For years, buying and selling online in The Gambia has largely existed within the informal corners of social media. A customer searching for a phone, a dress, a meal, a taxi service, or household goods would often move between Facebook pages, WhatsApp groups, TikTok accounts, and personal contacts to find what they needed. While these platforms created new opportunities for small businesses, they also exposed weaknesses: limited visibility, trust concerns, fragmented payments, and weak delivery systems.
Now, a new generation of Gambian technology entrepreneurs is attempting to change that model.
Across the country, locally built digital platforms are emerging with a more ambitious vision: creating dedicated online marketplaces where businesses can sell, customers can shop safely, and digital transactions can become part of everyday economic life.
Among the startups leading this transformation are WaaFiro, JENDAL, and BiiT—three home-grown platforms built by Gambian innovators who believe the future of commerce will increasingly happen online.
Although each platform has a different approach, they share a common mission: solving practical challenges in the Gambian marketplace through technology.
WaaFiro: Building a Digital Commerce Ecosystem for The Gambia
For Mustapha Drammeh, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of WaaFiro Ltd, the idea behind the platform began with a simple observation: many Gambian businesses wanted to move online but lacked the resources and infrastructure to do so.
Born in Sintet, The Gambia, before relocating to the United Kingdom, Drammeh’s professional journey has crossed several industries, including banking, telecommunications, military service, engineering consultancy, and digital transformation.
He currently works with an international engineering consultancy in the UK while completing an MSc in Business Transformation. His academic and professional background includes business and law, information technology, software and hardware engineering, networking, information systems administration, cloud computing, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
At WaaFiro, he combines this experience with a focus on solving local business challenges.
“I noticed that many Gambian businesses wanted to sell online but were unable to afford websites, mobile applications, delivery systems, online payments, or digital marketing,” Drammeh said.
“At the same time, customers had to search across multiple social media pages and WhatsApp groups just to find products or services. I wanted to build one trusted digital marketplace where businesses of all sizes could operate from one platform.”
Unlike traditional online stores, WaaFiro aims to function as a wider digital ecosystem. The platform allows users to shop from multiple businesses, order food from restaurants, book taxis, arrange courier deliveries, rent cars, hire local service providers, and communicate directly with businesses through WhatsApp.
It also integrates digital payments through Wave Mobile Money and uses escrow payment systems designed to protect buyers and sellers during transactions.
For businesses, WaaFiro provides digital storefronts, inventory management, promotional tools, courier fleet management, and analytics features designed to help entrepreneurs understand their customers.
“We’re not trying to create a platform that controls the market,” Drammeh explained. “WaaFiro is a tool for everyone to use. Our vision is to become The Gambia’s digital commerce ecosystem rather than simply another shopping website.”
However, building such an ecosystem has required overcoming several challenges.
Drammeh said some of the biggest obstacles included integrating secure payment systems, developing reliable delivery processes, ensuring cybersecurity, and creating a platform that works effectively under local internet conditions.
Instead of rushing development, his team adopted an iterative approach—building, testing, receiving feedback, and improving continuously.
Currently, WaaFiro operates with a lean team of four employees as it continues refining the platform before scaling operations.
Beyond the company itself, Drammeh believes the platform could create wider economic opportunities through merchants, restaurants, courier operators, taxi drivers, and other businesses that join the ecosystem.
“I believe technology should solve everyday problems and create opportunities for everyone,” he said. “WaaFiro was built with that belief. This is only the beginning, not only for WaaFiro but for digital innovation in The Gambia.”
JENDAL: Creating Trust in Gambia’s Online Shopping Space
While WaaFiro focuses on creating a broad digital commerce ecosystem, JENDAL’s journey started from a different challenge: trust.
Founder and developer Amie Jarjou became interested in digital commerce during her one-year internship at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Unit The Gambia.
A Biomedical Science graduate with a passion for technology and entrepreneurship, Jarjou noticed that many businesses relied heavily on Facebook, TikTok, and WhatsApp to sell products.
Although these platforms helped businesses reach customers, she observed that they were not designed as dedicated shopping environments.
“There were issues with trust because buyers sometimes paid without receiving products,” Jarjou explained.
“I also personally struggled to find specific products. That made me think about creating one platform where people could search, compare, and find products easily.”
That idea became JENDAL, a marketplace designed specifically for Gambian businesses and consumers.
The platform focuses heavily on seller support and customer confidence. Unlike some online marketplaces where businesses simply upload products and wait for customers, JENDAL provides additional assistance through Store Coordinators who help sellers onboard and manage their presence.
The company also offers free support services, including product photography, branding assistance, and local language support.
“We don’t just give businesses a place to sell; we support them,” Jarjou said.
“Beyond technology, we are building a community by sharing the stories behind local businesses and helping customers connect with the people behind the products.”
Trust remains central to the platform’s design.
JENDAL has introduced a buyer protection system where sellers only receive funds after customers confirm that they have received their purchases. This approach aims to reduce online fraud and encourage more Gambians to embrace digital shopping.
