In July 2026, South African e-commerce giant Takealot released financial results that thrilled the entire African tech community—marking its first full-year profit in nearly 15 years since its founding. A report released by its parent company, Naspers, for fiscal year 2026 (ending March 31, 2026) showed that the group’s revenue exceeded 17.7 billion rand (approximately $1 billion), with an adjusted operating profit of 171 million rand—a turnaround from a loss of 213 million rand in the same period the previous year. In just one year, the company achieved a turnaround of 384 million rand.

In recent years, competition in the European and American e-commerce markets has continued to intensify, and traffic acquisition costs have been rising steadily, prompting more and more cross-border sellers to seek new growth markets.

Meanwhile, South Africa is becoming a new target market for many Chinese sellers.

While North America and Europe are locked in a fierce battle and Temu is also vying for traffic, the real growth opportunities actually lie in Africa. There are fewer than 3,000 Chinese sellers on South Africa’s Takealot, accounting for less than 3%—with the same level of operational expertise, they might only rank in the middle of the pack in North America, but in South Africa, they’d likely make it straight to the top. Yet even on Takealot, some sellers thrive while others struggle.

As a professional one-stop business service platform, Qicaiying is committed to providing our clients with company registration services in mainland cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou, as well as cross-border e-commerce services and Hong Kong company […]

As a professional one-stop business service platform, Qicaiying is committed to providing our clients with company registration services in mainland cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou, as well as cross-border e-commerce services and Hong Kong company […]