Improving the Inefficiencies of Traditional Trade in Africa Through a Technology-Driven Platform with Deepankar Rustagi

Episode 116 with Deepankar Rustagi, who is a co-founder and CEO of Omniretail, a unified consumer goods distribution platform that improves the inefficiencies of traditional trade through a technology-driven FMCG platform.

During Nigeria’s cash crunch in Q1 2023, Omniretail launched an embedded finance platform, OmniPay, which achieved over $100 billion worth of transactions in its first few months of launching. The cash crunch means a decline in output from cash shortages across the economy and resulted in catastrophic outcomes for businesses and small traders being unable to find the cash needed to pay for inputs, costing the Nigerian economy an estimated 20 trillion Naira ($43 billion).

What We Discuss With Deepankar

• Who benefits most from your platform—buyers, suppliers, or consumers?
• What key features of OmniPay contributed to its swift adoption and remarkable success, marked by over $100 billion in transactions within its initial months?
• How does the OmniPay platform help alleviate the negative impacts of cash shortages on businesses and small traders in the Nigerian economy?
• With the exit of global FMCG companies from Nigeria, how does OmniRetail's platform help to fill the gap and strengthen local businesses and supply chains?
• Only a small percentage of African e-commerce companies are profitable; what specific strategies or approaches have you used that have resulted in profitability

Did you miss my previous episode where I discuss How an Egyptian Startup Became the First African Lab to Acquire US-FDA Accreditation? Make sure to check it out!

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Connect with Terser on LinkedIn at Terser Adamu, and Twitter (X) @TerserAdamu

Connect with Deepankar on LinkedIn at Deepankar Rustagi, and Twitter (X) @rustagid

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