Top African marketplaces (2026)

Africa at a glance

• Market size: Africa's e-commerce market projected at US$40.5 billion in 2025, growing to US$56 billion by 2029 at 8.46% CAGR (Statista).
• Mobile-first continent: over 60% of e-commerce transactions completed on mobile devices in 2025; smartphone adoption projected to reach 623 million unique subscribers by 2025 (TechCabal Insights).
• Key markets: Nigeria leads with 26% of Africa's e-commerce revenue; South Africa is the most mature and structured market, now also the continent's most contested, with Takealot and Amazon competing head-on; Egypt, Kenya and Morocco are fast-growing secondary markets (Market Data Forecast, 2026).
• Top categories: apparel and electronics lead online sales across the continent; healthcare is the fastest-growing category at 22.4% CAGR through 2033.
• Payments landscape: mobile money is critical, M-Pesa (Kenya), OPay (Nigeria) and MTN MoMo dominate in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cash-on-delivery remains significant in many markets. Instant payment transaction volumes exceeded 64 billion in 2024 (Africa B2C E-Commerce & Payments Report 2026).
• Global players moving in fast: Amazon South Africa launched May 2024 and added Prime membership in 2026; Temu and Shein together captured 37% of South Africa's online clothing market in 2024 (Mordor Intelligence).

Top African marketplaces in 2026

1) Amazon South Africa (Amazon.co.za)

Amazon launched its South African marketplace in May 2024, its first dedicated storefront in Sub-Saharan Africa, to what most observers described as a muted initial reception: limited product selection and no Prime offering at launch. Nearly two years on, the picture has changed. During the 2025 Black Friday period, Amazon recorded the third-highest transaction value among FNB and Discovery Bank customers, trailing only Takealot and Checkers Sixty60, and in 2026 Amazon rolled out Prime membership in South Africa, its 27th country globally (WeeTracker). Local logistics partner The Courier Guy processed a peak of nearly 224,000 Amazon deliveries in a single month (September 2025), a concrete sign of real order volume behind the headlines.

South Africa's e-commerce market stood at US$35.23 billion in 2024, with a projected path to US$74.79 billion by 2033 at an 8.79% CAGR (Yahoo Finance / IMARC Group). South Africa remains the continent's most digitally mature market, with 74.7% internet access as of early 2024, advanced payment infrastructure, reliable logistics operators and a consumer base accustomed to home delivery.

• Suits: electronics, home goods, fashion, sports, beauty and consumer tech. All product categories available on Amazon's global marketplace infrastructure are accessible on Amazon.co.za.
• Notes: South African VAT registration (15%) required for sellers exceeding local thresholds. Rand (ZAR) pricing is mandatory. South African English product listings perform best. Pan-European FBA does not cover South Africa, sellers need a local fulfilment strategy or an Amazon South Africa-specific logistics partner. Amazon has publicly committed to sourcing over 60% of its local catalogue from South African small and medium-sized businesses.

Connect via Lengow: Sell on Amazon South Africa with Lengow.

2) Takealot

Takealot is South Africa's largest and most established domestic marketplace, founded in 2011 and majority-owned by Naspers/Prosus. For the financial year ending March 2026, the first full year Takealot has competed directly against Amazon, Takealot Group posted its first-ever full annual operating profit: adjusted EBIT of $11 million, up from a $13 million loss the prior year, on group revenue of roughly $1 billion (up 18%) and group GMV of around $2 billion (Ecofin Agency, via Naspers FY2026 results). The core Takealot.com platform alone generated $906 million in revenue, serving 6.2 million active customers and processing over 60 million orders. Naspers credits the turnaround to a mix of higher-margin categories, growing on-platform advertising, its TakealotMore loyalty subscription (now 27% of Takealot.com's GMV), and Takealot Fulfilment Solutions, which now rents out warehouse and courier capacity to third parties.

Following a 2023 Competition Commission ruling, Takealot operates separate retail and marketplace arms, a structural change that has levelled the playing field for third-party merchants selling alongside Takealot's own inventory. The company is also actively expanding into underserved markets by deploying personal shoppers in townships and rural areas, broadening its consumer base well beyond South Africa's urban core.

• Suits: electronics, home appliances, fashion, beauty, sports and general merchandise targeting South African consumers. Strong brand recognition across all demographic and income segments.
• Notes: Takealot does not integrate via Lengow at this time. Sellers onboard directly via the Takealot Marketplace Seller Portal. South African entities or registered VAT vendors preferred; logistics via Takealot's own network (TNT, RAM, CourierGuy) or seller-managed.

