Turning Farming into A Digital Marketplace: How Cubeseed and Ex-Jumia Executive Elohor Ebieroma are Changing African Agriculture

Cubeseed, led by former Jumia executive Elohor Ebieroma, is building a technology-driven marketplace aimed at bringing trust, transparency and structured transactions to Africa’s agricultural trade, as the startup seeks to address fragmented markets and limited access to financing across the continent.

The African Development Bank estimates the continent’s food and agriculture market could reach $1 trillion by 2030, but inefficiencies in trade, storage and payments continue to constrain growth.

Amid these challenges, Elohor Ebieroma, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Cubeseed, is building a technology-driven marketplace aimed at improving trust, transparency and access in agricultural trade across Africa.

Her approach focuses on using digital infrastructure to address fragmented markets, delayed payments and limited access to financing across agricultural value chains.

In an interview with Business Insider Africa, Ebieroma said her move into agri-tech was shaped by these gaps.

“My experience across fintech and digital platforms exposed a consistent pattern. Markets with strong economic activity often lack the infrastructure required for trust, transparency, and efficient exchange.”

She added that agriculture presented a clear example of this gap.

“In agriculture, I saw how fragmented systems, delayed payments, and limited access to financing constrained both buyers and producers. These challenges go beyond operations. They reflect deeper gaps in how transactions are structured and trusted.”

Cubeseed, she said, is designed to introduce structure into these transactions.

“That insight shaped how I approached building Cubeseed. We are not just creating a marketplace, but a digital platform that introduces structured transactions through escrow, identity verification, and integrated financing.”

Building for scale across African markets

Ebieroma’s career includes roles at Jumia, Fintrak Software, NowNow Digital Systems and M-KOPA, where she worked on data-driven platforms tied closely to revenue performance and operational reliability.

“Across companies such as Jumia, Fintrak, NowNow, and M-KOPA, I have worked on systems where data, performance, and revenue are closely linked.”

She noted that scalability in African markets requires more than rapid growth.

“One key lesson is that scalability is not just about growth. It is about building systems that can maintain performance, reliability, and trust as they expand.”

Her approach reflects a broader shift in African technology ecosystems, where digital marketplaces are increasingly building infrastructure layers such as payments, identity verification and financing.

Analysts say these layers are particularly critical in agriculture, where cross-border trade is often informal and transactions rely heavily on personal relationships rather than verifiable systems.

Challenging global perceptions of African tech

Ebieroma believes global investors still misunderstand the readiness of African digital markets.

“One of the biggest misconceptions is that African digital markets are too early or too fragmented for scalable technology.”

She argued that demand already exists, but enabling systems are still developing.

“In reality, these markets are highly adaptive. What is often missing is not demand, but the systems that enable reliable transactions for payments, identity, logistics, and trust.”

This creates an opportunity for platforms to build infrastructure rather than simply digitise existing processes, particularly in agriculture, where price discovery, quality assurance and payment certainty remain inconsistent across value chains.

Bridging governance and speed

Operating between the UK public sector and the African tech ecosystem has also shaped her approach to product development.

“Working in both environments has shaped how I think about building technology. The UK public sector emphasises governance, data integrity, and long-term sustainability. In contrast, the African tech ecosystem often requires speed, adaptability, and innovation under constraints.”

She said combining both perspectives allows her to build systems designed for scale.

“Bringing those perspectives together allows me to approach product development with both structure and flexibility, which is critical when building systems intended to scale.”

Trust as Africa’s missing marketplace layer

Trust remains one of the biggest barriers to scaling agricultural trade platforms, she said, particularly in cross-border and fragmented supply chains.

“Trust is one of the most important yet often overlooked challenges in emerging digital marketplaces. Without it, transactions slow down, risk increases, and markets struggle to scale.”

Cubeseed is attempting to address this through built-in safeguards.

“At Cubeseed, we are intentionally designing trust into the platform through escrow systems, verified identities, and structured transaction processes. The goal is to move from informal, relationship-based trade to system-driven transactions that can scale reliably.”

Beyond the company, Ebieroma said she is motivated by strengthening the broader ecosystem.

“Beyond building products, I am passionate about contributing to the broader technology ecosystem. I have had the opportunity to support early-stage founders through mentorship initiatives, sharing insights on product development, data-driven decision-making, and scalable platform development.”

She added that the long-term goal is systemic economic impact.

With agriculture expected to play a central role in Africa’s economic expansion, digital marketplaces are emerging as a layer of infrastructure connecting producers, buyers and financing. Ebieroma said Cubeseed is designed with that long-term view. “Technology has the potential to solve structural problems at scale, especially in markets where inefficiencies have long limited growth. My focus is on building systems that solve real economic problems at scale, while contributing to a more connected and efficient global technology ecosystem.”