozem will further expand its services to provide digital banking that allows users to exchange cash for mobile money via the app.

Francophone African is something of an untapped market in the context of the continent as a whole. “Almost 95% of the money and the attention always goes to four, five countries in Africa … Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt,” explains Raphael Dana, co-founder and CEO of Gozem. “But generally, Francophone Africa is a bit left on the side of all the significant traction. This is where we’ve seen the big opportunities in Francophone as a nice market.”

Gozem is currently present across 13 cities, has over 800,000 registered users and has completed over 5 million trips.

At Springwise, we have recently looked at how technology innovations are impacting local retail markets in different parts of the globe. This includes a cost-effective payment method for India’s neighbourhood stores, and a B2B retail platform serving Nigeria’s informal sector.