3) Jumia

Jumia is the pan-African e-commerce platform with the broadest geographic reach on the continent. Founded in Lagos in 2012 and NASDAQ-listed since 2019, Jumia reported full-year 2025 GMV of $818.6 million, up 14% year over year from $720.6 million in 2024, and revenue of $188.9 million, up 13% (Jumia FY2025 results). Its adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed slightly to $50.5 million, and management is guiding toward EBITDA break-even by Q4 2026 and full-year profitability in 2027. Nigeria was the standout performer, delivering 50% GMV growth for the year.

Jumia has continued trimming its geographic footprint to focus resources on faster-growing markets: after exiting South Africa and Tunisia in October 2024, it announced in February 2026 that it will also cease operations in Algeria, a market that represented only about 2% of GMV. As of this update, Jumia operates across West Africa (Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Ghana), East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania) and North Africa (Morocco, Egypt), a narrower but more concentrated footprint than in previous years.

For any brand seeking multi-country African reach in a single integration, Jumia remains the platform offering the broadest breadth today, covering markets from Lagos to Nairobi under one seller account.

• Suits: electronics, fashion, beauty, home goods and FMCG targeting consumers in Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Morocco and across West and East Africa. Particularly strong in Nigeria (#1 African e-commerce market by revenue share at 26%) and Kenya.
• Notes: Jumia does not currently integrate via Lengow. Onboarding is managed directly via Jumia's Seller Centre, with separate logistics handled through Jumia Logistics. Mobile-first product listings and local-language content (French for West Africa, Arabic for North Africa) improve conversion significantly.

4) Noon

Noon is a UAE-founded marketplace with a growing presence in North Africa, particularly Egypt, one of Africa's most significant e-commerce markets with a population of 107 million and a rapidly digitising consumer base. Founded in 2017 and backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and Mohamed Alabbar, Noon operates across Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Kuwait, generating an estimated US$223 million in GMV in Africa (primarily Egypt) in 2025 per the ECDB global retailer ranking. Noon's Egyptian operation benefits from its regional logistics infrastructure and its positioning as a premium alternative to global giants in the MENA-Africa corridor.

Egypt is projected to become one of Africa's top three e-commerce markets through 2030, driven by a young, increasingly online population and a growing fintech ecosystem. For international brands already selling in the Gulf via Noon, the Egyptian extension is a natural next step.

• Suits: electronics, fashion, beauty, home goods and sports targeting Egyptian consumers and the wider MENA-Africa corridor. Particularly relevant for brands already present in Saudi Arabia or UAE.
• Notes: Noon does not currently integrate via Lengow. Arabic-language product listings and EGP pricing are essential for the Egyptian market. Noon's payment infrastructure supports credit cards, cash on delivery and local digital wallets.

Who should sell where in Africa?

• South Africa (most mature and now most contested market): Amazon.co.za and Takealot, the two dominant platforms, competing directly and both now growing. Amazon is accessible via Lengow.
• Multi-country West and East Africa: Jumia, the platform covering Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt and more under one seller account, now trimmed to its strongest markets and on a clearer path to profitability.
• North Africa / Egypt: Jumia Egypt and Noon, complementary platforms for the Arab-speaking North African consumer.
• International brands entering Africa for the first time: Amazon South Africa, now a lower-friction entry point than at launch, with familiar infrastructure, a proven seller onboarding process, and Prime membership now live to drive local demand.

Key considerations for selling in Africa

Africa is not a single market; it is 54 countries with distinct languages, currencies, payment preferences, regulatory frameworks, and logistics maturity levels. Any entry strategy must be market-specific.

Logistics is the continent's most significant structural challenge. Infrastructure gaps mean delivery times and costs vary widely outside major urban centres. Amazon and Takealot have their own logistics networks in South Africa, with Takealot increasingly monetising its warehouse and courier capacity by renting it to third parties; Jumia Logistics operates across Jumia's markets. Third-party logistics providers (DHL, Kuehne+Nagel) are expanding rapidly, with Kuehne+Nagel alone operating over 35,000 sqm of fulfilment space in South Africa and 10,000 sqm in Kenya (Stattimes, 2025).

Language and localisation requirements differ by region: English for South Africa and East Africa; French for West Africa (Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal); Arabic for Egypt, Morocco and the wider North Africa region.

Finally, trust and brand credibility remain critical purchase drivers across Africa, where consumer confidence in online transactions is still building. Seller ratings, clear return policies, and secure payment options are not optional, they are foundational conversion requirements.