In a modest office in Addis Ababa, a startup called Gebeya has been quietly stitching together something that sounds improbable on paper—an artificial intelligence assistant designed for businesses that often don't appear in any official registry, let alone use enterprise software.
The company now claims 74,000 users for Jitume AI, its automated back-office tool built for Africa's small and medium enterprises. That number, self-reported and unverified by independent audit, represents a peculiar milestone in a market where the typical SME might rely more on WhatsApp than QuickBooks, and where a credit card requirement can effectively lock out half your potential customers.
Gebeya isn't pitching Silicon Valley dreams of disruption. Its bet is more pragmatic: that Africa's informal economy—massive, mobile-first, and largely overlooked by Western enterprise software—might actually adopt AI tools, provided those tools meet businesses where they already operate.
Following the Money (Mobile Money, That Is)
Founded in 2016, Gebeya initially operated as a talent marketplace before pivoting toward AI infrastructure. The company raised $2 million in a 2020 seed round co-led by Partech and Orange Digital Ventures, with participation from Consonance Investment Managers, followed by an undisclosed pre-Series A from Inclusion Japan in early 2023. This February, it landed among eight finalists in the Afreximbank Accelerator Programme—a sign that institutional players see something worth watching, even if the company hasn't chased the splashy funding rounds that dominate tech headlines.
What Gebeya calls a "Super Intelligent Worker" is, functionally, middleware with local sensibility. Jitume AI integrates with the platforms African SMEs actually use: M-Pesa for payments, Zoho and Odoo for business management, Gmail for correspondence. It sends payment reminders, tracks receivables, reconciles transactions. Nothing revolutionary by Fortune 500 standards.
But here's the wrinkle—it operates in Amharic, Swahili, and French. It accepts voice prompts on mobile devices. And critically, it connects directly to mobile money systems that serve as de facto banking for millions of businesses operating outside formal financial rails.
Consider the infrastructure reality: mobile technologies were projected to contribute roughly $240 billion to Africa's GDP by 2025, according to GSMA's most recent industry report—about 7.8% of total economic output, with projections climbing toward $290 billion by decade's end. The International Labour Organization's data shows informal employment remains the norm, not the exception, across much of the continent.
For businesses in those markets, supporting local languages and mobile-money integration aren't nice-to-have features. They're the cost of entry. Gebeya seems to have understood this earlier than most.
Building on Existing Rails
Rather than constructing new infrastructure from scratch, Gebeya has pursued a partnerships-first strategy—embedding its AI agents into systems people already use.
In February, the company launched what it calls the Dala AI Bundle with M-PESA Ethiopia, allowing users to subscribe via mobile money rather than requiring a credit card. The following month, InterNetX (a domain registrar) integrated local payment options directly into Gebeya's platforms, removing another friction point for African users trying to register domain names or access services.
The company's second product, Dala Studio, takes a different angle: it's a no-code builder that generates full-stack applications from natural-language prompts. Launched last October, Dala has reportedly attracted 51,000 users according to the company's self-reported figures, though without independent verification. In December, Cassava Technologies—a pan-African infrastructure provider—announced it would support the platform using its AI-ready data centers.
Whether these numbers hold up under scrutiny matters less, perhaps, than the pattern they suggest. Gebeya isn't building in isolation; it's weaving itself into existing networks.
A Web of Access Agreements
The partnership announcements have come in steady succession. April brought a deal with PROFF-IT Investment Group to integrate an AI ideation engine called VukaOS with Dala Studio. The same month, Miva Open University in Nigeria agreed to provide platform access to 25,000 students.
Gebeya's website also references participation in Nigeria's 3 Million Technical Talent initiative, offering "exclusive free access" to fellows enrolled in that government-backed program. Independent confirmation of that integration proved elusive, however—a reminder that press releases and operational reality don't always align perfectly.
The company announced plans last October to build an ecosystem of 50,000 NVIDIA-certified developers across Africa. What's happened since remains unclear; Gebeya hasn't disclosed progress metrics, and follow-up details haven't surfaced publicly.
The Founders' Pivot
Co-founders Amadou Daffe (the CEO, who previously ran Coders4Africa) and Hiruy Amanuel started Gebeya as something else entirely—a talent marketplace connecting African developers with global clients. The shift into AI infrastructure represents a more ambitious thesis: that Africa's service economy needs operational tools tailored to its reality, not Western enterprise software retrofitted with poor translations and payment systems nobody uses.
LinkedIn data suggests approximately 180 people identify themselves as Gebeya employees, though that's hardly an audited headcount. The Afreximbank Accelerator, which kicked off its inaugural cohort this March, focuses on digital trade ecosystems; the program announced its top eight finalists but hasn't publicly clarified whether it provides direct financing to participants.
Context Matters
McKinsey estimated roughly 90 million micro, small, and medium enterprises operating across Africa as of 2020, accounting for perhaps 70% of employment. Most function in cash-based, informal systems with minimal digital footprints. Reaching them requires something different than a SaaS subscription model designed for San Francisco.
Gebeya's approach—mobile integration, local-language support, partnerships with mobile money providers—addresses those realities head-on. Whether the company can scale that model remains an open question. User numbers in the tens of thousands are encouraging but hardly definitive. The competitive landscape includes both local startups and international players eyeing the same opportunity.
And yet there's something compelling about a company that isn't waiting for Africa's informal economy to conform to Western business models. Gebeya seems to be building the other way around: meeting businesses where they are, with tools that fit the infrastructure they actually use.
For now, the strategy appears less about chasing venture capital benchmarks and more about patient, methodical embedding—one mobile money integration, one local-language interface, one partnership at a time. In a market this fragmented, that might be the only approach that works.
Whether it's enough to build a sustainable business—or just an interesting case study—will likely take years to reveal itself. But as AI tools proliferate globally, watching how they adapt (or fail to adapt) to Africa's informal economy offers lessons that extend well beyond Addis Ababa.
