Startup Taps Diaspora Remittances, Re-engineers Africa’s Export Chain

Africlana, founded by Mubarak Mohammed Yusuf, today announces the rollout of its tech-enabled export platform designed to connect African SMEs directly to high-value buyers in the UK, US, EU and across the global diaspora.

The launch comes as diaspora remittances to Africa hit a record $100+ billion in 2024 according to the Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID), with over $51 billion annually spent on household consumption. This creates a proven demand base for authentic African food and consumer goods that current supply chains cannot efficiently serve.

Addressing Africa’s Structural Export Gap

For decades, African SMEs have been constrained by three systemic barriers: fragmented access to international buyers, prohibitive export compliance costs, and unreliable cross-border logistics and payments.

Africlana’s model addresses all three. The platform uses AI to onboard and list products in minutes, manages UK-based warehousing and quality control, and handles end-to-end logistics and payouts. Initial categories include high-demand African staples, spices, animal protein foods, and condiments such as dry fish, crayfish, egusi, garri, ponmo, and locust beans.

“Africa does not suffer from a production deficit. It suffers from a distribution and trust deficit,” said Yusuf, Founder and CEO of Africlana. “We are re-engineering the export value chain so that a producer in Lagos can fulfill an order in London with the same efficiency as a domestic e-commerce transaction.”

Economic Impact and SME Scale

Beyond commerce, Africlana is framing its mission around macroeconomic impact: job creation, SME formalization, and increased non-oil foreign exchange earnings.

Remittances now rival FDI and exceed official development assistance, positioning them as one of the continent’s main pillars of external financing. In 2024, Egypt received $22.7B and Nigeria $19.8B.

Olusola Oniyire, Co-Founder of Africlana, said the platform is designed as a growth engine for the continent’s small business sector.

“Africlana is going to help boost the economy of the African market and also create more opportunities for SMEs to scale their businesses,” Oniyire stated. “By aggregating demand and standardizing exports, we give small producers the volume, compliance, and capital they need to compete globally.”

To support scale, early-adopter sellers will gain access to working capital facilities, export and packaging training, and data-driven buyer recommendations.

Creating Competitive Pricing Through Transparency

According to the founder, Africlana also creates room for competitive pricing by aggregating multiple verified SMEs selling similar products on a single platform. For years, diaspora buyers have relied on fragmented, informal channels where pricing is inconsistent and often inflated.

By giving customers direct access to compare quality, certifications, and prices across vetted producers, Africlana reduces overpricing and ensures buyers get fair value while SMEs still earn sustainable margins.

“When you remove middlemen and bring verified suppliers into one marketplace, price discovery becomes real,” said Yusuf. “The customer wins with better prices, and the producer wins with higher volume.”

Investor Thesis: Infrastructure for Diaspora Commerce

Africlana’s first phase targets African food and consumables, a category funded directly by diaspora remittances where 51% is used for basic needs: food, housing, health, education.

The company’s asset-light model and AI-driven operations are designed to deliver higher margins while reducing friction for both sellers and buyers.

“Investors are looking for platforms that turn Africa’s informal economy into structured, trackable, and exportable revenue,” Yusuf added. “Africlana is that infrastructure.”

Seller onboarding is now open via the Early Adopter Waitlist at http://www.africlana.com.

About Africlana

Africlana is an export-technology company founded by Mubarak Mohammed Yusuf. The platform provides African SMEs with AI-powered product listing, export compliance, warehousing, logistics, and payments to enable scalable access to global markets. For media and investor inquiries: http://www.africlana.com