Enabling eCommerce in Sub-Saharan Africa - Presentation by Elkin Pianim, CEO of ProfPay at the NOAH 2013 Conference in London, Old Billingsgate on the 14th of November 2013.
2. What We Do
Enabling ecommerce from Africa at leading international online retailers
by providing a multimethod payment gateway and a marketplace with
integrated logistics.
African User
Access
To international brand-name
etailers, breadth and depth of
choice is locally unobtainable
Convenience
Pick up at local collection point
Value
Security
Partner Merchants
To underpenetrated and
growing markets with high
latent demand
ProfPay API and marketplace
integrates seamlessly
Delivered cost significantly lower
than in-market, no counterfeits
Minimal cost, risk-free market
entry
Proprietary identity verification
process, all data fully encrypted,
is FCA-regulated
Settlement by FCA-regulated
UK entity, no exposure to user
payment risk
3. Company Snapshot
Offices in London and Accra
Founded March 2011
FCA-authorized as a provider of payment services activities
Seed investors are some of Africa’s leading businessmen
System is fully functional and has started trial operations in Ghana
Commencing A round raise
4. The Ecommerce Opportunity in Africa - Size
$70BN/annum
$30BN – Airfreighted Imports
+
$40BN - Remittances from Diaspora of 15M
5. The Ecommerce Opportunity in Africa - Structure
Rapid Growth
Population of 800M, 80M+ consumers
Spending growth of 10-15%/annum
Underdeveloped Local Retail
High prices, up to 3x those in the UK
Narrow selection, counterfeiting is rife
Restricted Access to International Online Retail
Low penetration of acceptable credit cards
Few recognized alternate payment systems
International merchants generally unwilling to deliver
6. The Business – Payment Gateway
Gateway accepts
multiple local payingin options in Africa
as well as
international cards
7. The Business - ProfPay Mall Marketplace
Full end-to-end
integration with
leading UK retailers
combined with a
fulfillment and logistics
operation to enable
reliable, low-cost,
rapid parcel delivery
8. How it Works
Gateway provides verification, confirmation and real-time status updates
9. Development Path
Marketplace offering
User Adoption
Payment Gateway
▪
Marketplace offering of leading international brands is initial adoption driver
▪
User base drives retailer uptake of payment gateway
▪
User base monetization generates additional revenue
11. Team
Elkin Pianim – Founder, CEO
Serial entrepreneur in the USA, the UK
and Africa
Experience in media, ecommerce, and
finance
MBA, London Business School
Karim Dhanani – CFO
15+ years of investment experience
across Europe, Africa and Asia
Roles with JP Morgan, Artal Group,
Platina Partners and Saham Group
Solvay Business School, Brussels
Graham Green – Retail Adviser
30 years experience in ecommerce,
retail
Director-level positions at IBM, Ann
Summers, N. Brown
Kwame Acheampong – Founder, CIO
15+ years career in technology
Experience in large scale enterprise
deployment at Google / DoubleClick
Expert in Transactional Processing,
Online Advertising, Content
Monetisation
Nabil Moukarzel – Africa Logistics Adviser
Cofounder of Finatrade Group, 2012
turnover of ~$1.5BN, present in 16
African countries
20 years experience in trade in
emerging markets
Bojan Cekrlic – CTO
10+ years in user design, focus on
financial systems
Experience in gaming, banking,
insurance, ecommerce
12. Economics - Robust, Scalable
Multiple Revenue Streams
Robust Economics
Affiliate commissions, transaction fees and logistics
Commissions on mobile top-up and bill payment services, and money transfer
Margins on Forex
Multiple User Bases
Local SSA shoppers
African diaspora
Robust Economics
Revenues ~10% of total transaction volume
Variable costs ~2% of total transaction volume
Low Overheads
Scalability
Gateway and marketplace designed for volume
Cost of new country entry, new merchant addition negligible