AI-driven ERP solutions are closing the digital gap for African SMEs.
The expansion of the African retail stores and distributor networks appears to be easy. Customers line up, delivery bikes idle outside and new stock arrives weekly. However, behind the counter, there are a number of operations that are still paper-trailed, and which are not linked by memory and spreadsheets. Expansion has come while integration has not.
That disconnection is proving to be expensive. With competition and margins getting narrower, the small and midsize retailers are expanding into the multi-branch operations as well as social commerce storefronts. However, the systems that stand behind them are still disjointed. Inventory decisions are not proactive, financial reporting is slow and marketing is guesswork.
Using AI to Adopt ERP in Africa
Enterprise software has taken a new face around the world. Market US estimates that the artificial intelligence incorporated in enterprise resource planning software will increase to $46.5 billion by 2033. Starting with the estimate of 4.5 billion in 2023 with a compound annual growth rate of more than 26 percent. Retail and manufacturing are the most adopters where AI based ERP is utilized in demand forecasting, inventory optimization and automated reporting.
Africa is making unequal contributions. The rate of adoption of the cloud ERP is approximately 16 percent per year. The market of the Middle East and Africa ERP is estimated to have a value of 5.38 billion in 2024, but the market is expected to grow to 10.2 billion by 2032. McKinsey reports that over 40 percent of African organizations are experimenting with or deploying generative AI. The usage rate of ChatGPT in Kenya is 42.1 percent or mobile-driven.
However, most ERP tools that determined these figures were meant to fit markets where connectivity is steady and that have extensive IT budgets. To a retailer in Kisumu or a distributor in Kumasi, such systems can be as far off as Nairobi.
The Rise of Localized AI for Retail
Those limitations reveal a structural requirement. Africa does not simply need access to an AI-driven ERP. It needs systems built for its own business landscape.
Nairobi-based KiliMax was founded on that premise. Before launching the platform, its founder visited more than 200 stores across eight African countries. He observed a consistent pattern: retailers and SMEs wanted integrated systems without the cost and complexity of imported enterprise software.
KiliMax built its platform by combining ERP, point of sale, e-commerce, customer relationship management and an AI assistant into a single system. The company designed it to function in environments with unstable connectivity and minimal onboarding capacity.
Early pilot deployments produced measurable results. Stock turnover rose by 2.8 percent. Stock-outs fell by 70 percent. Overstock dropped by 45 percent. Businesses reduced month-end closing from weeks to less than a day. Loss rates declined by 35 percent.
Together, these results show reduced friction across inventory management, cash flow and decision-making. In markets where social commerce drives demand in real time, responsiveness determines competitiveness.
The question is not whether AI-driven ERP will shape African SMEs’ commerce. The question is whether imported systems will steer that transformation or locally built platforms will define it.
