West African Startup Solves Cross-Border Shipping Chaos

Zeinabou Sidibé Koné was exhausted from cramming packages into suitcases for 4 a.m. flights from Paris to Bamako, never sure if her mother would actually receive them. So she built a company to fix it.

Five years after launching Afrisends in 2020, the Franco-Malian entrepreneur now runs a logistics operation serving Mali, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, and Burkina Faso. What started as helping friends send packages home has become a full-service platform that helps West African businesses source products from China, Turkey, and Europe.

The problem she's solving is massive. Only 16% of Africa's total trade happens between African countries, largely because shipping goods across borders remains expensive and unreliable. Small businesses across West Africa still rely on informal middlemen to connect with international suppliers, paying too much and waiting too long for products that may never arrive.

Afrisends handles everything: finding verified suppliers, negotiating prices, managing freight, clearing customs, and delivering to the final destination. For businesses operating under the brand name SIRA, it's not just shipping but complete sourcing support.

The company started by serving individuals in the diaspora sending packages home. But in 2025, founder Koné made a strategic pivot to focus on businesses instead. The shift paid off immediately with faster growth and positive earnings before interest and taxes.

"The pivot to B2B wasn't running away from something," Koné explains. "West African companies have a structural problem: they can't access reliable international suppliers, they pay too much, they wait too long, and nobody really supports them end to end."

The Ripple Effect

Today Afrisends works with major clients in telecommunications, energy, and infrastructure, including subsidiaries of multinational corporations and pan-African groups. The business-focused approach required new discipline around reporting, cash flow management, and meeting deadlines, but the trade-off has been worth it.

The company's growth reflects a broader opportunity across French-speaking West Africa. According to the African Export-Import Bank, trade between countries in the West African Economic and Monetary Union would be 3.2 times higher if 100% of interstate roads were properly paved. Better logistics infrastructure could unlock billions in regional commerce.

For small and medium businesses that once relied on stuffed suitcases and informal networks, platforms like Afrisends represent a path to professionalism. Reliable sourcing means better inventory planning, lower costs, and the ability to compete regionally and internationally.

What began as one woman's frustration with overweight luggage fees has become a bridge connecting West African businesses to global markets. Sometimes the best solutions come from people who've lived the problem themselves.