Ananse Africa, a startup ecommerce platform created to connect African designers with local and international consumers, has been launched in Johannesburg and Lagos.

The platform established in partnership with Mastercard Foundation and logistics market leader, DHL, according to Sam Mensah, Founder, Ananse Africa, specifically seeks to support creative entrepreneurs like fashion designers and artists to enable them grow their businesses.

The Ghanaian ex-Silicon Valley Executive and fashion entrepreneur explained that the platform does not only seek to make things easy for consumers around the world to shop from fashion designers and artists across Africa, but also intends to make payment and logistics straightforward for ecommerce orders.
Mensah also announced that Ananse has formed a strategic media partnership with Trace TV to promote the work of African fashion designers, artists, and artisans to its millions of viewers globally.

On her part, Country Head, Mastercard Foundation Nigeria, Chidinma Lawanson, disclosed that the Mastercard Foundation partnership with Ananse will enable African fashion brands to sell over 1 million garments over the next three years with 75% sourced from African suppliers and 70% participation from women.

“This will provide a significant boost to the creative economy sector by enabling artists, fashion designers, artisans, and small businesses along the fashion and art value chains to conduct trade and expand their businesses by leveraging the power of the internet in a cost-effective way,” she said.

Speaking at the launch, Leendert van Delft, DHL Vice-President for Global eCommerce, spoke of the company’s experience as a leading global logistics partner in the fashion retail and art industry.

“For decades, we have pioneered solutions to meet the needs of artists, designers, retailers, and customers by making it our mission to provide these businesses with exceptional service that translates to a competitive edge.
“Through our collaboration with Ananse, we are delighted to offer fast and efficient international logistics solutions that have proven critical to countless startups over the years,” said van Delft.

“Ananse’s ecommerce and POS solution is simplifying trading in both the physical and digital worlds for creative entrepreneurs in Africa.
“Ananse provides creative merchants with full support, including production training, quality assurance, online payments, order processing, and packaging.
“The technology solution aims to solve the key problems that prevent African fashion designers, artisans, and artists from being commercially viable and successful,” explained Mensah.