South African-founded platform Spaza Market is positioning itself as a key catalyst for growing Africa’s enterprise economy, starting with South Africa’s vital township economy.
The platform, Spaza Eats, has been officially relaunched as Spaza Market, transforming it into a comprehensive Super-App designed for township residents and businesses.
Entrepreneur Talifhani Banks, founder of Spaza Market and parent company AnalyticsX, told TechFinancials in an interview that the remodelling of Spaza Eats into Spaza Market isn’t just an app relaunch, “it’s the foundation for scaling Africa’s enterprise economy.”
He highlighted the most important feature users should notice in the Spaza Market app.
“Integration,” stated Banks.
“With one app, users can now access commerce, services, and financial tools seamlessly.
“For SMEs, it means growth.
“For township businesses, it means inclusion. For consumers, it means convenience.”
Banks hails from Makhado in Limpopo and is a visionary entrepreneur determined to upend the township economy with his innovative platform, often called the “Township Amazon.”
In July 2023, Banks founded Spaza Markets through his company Analytics X. His background in Statistics and Econometrics, combined with years of experience in retail, enabled him to identify and address a critical gap in the market.
A core component of this vision is the planned Spaza Wallet, designed to be a “peer-to-peer wallet facilitator.”
But how will this wallet function, and what need does it address for users who may already have traditional bank accounts?
“The Spaza Wallet enables peer-to-peer transfers, merchant payments and savings,” Banks explains. “For the unbanked, it’s their entry point into the digital economy.
“For SMEs and already banked users, it creates a faster, more cost-effective way to transact in emerging markets.”
The transition from a dedicated delivery app to a full-scale marketplace presented significant technical hurdles. Banks contends that it wasn’t easy to do the upgrade but has been done ensuring that customers and users experience wasn’t impacted.
“Scaling from a food app to an integrated marketplace required re-engineering everything — infrastructure, payments, and user experience,” said Banks.
“The challenge was balancing simplicity for small traders with sophistication for SMEs and corporate partners.
“We had to build a platform that works for both ends of the spectrum.”
