Mafalia: revolutionizing the foodservice supply chain in French-speaking Africa

What if tech enabled thousands of African restaurants to manage their supplies sustainably, transparently and efficiently? This is the ambitious goal of Mafalia, a Senegalese start-up founded by Pape Amadou Kane Diop. 

Today, according to Mafalia, 85% of restaurants in some sub-Saharan African countries do not have access to digital tools to manage their business. This results in :

• Inefficient, carbon-intensive supply chains,
• Poorly managed inventories, exposed to shortages and theft,
• A crying lack of traceability in product management.

At a time when 45% of food spending takes place away from home, this digital disconnect is a major brake on the sector's economic and environmental performance.

A solution that combines cost reduction, waste reduction and inclusion

The result is Mafalia, a complete digital ecosystem that connects suppliers and restaurants via an integrated marketplace. Thanks to its AI-enhanced, connected inventory management tool, Mafalia enables its users to adjust orders, thereby reducing food waste and optimizing supplies. 

In addition to its environmental impact, Mafalia is also designed as a lever for inclusion: the platform is 100% accessible to non-literate audiences, a persistent challenge in some countries on the continent.

Rapid growth and pan-African expansion

In less than 8 months, Mafalia has already equipped 132 restaurants in Senegal. As for suppliers, the team is in discussion with major manufacturers such as Nestlé.

The marketing phase is underway, with some fifty customers in test and a gradual roll-out. The MVP has been validated, and the start-up is now entering its acceleration phase, with a second version of its tool in preparation. " Our objective is clear: to operate throughout French-speaking Africa, where there is as yet no structured competitor," explains Pape Amadou Kane Diop, founder of the solution.

To continue its growth, Mafalia is raising funds with the aim of strengthening its technological platform, accelerating its marketing, deploying its predictive AI and gaining visibility. "Entrepreneurship in Africa means facing the same realities from one country to the next. Our product is designed to be scalable everywhere," concludes the founder.

Mafalia is one of the three winners of the first promotion of yprlink, a challenge to accelerate the growth of start-ups in Africa. Yprlink is proposed by LAfricaMobile and Possible.Africa with the support of H7.