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E-Commerce

Cowema - African E-Commerce Platform

Co-founded and scaled an e-commerce platform from 0 to 30K+ users, serving the African market with marketplace and classified ads functionality.

E-Commerce Full-Stack Laravel Mobile React

Cowema - African E-Commerce Platform

Overview

As Co-Founder and CTO at Cowema (2020-2023), I built and scaled a comprehensive e-commerce platform serving the African market. The platform grew from concept to 30K+ active users, processing thousands of transactions monthly.

Challenge

Build a robust, scalable e-commerce platform tailored for African markets with:

  • Marketplace for vendors to list products
  • Classified ads system (VEC)
  • Multiple payment integrations (Mobile Money, Bank Cards)
  • Mobile-first approach
  • Multi-language support (French, English)
  • Low-bandwidth optimization

Technical Stack

Backend:

  • Laravel 10 for API and admin panel
  • MySQL for data persistence
  • Redis for caching and queues
  • AWS S3 for media storage

Frontend:

  • React for web application
  • Next.js for SEO-optimized pages
  • Tailwind CSS for responsive design

Mobile:

  • Flutter for iOS and Android apps
  • Push notifications with OneSignal

Infrastructure:

  • AWS EC2 and RDS
  • CloudFront CDN
  • CI/CD with GitHub Actions

Key Features Delivered

Marketplace

  • Vendor registration and verification
  • Product catalog management
  • Real-time inventory tracking
  • Order processing and fulfillment
  • Review and rating system

Classified Ads (VEC)

  • Category-based listings
  • Location-based search
  • Image galleries
  • Contact system for buyers/sellers
  • Featured listings

Payment Integration

  • MTN Mobile Money
  • Orange Money
  • Airtel Money
  • Visa/Mastercard via Stripe
  • Escrow system for buyer protection

Admin Panel

  • Comprehensive dashboard
  • Vendor management
  • Order tracking and analytics
  • Content moderation tools
  • Financial reporting

Technical Achievements

Scalability:

  • Architected microservices for payment processing
  • Implemented caching strategies reducing DB load by 60%
  • Queue system handling 10K+ background jobs daily
  • Auto-scaling infrastructure

Performance:

  • Optimized API responses to <200ms average
  • Image optimization reducing bandwidth by 70%
  • Progressive Web App (PWA) for offline support
  • Lazy loading for mobile data savings

Security:

  • Two-factor authentication
  • Payment data encryption
  • Rate limiting and DDoS protection
  • Regular security audits

Team & Process

Built and led team of 3 engineers:

  • 1 Backend Developer
  • 1 Frontend Developer
  • 1 Mobile Developer

Established engineering practices:

  • Git workflow and code reviews
  • Automated testing (PHPUnit, Jest)
  • CI/CD pipeline
  • Agile sprints with weekly demos

Impact

  • 30,000+ registered users
  • 5,000+ vendors on platform
  • 100,000+ products listed
  • 50,000+ mobile app downloads
  • $500K+ in transactions processed

Lessons Learned

  1. Mobile-first is critical in African markets
  2. Payment integration requires robust error handling
  3. Offline capabilities improve user experience significantly
  4. Local partnerships are essential for growth
  5. Technical debt must be addressed continuously

Recognition

  • Featured in local tech news
  • Selected for startup acceleration program
  • Positive user reviews (4.2+ stars)

Links

  • Platform: cowema.com (legacy)
  • Case Study: Available upon request