Trade experts have called for improved market connectivity for African small businesses, urging governments, investors and stakeholders to support more strategic retail linkages and cross-border cooperation.
In separate interviews with The PUNCH, these stakeholders identified limited funding and weak business structure as factors hindering the growth of Nigerian value-added product exports. They made the call at the launch of the MABA Wholesale and Retail Store and the MABA Saturday Market recently in Lagos.
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Made-in-Africa Brands Ambassador, Flora Mbeledeogu, observed that the challenge of visibility has made African products seem almost invisible on the shelves of global stores.
She explained that the collaboration of African small and medium-sized enterprises can transform the narrative as she introduced a new store from her community, the MABA Wholesale and Retail Store.
According to Mbeledeogu, MABA’s store serves as an aggregation point for over 10,000 products from more than 1,000 small-scale manufacturers across 30 African countries.
She said, “African SMEs face this stringent challenge of visibility, accessibility and reachability in the marketplace, especially those in the fast-moving consumer goods. You hardly find their products in major outlets across the world, unlike the foreign organisations that dominate the shelves.”
Mbeledeogu said MABA had created a structure to address these challenges by aggregating and distributing SME products to major outlets such as Shoprite, Ebeano and Jendol superstores. “This is just our aggregation point. We will distribute from here to different countries and export to international markets,” she added.
Also, MABA’s CEO emphasised that the MABA store exclusively sold products locally produced by small manufacturers, including agricultural commodities, FMCGs, skincare, body care and natural food items.
“We aim to propel intra-African trade and export more while importing less. We’re building global-ready products that meet standards like the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, International Organisation for Standardisation, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, and the United States of America’s Food and Drug Administration,” she said.
With the launch of the store, Mbeledeogu said MABA aims to attract foreign buyers, promote local products, and shift the trade narrative in Africa by offering a cooperative, standards-driven path for SMEs to scale.
“Everything we do is from farm to table,” she said. “It’s time the world accessed our authentic, quality African products – and MABA is making that happen.”
The Director of the Africa Retail Academy at Lagos Business School, Prof. Uchenna Uzo, urged Nigerian and other African governments to join the financial sector to develop an improved system for funding SMEs.
He affirmed that the MABA store marked the start of a significant movement to unlock access for African-made brands, saying, “Many SMEs produce quality goods but struggle to reach consumers. What MABA is doing today is showing that market access can be created.”
Uzo noted the need for improved financing structures for SMEs. He stressed, “Our financial institutions need to do a better job of SME funding. With more creative thinking, we can support business transformation in Nigeria.”
SME operators at the event also praised MABA’s cooperative approach to solving market access problems through partnerships, product visibility, and regional networking.
Chief Executive Officer of Rimallis Apparels, Rita Akpanette, said the MABA had enabled her Uyo-based garment factory to partner directly with a cotton producer within the MABA network.
“Without MABA, I wouldn’t have had access to such partnerships. Now I can source fabrics from within Nigeria and other African countries and export my designs,” she said. “Without the MABA community, we wouldn’t have been able to access these opportunities, partnerships and network” she added.
Akpanette noted that the MABA store would help businesses outside Lagos to showcase their products in the global markets. “Now we can send our goods to the MABA store, and they will handle the sales and distribution,” she said.
Chief Executive Officer of Amineru Nigeria Enterprises Ltd, Amina Izuagbe, a food processing businesswoman in Benin-City, Edo State, explained that the store’s ambition is to attract wholesale buyers and facilitate international exports.
She said, “This kind of store has never existed in Nigeria. It’s not for small retail. The goal is large orders for supermarket chains and international buyers.” Izuagbe appreciated the MABA community and leadership for succeeding in establishing the store.
She urged the Federal Government to support MABA’s efforts to link Nigerian and broader African businesses to international markets.
Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer of Famaad Foods Ltd, Funmilayo Agbontaen, described the store as “a stepping stone for global visibility”. She said, “MABA is linking the producers to consumers worldwide. Our products are 100 per cent natural and must pass through quality checks before they are accepted into the MABA community.”
Agbontaen added that the ongoing product fair provides a platform to connect with new buyers and partners, noting, “MABA has helped us gain traction beyond sales; we are gaining visibility.”
Chief Executive Officer of Minbibs Multi Trade, Amina Sani-Muhammed, who produces Zobolicious drinks in Lagos, said the store was a major shift from retail to wholesale-level trading.
“With this supermarket, we’re expecting large orders, not just from Nigeria, but from Ghana to America. MABA is positioning us for that,” she said.
The MABA community comprises small-scale manufacturers in 30 African countries who produce value-added goods targeted at intra-African trade and global exports.
