U.S. Company Global Shop Group Acquires Ivorian E-Commerce ANKA
TLDR
- Ivory Coast-based e-commerce platform ANKA has been acquired by US company Global Shop Group, marking the latter’s entry into the African fashion and creator commerce market
- ANKA evolved from an African-inspired fashion marketplace into a full-stack commerce platform offering payments (Anka Pay), logistics (Anka Shipping) and a global marketplace
- ANKA had processed more than $60 million in cumulative transactions, served merchants in 47 African countries and reached customers in over 170 countries
Ivory Coast-based e-commerce platform ANKA has been acquired by US company Global Shop Group, marking the latter’s entry into the African fashion and creator commerce market.
Founded in 2016 by Moulaye Tabouré, Abdoul Kadry Diallo and Luc Perussault‑Diallo (originally as Afrikrea), ANKA evolved from an African-inspired fashion marketplace into a full-stack commerce platform offering payments (Anka Pay), logistics (Anka Shipping) and a global marketplace.
Prior to the acquisition, ANKA had processed more than $60 million in cumulative transactions, served merchants in 47 African countries and reached customers in over 170 countries. The platform has grown to over 22,000 sellers across Africa, North America, Europe and the Caribbean. The startup had raised about $13.5 million in funding, including a $5 million round in September 2023.
Global Shop Group will retain ANKA’s brand and operations while bringing in its global retail and brand-management expertise to scale ANKA’s platform and creator ecosystem.
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Points clés à retenir
This acquisition signals a significant shift in how global retail players view African-origin commerce platforms. By buying ANKA, Global Shop taps into a network of 22,000 creators and a mature payments-and-logistics stack tailored for African merchants selling globally. For ANKA’s founders, the move addresses their need for deeper distribution, brand scale and global retail partnerships — stepping beyond purely tech-driven growth. From a regional perspective, the deal highlights the rising value of African marketplaces that combine commerce infrastructure with creator ecosystems. The scale of ANKA’s operations — transactions exceeding US$60 million, reach across 170+ countries — underscores how African digital export platforms are gaining global relevance. For African creators, access to Global Shop’s network could mean faster market entry into diaspora and Western markets. At the same time, it raises questions about local ownership and strategic control of African-origin platforms as they integrate into global retail systems.
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