Digitising Africa’s Freight Network: Our Investment in Chargel

‍Company Name: Chargel

Website: www.chargel.me

Emerging markets with fragmented and inefficient logistics sectors can experience food losses of 30 to 40 percent compared to losses of 10 to 15 percent in OECD countries due to logistics failures. Chargel connects carriers with shippers, making it easier and more efficient to transport goods and track shipments. This benefits both parties involved by reducing costs and increasing earnings while being more environmentally friendly. By improving the coordination and collaboration between carriers, shippers, and other relevant parties, Chargel will reduce empty miles traveled, minimize deadhead percentage, and lower fuel consumption.

But the logistics industry is a famously difficult industry to disrupt. It’s a complex system characterised by high levels of fragmentation, complex regulations, demand-supply mismatch, lack of transparency, manual processes and documentation and volatile rates. Today, these inefficiencies plague the trucking industry in Africa; fragmentation makes it difficult to standardise processes and best practices across the board. The industry’s heavy reliance on manual processes and paper documentation leads to errors and delays. And finally, the lack of transparency around pricing and freight costs makes it difficult for customers to make informed choices when hiring a trucking company or negotiating rates with one.

Moustapha Ndoye and Alioune Ndoye are both exceptional founders who have spent years solving problems across Africa. Moustapha helped build Wave into a unicorn and Alioune has extensive experience building innovative technology across multiple industries. Both co-founders have a deep understanding of the trucking industry and the problems that need to be solved to make it more efficient. Besides the fact that Chargel’s proprietary technology solves real problems for those who rely on freight services – and those who offer them – we also like that the company has already grown quickly since its founding. In just 2 months after it launched, Chargel signed up over 3,000 trucks and nine shippers in its pipeline, accounting for ~50% of traffic in the Port of Dakar. And while there are other similar companies on the continent, we’re particularly interested in this blue ocean opportunity within a hugely underserved region – Francophone Africa, and with second-time founders that dedicated two years to studying the market and aggregating trucks on the platform.

We’re excited to be partnering with Chargel on their mission to make freight more efficient and help businesses move goods around Africa more easily and affordably. We believe in Moustapha & Alioune’s vision for the future of trucking and we’re proud to be a part of their journey.