tappi partners MTN to help Ivorian businesses create online presence

tappi, the end-to-end digital commerce startup backed by Mercy Corps Ventures, has expanded its services to Côte d’Ivoire, its third African country after Kenya and Nigeria.

The expansion was made through an existing partnership with telco giant MTN, the company said in a statement. tappi helps small businesses create and manage an online business profile, bringing improved visibility to showcase their products and services, engage with customers, and accept payments.

“With a strong GDP growth rate of 6.9%, Côte d’Ivoire not only represents the ideal market to empower MSMEs primed to digitise and significantly expand their customer base but will act as a critical gateway to access Francophone Africa,” said Kenfield Griffith, tappi’s CEO and co-founder.

Small businesses in Côte d’Ivoire will now gain access to tappi’s software-as-a-service solution and enterprise-grade tools. This will enable businesses to generate SEO-optimised websites in less than two minutes, distribute online ads, and access a range of additional digital services for an $8 monthly subscription fee.

Through tappi’s existing partnership with MTN Côte d’Ivoire, the telecom’s customer base of 17 million subscribers will have access to Tappi’s services through integrated data bundles, enhancing their online presence and customer reach.

According to UNECA, SMEs form over 98% of total businesses in Côte d’Ivoire but despite their importance to the economy, many businesses still face major difficulties building a trusted online presence.

This is primarily due to current tools being too complex, the requirements for an international credit card or the listing of websites in places where trust is difficult to gauge, making it harder to access and convert new customers.

The expansion comes three months after TechCabal exclusively reported that tappi raised a $1.5 million pre-seed in December 2023, which was led by Mercy Corps Ventures and Chui Ventures. Founded in 2022, the Kenyan digital commerce platform helps to digitise these small businesses by creating an online business profile or websites for them. Once a business owner creates a profile on the tappi app and supplies their business information, tappi creates a website that is SEO-optimised and indexed on Google. Tappi claims to have engaged with over 150,000 consumers who used its platform to complete transactions totalling $3 million.