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Who we are
Africa's trust-first
proximity marketplace.
Lokona connects buyers and sellers across all 54 African countries and the global African diaspora, built on verified identity, local proximity, and a reputation system that makes every transaction safer than the last.
Our mission
Building the trust infrastructure for African commerce.
Africa has over 1.4 billion people and some of the world's fastest-growing consumer markets. Yet cross-city and cross-border commerce remains hampered by one fundamental problem: strangers cannot trust each other. Lokona solves this.
We are building the proximity-based, reputation-driven marketplace that Africa's buyers and sellers deserve. A platform where your verified National ID, your clean transaction history, and your earned reviews give you a trust score that travels with you, from Kigali to Nairobi, from Lagos to London, from Dakar to Dubai.
Lokona does not process payments. We are not a payment company. We are a trust company. We build the conditions under which two people who have never met can safely exchange goods, and leave better off than they arrived.
Our vision
All 54 countries. The diaspora. One trusted network.
Start local
Every Lokona market starts hyper-local, a single city, a single district. Proximity search keeps transactions safe and fast. You see listings within walking or driving distance first.
Scale continental
As Lokona grows into each of Africa's 54 countries, your verified identity and reputation follow you. A verified seller from Rwanda is trusted in Ghana, Kenya, or South Africa, the same badge, the same history.
Serve the diaspora
Millions of Africans in Europe, North America, and the Gulf maintain deep economic ties with home. Lokona gives the diaspora a trusted way to buy and sell goods with family and networks back home, and with each other, wherever they are.
What we believe
Our values.
Trust first
Every feature we build starts with one question: does this make the platform safer and more trustworthy? Verification, reviews, messaging, all of it is designed around trust, not engagement metrics.
Africa-native
Lokona is built for African realities: variable connectivity, cash-first economies, mobile money, multilingual communities, and the cultural richness of in-person negotiation and relationship.
Proximity matters
Distance is risk. The closer the buyer and seller, the safer and faster the transaction. Our proximity engine keeps discovery local by default, so you always know who you're dealing with is nearby.
Reputation is currency
On Lokona, your verified identity and transaction history are your credit score. A verified seller with 50 completed transactions and a 4.9 rating is worth more than any payment guarantee.
The team
Built by people who believe in African commerce.
Founder & CEO
Lokona was founded with a single conviction: trust is the foundation of every transaction. Growing up witnessing the energy of African markets, from Kigali to Lagos, Nairobi to Accra, our founder saw that the missing ingredient was not buyers or sellers, but a reliable layer of identity and reputation that made strangers safe to trade with. Lokona is that layer.
Operations & Growth
Our operations team is on the ground, building community trust city by city. We believe that technology without local knowledge is hollow, so we hire locally, partner with community leaders, and listen before we ship.
Trust & Verification
The verification team reviews identity documents, investigates fraud signals, and maintains the integrity of every badge on the platform. Their work is invisible when it works, which is the goal.
Product & Engineering
Our product team is building the infrastructure for Africa's trust economy: proximity search, reputation scoring, anti-fraud review systems, and seamless messaging, all designed for low-bandwidth environments and mobile-first users.
Want to join us?
We're building a team as diverse as the continent we serve. If you believe in trust-first commerce, we want to hear from you.
See open positions