Why this e-commerce platform created by a Sudanese man could be Amazon’s next big competitor

Khalid Mohammed is the founder of Mykaaap, an e-commerce platform based in Africa that seeks to rival giant platforms like Amazon and Alibaba. His e-commerce website is available in 54 nations and in multiple languages like French, English, Arabic, Portuguese, Amharic, and Spanish.

Mykaaap is headquartered in Sudan and has partners in other African countries. Khalid’s vision is to close the gap between the 54 nations of Africa to exchange cultures and traditions, fashion, electronics. To meet demands, the e-commerce platform has targeted local African sellers and overseas brands.

The Sudanese man comes from a family of entrepreneurs. His grandfather and father were both traders and so the spirit of entrepreneurship runs in him too. Khalid’s journey in the e-commerce business started when he went to India at the peak of the country’s e-commerce boom.

He established himself in the city of Bangalore, known as India’s hub for startups. Also, many of his friends worked for top online market platforms and so he was able to learn a thing or two from them. While in Bangalore, Khalid was still engaging in trading and so he decided to create an online market platform to reach a wider audience in Africa.   

That was how the idea to start Mykaaap came to him. Mykaaap, according to Khalid, means “Maintain Your Knowledge and Ambition, Always Positive”.

“I was in Bangalore city in India, it’s the hub for startups. I was surrounded by friends who are employees in one of the top Indian online market platforms I got to learn from them a lot,” he told The African Dream about what inspired him into e-commerce.

“India is similar to Africa with different languages and different beliefs they can create a platform where all people can buy. Since I am already dealing with clients from Africa by the traditional model of purchasing I thought we can create an online market that can be available to everyone in Africa with all languages. And from there the journey started.”

The platform has a variety of twenty thousand products, according to Khalid, underscoring the popularity of his e-commerce website. The products range from fashion, electronics, house tools, stationery products, books, among others. He also revealed that each day, hundreds of new products are added to the platform.

Khalid said when it comes to retail, his website has the upper hand owing to its secure payment platform and quality of products. “African buyers are smart and they know how to spend their money wisely. They take their decisions upon the quality of the products and safe online transaction environment. At Mykaaap, it is our responsibility to secure their payments and make sure they receive quality products as promised! So, let’s take African trade to a global level with Mykaaap!”

When asked how long it takes for someone to receive their products after buying from his website, he replied: “If both buyer and seller are in the same country, it takes 3 to 5 days. If the seller and buyer are located in a different region of Africa, for example, Egypt to Kenya, it takes between 10 to 17 days. If it’s out of Africa it’s between 17 to 25.”