Pigee Inc. Takes a 55% Controlling Stake in ShipAfrica

Africa’s logistics sector is moving fast. The demand is real, the digital economy is expanding, and the businesses that need reliable cross-border shipping infrastructure are already here. What has been missing is the technology layer to tie it all together.

Pigee isn’t waiting for someone else to build it.

Pigee Inc. has agreed to acquire a controlling 55% stake in ShipAfrica, a Nigerian logistics startup with established local operations and the kind of on-the-ground knowledge that takes years to develop. The deal gives Pigee a meaningful foothold in one of the world’s fastest-growing logistics markets — without starting from zero.

The acquisition is structured across three tranches over 18 months, funded through a combination of cash and equity. The total deal value hasn’t been disclosed. As Pigee CEO Leroy Lawrence has noted, the terms of each stage may evolve as the company continues to raise capital.

The real opportunity: helping African businesses go global

Moving parcels between cities is one thing. Helping a Lagos fashion brand ship to a customer in Manchester, or a Nigerian artist fulfil an order placed from Chicago — that’s a different challenge entirely.

Right now, there’s a significant gap between African businesses finding international customers and successfully delivering to them. Social commerce, e-commerce platforms and digital payments have made it easier than ever to attract buyers across borders. The bottleneck is what happens next.

Customs requirements, unpredictable shipping costs, limited parcel tracking, and complicated returns processes all create friction that makes international trade harder than it needs to be — especially for smaller businesses without dedicated logistics teams.

That’s the gap Pigee is built to close. The platform already helps businesses get shipping quotes, prepare shipment documentation, handle customs details, generate labels and track parcels internationally. Embedding those capabilities more deeply into the African market is a logical and significant next step.

Why ShipAfrica, and why now?

Acquiring an established local business rather than building from scratch is a deliberate choice. ShipAfrica brings operational infrastructure, local relationships and market knowledge that Pigee would otherwise spend years trying to replicate.

Crucially, ShipAfrica’s existing brand, management team and staff are staying in place. That’s not a small detail — it’s how local expertise gets preserved rather than lost in an acquisition. The goal is integration, not replacement.

The 18-month timeline for the three-stage deal also gives both companies room to align their operations without disrupting the customers they’re already serving.

This works both ways

It’s easy to frame this purely as a story about African businesses selling internationally. But the opportunity runs in both directions.

Global businesses looking to sell into Africa also need reliable ways to move products across borders, navigate local customs requirements, and give their customers a consistent delivery experience. A stronger logistics network benefits both sides of that equation.

That’s what makes logistics infrastructure genuinely strategic — it’s not just a cost centre. It’s the thing that determines whether cross-border commerce actually works.

The bigger picture for Pigee

A customer can find a product on Instagram in seconds and pay for it in minutes. Getting it across a border and into their hands? That part still needs a lot of work.

The ShipAfrica deal is a direct investment in solving that problem at scale. It brings Pigee’s courier management and shipping technology closer to the businesses that need it most, in a market where the infrastructure has historically lagged behind the demand.

For African businesses, the message is straightforward: your next customer doesn’t have to be in the same city, or even on the same continent. The tools to reach them are getting better, faster — and Pigee intends to be a meaningful part of that progress.

Want to see how Pigee can support your international shipping operations? Create a free Pigee account and explore what cross-border commerce can look like for your business.