The Virtual Global Consultant (VGC) Group, LLC., has partnered with Aftown Company Limited to create AFTOWN MALL, a one-stop online experience to discover creative entrepreneurs and shop unique products Made in Africa!
Aftown Company Limited is the company behind aftown.com, an online marketplace where music fans can buy songs directly from African artists. Aftown.com boasts of more than 2000 artists with more than 60,000 registered users from the US, Ghana, UK, China, Germany, and other parts of the world. Under the brand ‘Aftown’, VGC is building the digital infrastructure for budding African entrepreneurs to transact in the global economy.
VGC co-founders Naomi Jordan Cook and W.E. Da’Cruz are the perfect team to embark on this venture. Cook is deeply rooted in the African American community in the United States. She has a solid background in technology and advocates its use to transform lives. Da’Cruz, on the other hand, is a Ghanaian-American who is strongly influenced by her African culture and the desire to impact Africans inside and outside of the continent.
As African-Americans who are deeply connected with the African culture, Cook and Da’Cruz bridge the divide between the west and the continent of Africa through technology.
Since 2016, Cook and Da’Cruz have been helping African businesses and organizations gain revenue using eCommerce and digital marketing tools. In travelling to Ghana, Ethiopia, and Mozambique, the two are highly aware of the huge potential of African products and services in the global market.
“We are proud and thankful for our achievements in pushing for economic development, especially in urban communities as well as in Africa. With every success, we ask ourselves ‘how do we scale to make a bigger impact?’” says Cook.
Earlier in 2019, VGC started on the creation of Global Africa Shop, which operated on the same vision of being a one-stop-shop for all things Made in Africa. With its new partnership with Aftown Company Limited, VGC is rebranding Global Africa Shop into ‘AFTOWN MALL’.
Da’Cruz says, “We decided to partner with the Aftown family because it already has an ecosystem that aggregates what Africa has to offer. Instead of competing, we believe in collaborating.”
She adds, “We noticed eCommerce was missing from their ecosystem so we decided to propose the partnership. You can now listen to African music and shop Made in Africa products.”
AFTOWN MALL’s objective is to aggregate the willpower of African beauty and craftsmanship across 54 African nations and put them all into one globally accessible eCommerce website. It allows people to discover creative entrepreneurs and shop unique products from Africa.
From colorful handmade fabrics to one-of-a-kind jewelry and accessories, people from any part of the world can get authentic African products and experience the best of what Africa has to offer. More importantly, it will help drive economic development for local African entrepreneurs and manufacturers and generate employment for African communities. It also has the potential to generate B2B partnerships around the world because of the exposure of Made in Africa products on Aftown Mall.
AFTOWN Mall is open to all African-based companies who would like to gain a global market share by joining the platform. Aside from providing the eCommerce platform, VGC will also address supply chain management, market analysis and marketing campaigns for AFTOWN MALL’s entrepreneurs through their partnership with Universities in the United States and Africa.
Cook and Da’Cruz envision AFTOWN MALL to be a place to experience Africa, whether in or out of the continent. VGC has launched the pilot of AFTOWN MALL and is set to roll out more functionalities and offer a wider variety of authentic African products over the course of 2020.
For more information on AFTOWN MALL, email support@aftownmall.com.