Since launching, JENDAL has recorded significant early growth. The platform now has more than 1,500 registered shoppers, over 150 local sellers, and more than 1,000 products across different categories.
The platform receives between six and ten orders daily, according to Jarjou.
However, changing consumer habits has been one of the biggest challenges.
Many Gambians remain more comfortable visiting physical shops or negotiating through social media rather than using dedicated online marketplaces.
Jarjou said building trust requires patience.
“We built trust by integrating buyer protection, offering seller support, creating support groups, and encouraging active businesses through initiatives like ‘Seller of the Week’ for more visibility,” she said.
Looking ahead, her ambition is for JENDAL to become the country’s most trusted online shopping platform.
“I want people to think of JENDAL first whenever they want to buy or sell online,” she said.
Beyond business growth, Jarjou hopes the platform encourages more young Gambians, especially women, to explore careers in technology and innovation.
Seedy Mbaye, a client who uses JENDAL, said the app works well, adding it has no bugs or slowdowns.
“I order from the app, make payment, and they deliver it to me. It’s like I don’t even need to finish my credit for calling, making an order, and then looking for a delivery guy. I have it all in one now,” he revealed.
Roheyatou Sowe, another user, expressed satisfaction with JENDAL marketplace, saying the app has been very helpful in shopping.
“No need to call the vendor directly or text the individual; I just buy what I need, indicate if I need delivery, pick and make my payment, then get my goods. It’s so helpful and so user-friendly,” she said.
BiiT: The Gambian Super App Vision
For Dr. Sheriffo Ceesay, founder and product lead of BiiT, digital commerce is not only about convenience, it is about economic transformation.
Ceesay studied Computer Science at the University of The Gambia from 2006 to 2010 before pursuing postgraduate studies in Taiwan and Lancaster University in the United Kingdom. He later obtained a PhD in Computer Science from the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Today, he works as a Senior Systems Research Engineer at Huawei while leading BiiT.
His inspiration comes from observing how global e-commerce giants transformed markets by solving more than just product listings.
“Globally, e-commerce has grown into a roughly $7 trillion industry, built by companies like Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba that started small but succeeded by solving trust, payments, and logistics, not just putting goods online,” Ceesay said.
For The Gambia, he believes e-commerce can help small businesses move beyond informal cash-based trading by creating more organized, traceable, and scalable businesses.
“It gives small vendors and market traders access to a customer base far beyond their physical stall,” he said. “It can create jobs directly in delivery, logistics, customer support, and platform operations, and indirectly by helping businesses grow enough to hire their own staff.”
BiiT differentiates itself by combining commerce and payments in one platform.
The app integrates payment services including Wave, Yonna Wallet, and GamSwitch, allowing users to make transactions such as airtime purchases and CashPower top-ups.
“It is built locally, by Gambians, for the way Gambians actually shop and pay, not copied from a foreign app and adjusted afterward,” Ceesay said.
He launched the first version of BiiT in March 2023 after beginning development in January of the same year.
Unlike many startups that begin with large technical teams, Ceesay developed the platform himself before later bringing in an app manager and marketing support.
Currently, BiiT operates with a three-person core team.
However, Ceesay acknowledges that building digital commerce in The Gambia remains challenging.
“The biggest challenge has been habit and trust,” he said. “Most people are still more comfortable walking into a physical shop than ordering online.” Another challenge has been accessing investment.
Ceesay argues that the country needs stronger startup financing systems, including venture capital firms and angel investors.
“One of the biggest gaps is that we don’t have a funding ecosystem that helps promising ideas scale,” he said.
He also highlighted difficulties integrating some local payment providers, noting that technical readiness among financial service providers remains important for digital businesses. Despite these obstacles, Ceesay’s ambition is significant.
He wants BiiT to become a Gambian “super app” where people can buy goods, pay bills, purchase tickets, and manage everyday transactions.
“In many ways, the vision is for BiiT to become the Amazon or eBay of The Gambia, built and run by Gambians, for Gambians,” he said.
“I’ve been using BiiT since it launched, and my experience has been excellent. It’s fast, reliable, and easy to use. Whether I’m buying CashPower, mobile credit, or purchasing products for my business, transactions are always seamless. The convenience, combined with responsive customer service, has saved me both time and effort,” said Sally Ceesay.
Amat Cham of A’CHAM ELECTRONICS said: “I’ve been a user of the BiiT platform for a while now, and my experience with the app is good so far.”
The Road Ahead for Gambian Digital Commerce
The rise of WaaFiro, JENDAL, and BiiT signals a new phase in The Gambia’s technology journey.
These platforms are not simply creating online shopping spaces; they are attempting to solve deeper challenges around trust, financial inclusion, logistics, and entrepreneurship. Yet their success will depend on more than innovation alone.
Improved digital literacy, stronger investment ecosystems, supportive government policies, and greater confidence among consumers will all determine whether e-commerce becomes a mainstream part of Gambian economic life.
For now, these entrepreneurs are proving one important point: the future of digital commerce in The Gambia does not have to be imported. It can be designed, coded, and built at home.
