Nairobi, Feb. 22 -- While living in Kenya in mid-1990s, Tracey Turner experienced what life was like for low-income families and how they manage their cash flow and still have access to basic goods. So when she launched Copia Global, it is this market segment that she had in mind.

"The retail sector in Kenya is very efficient with shops ubiquitous with limited product selection, high prices and when mobile phone penetration peaked even in the most rural communities, Copia Global was born," opens Ms Turner, co-founder and chairperson of Copia Global, a B2C e-commerce platform.

She says that she and the company's co-founder built the service piggy, banking on the existing informal retail sector kiosks and dukas to bring to them a whole va...