B2B marketplaces for selling into Africa, compared

B2B platforms for selling into Africa fall into three types: global catalogues where buyers search products and send requests for quotes, business directories where your company has a listing, and online stores that stock and deliver goods inside Africa. They differ most in who may join, what is free and what "checked" means. The table quotes each platform's own pages.

Platform	Type	Who it is for	How companies are checked, in the platform's words	Free company profile	Paid products
Alibaba.com	Product catalogue with requests for quotation (RFQ) and online transactions	Suppliers selling worldwide: "B2B cross-border trade platform, helping businesses expand globally"	To start selling: "Choose a plan and complete a quick business verification". Verified Supplier tier: "on-site verification services from the third-party inspection company"	The seller pricing page lists paid plans only	Gold Supplier Basic, Gold Supplier Plus and Verified Supplier memberships; "Membership pricing and benefits vary by region"
europages	Directory of companies and products; buyers can send free requests for quotes	Suppliers in permitted countries: a registration can be declined if the company "does not operate in permitted countries or is based in a Non-European country not eligible for registration"	"All new company profiles submitted on europages are reviewed by our team during registration to ensure they comply with our business criteria."	Yes: "you can register your company on europages free of charge"	"paid service packages"; packages and pricing on request
TradeKey	Product catalogue with buyers' buy offers	Businesses trading internationally: "connects small and medium businesses across the globe for international trade"	No company check process described on the pages we opened. GoldKey members get "TradeKey Trust-Points", which TradeKey describes as "reward points to help the Buyers/Importers or Traders to determine your reliability, identity and legitimacy"	Yes: "Join Now, It's Free"; GoldKey's Priority Listing shows products at "a higher priority than Free and SilverKey members"	Memberships including SilverKey and GoldKey; price not shown, "one of our representatives will contact you"
Egatee	Wholesale store: "The supplier sends the goods to Egatee's China warehouse after receiving the order from Egatee"; third-party sellers can also "Upload products on our platform"	Suppliers shipping from China; Egatee sells in "Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and etc."	Not stated on the pages we opened	Not stated on the pages we opened	Service fees named without amounts: "Cheap shipping fee"; cross-border settlement at a "Low service rate"
Amanbo (Kenya site)	Online store with wholesale and retail prices for imported goods	Buyers: African merchants and customers (this is the Kenya site); the platform states a "focus on Africa China business trade"	Product review: "your product cannot display until it's approved by Amanbo administrators"; a company check is not described on the pages we opened	The site offers "Join Free"; the pages we opened do not say whether a seller shop is free	Not stated on the pages we opened
AFRIKTA	Business listing directory	African businesses; "international companies that serve or target Africa are welcome to join"	Listings are reviewed: "submit your listing for review. Once approved, your listing will be published"	No: "AFRIKTA does not offer a free plan."	Paid listings, plus "featured placement, SEO optimization for your business profile, content marketing, promotional video creation"
B2B.Africa	Buyer requests (RFQ) and company pages; no escrow, logistics or payment protection	Manufacturers, exporters and distributors that sell into African markets, and African producers looking for buyers or partners	Website verified (the Domain verified level on the trust page): access to a mailbox on the company's website domain or control of the website; it does not confirm company registration. Each level of the verification ladder is described on the trust page	Yes: "A company page on the Free plan costs nothing."	Plans and one-time reports; see pricing

Checked: 2026-10-28. Platforms change their plans and their wording, so open the linked page before you decide. "Not stated on the pages we opened" means we did not find it on the platform's own pages; it does not mean the platform has no such rule.

Which platform fits which seller?

If you want the widest reach, a global catalogue is the place to start. Alibaba.com's pricing page speaks of access to "more than 50 million active B2B buyers", and TradeKey also lists buy offers from buyers around the world. Both serve buyers worldwide rather than Africa specifically.

If your company is in Europe, europages gives you a free profile in front of professional buyers. Its help pages say registration is reviewed and that companies based in non-European countries may not be eligible, so a supplier from China or India should read the decline reasons before applying.

If you want another company to handle shipping and delivery, look at the online stores. Egatee orders from the supplier and handles transport, customs and delivery in Africa, according to its home page; in that model you sell to Egatee rather than to the end buyer. The same page also offers third-party sellers a shop on the platform. Amanbo runs an online store in Kenya where sellers open a shop and goods ship from a local warehouse.

If you want a listing that African buyers can find, AFRIKTA is a paid directory focused on Africa. B2B.Africa is a newer and smaller network than the global catalogues: buyers post sourcing requests and can write to a supplier in the platform chat, and a company page is free. Suppliers' monthly lead unlocks (opening a matched buyer request to reply to it) activate with network launch; see pricing. B2B.Africa does not handle payment or delivery between buyer and supplier.

How do these platforms check companies?

The same word means different things on each platform, so read the definition before you rely on a badge. On Alibaba.com every new seller completes a quick business verification, and the Verified Supplier tier adds an on-site check by a third-party inspection company. On europages the team reviews every new company profile during registration; on AFRIKTA a listing is published once it is approved. On Amanbo, administrators approve each product. TradeKey's pages describe Trust-Points for GoldKey members but not how companies are checked; the Egatee page does not describe a company check.

On B2B.Africa, the Website verified badge (the Domain verified level on the trust page) means someone managing the company page showed access to a mailbox on the company's website domain, or control of the website. It does not confirm company registration, and registration checks are currently available only for companies registered in South Africa. The other levels and their methods are on the trust page.

A check on a platform tells you what that platform looked at, not that a buyer will pay. Before you ship, check the buyer yourself: our guide on how to verify a company in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria shows where to search.

What is free?

A free company profile is offered by europages, TradeKey and B2B.Africa. AFRIKTA says it does not offer a free plan. The Alibaba.com seller pricing page lists paid memberships only. Amanbo's site offers "Join Free", but the pages we opened do not say whether a seller shop is free, and the Egatee page does not say whether supplier accounts cost anything.

Paid products are mostly memberships or packages that add visibility. europages and TradeKey give prices on request, and Alibaba.com says membership prices vary by region. B2B.Africa's plans and one-time reports are on the pricing page.