Every buyer question,
answered honestly.

No. We actively welcome international buyers — diaspora investors, global PE funds, search fund operators, and remote-first entrepreneurs from anywhere in the world. The business must be headquartered or primarily operate in Africa, but you can be based anywhere. Our escrow supports international wire transfers in USD, GBP, EUR, and all major African currencies.

We list profitable, legally operating online and tech-enabled businesses across Africa: SaaS, e-commerce, content websites and newsletters, mobile apps, digital agencies, Amazon FBA, dropshipping, AI businesses, crypto/Web3 companies, and more. We do not list purely offline businesses, shell companies, or businesses with pending material litigation.

Listings start from approximately $50K in asking price. You'll also need budget for due diligence (legal review, accountant), closing costs, and working capital post-acquisition. As a rule of thumb, budget an additional 3–5% of the purchase price for acquisition costs. For deals under $150K, a thorough self-directed DD is realistic. For larger deals, engage a professional.

Most businesses on Africa Acquisition are valued using the SDE (Seller's Discretionary Earnings) multiple method — the industry standard for digital businesses. The multiple is typically 2–5× annual net profit, depending on category, growth, recurring revenue, and owner-dependency. SaaS businesses trade at higher multiples (3–6×) while agencies and content sites trade lower (1.5–3×). Use our free Valuation Tool to benchmark any listing.

Browsing public listings is completely free with a Basic account. You can see category, country, revenue range, and asking price for all public listings. To access full financials, contact sellers, sign NDAs, enter data rooms, and use our AI diligence tools, you need a Buyer Membership at $280/year.

Every listing on the platform falls into one of two states: KYC Verified (Trust Badge displayed) or pending. Verified listings have had the seller's identity, business registration, and revenue independently authenticated by our team. Even for unverified listings, sellers have accepted our terms and we review all listings before they go live. That said, Buyer Membership includes access to the full data room where you can verify claims directly.

Buyer Membership ($280/year) gives you: unlimited saved listings, instant seller messaging, NDA-protected data room access, verified financial data (P&Ls, traffic, churn), our AI-powered due diligence and legal tools, access to the Africa Acquisition Guide (200+ page playbook), priority listing alerts, escrow protection, and deal pipeline management. It's designed for serious acquirers who need full access to close deals.

We charge annually ($280/yr ≈ $23/month) intentionally. It filters out casual browsers and ensures the buyer network sellers are interacting with is made up of committed, serious acquirers. Sellers are more responsive and open to sharing sensitive information when they know every buyer has made a commitment. We are considering a monthly option in future.

We offer a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. If you sign up, use the platform, and haven't been able to engage meaningfully with at least one listing within 30 days, we'll refund your membership in full — no questions asked.

Yes. You can upgrade at any time and gain instant access to all Membership features. If you've already been browsing as a Basic user and found a listing you want to pursue, upgrading takes under 2 minutes and you can send your first NDA request immediately.

Buyer Membership gives you full access to all public listings' financial data, plus access to off-market and non-public listings sourced by our deal team. Some curated premium listings may have additional access requirements set by the seller.

On the Browse Listings page, you can filter by category (SaaS, e-commerce, agency, etc.), revenue range, asking price, country, and sort by newest, multiple, or asking price. Use the search bar to find specific industries, technologies, or keywords from listing descriptions. Buyer Members can also set up saved searches with email alerts.

Public listings show category, country, revenue range, and asking price. Detailed financials, exact revenue figures, traffic data, and seller contact are gated behind a Buyer Membership and NDA. This protects sellers from competitors and ensures only committed, verified buyers access sensitive business data.

Featured listings are paid placements by sellers who want increased visibility. Featured status means the listing appears at the top of category and country searches. It doesn't affect KYC status or indicate that the business is higher quality — it just means the seller has invested in promotion.

Yes. Enterprise Buyer Members can submit a wish list of business types, revenue ranges, and countries they're interested in. Our deal team will proactively source and approach businesses matching your criteria — giving you access to off-market opportunities before they're ever publicly listed.

The KYC (Know Your Customer) Trust Badge means our team has independently verified: the seller's identity (government ID), the business registration (CAC or equivalent), the stated revenue against bank statements, and confirmed no active major legal or compliance issues. Verified listings receive 3× more buyer engagement and close 40% faster than unverified ones.

Signing an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) is the gateway to the full data room. It's a legally binding agreement committing you to confidentiality. You click "Request Access," review the NDA terms, and e-sign digitally. The seller is notified and can approve or deny your request. Once approved, you gain immediate access to the full data room.

Yes. Our NDAs are drafted by lawyers admitted to the bar in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa. They are enforceable under contract law across all 15+ countries we operate in. For cross-border deals, the NDA specifies a governing law clause aligned with the seller's jurisdiction. Breaking an NDA subjects you to civil liability in that jurisdiction.

Most data rooms contain: 24+ months of P&L statements, verified bank statement summaries, traffic analytics exports (Google Analytics, Ahrefs, etc.), customer metrics (churn, LTV, concentration), key contracts, business registration documents, and a seller Q&A section. The depth varies by seller — our team reviews all data rooms before approving listings and flags incomplete ones.

Yes. Sellers have full visibility into which documents you've accessed and when. This is intentional and standard practice — it helps sellers understand serious buyer interest versus casual browsing. Similarly, you can see a log of all your data room activity.

You can share access with up to 2 advisors (accountant, lawyer) as named parties under your NDA at no extra cost. All named parties must agree to the same confidentiality terms. You cannot forward documents to third parties who have not signed the NDA.

Buyer Members have access to our AI-powered due diligence assistant. It auto-generates category-specific DD questions, flags anomalies in financial data, benchmarks metrics against comparable transactions, and helps you draft structured Q&A to the seller. For complex or high-value deals, we can also refer you to our vetted DD advisor network.

For deals under $100K: 1–2 weeks of focused review. For $100K–$500K: 2–4 weeks. For deals above $500K: 4–8 weeks. Never rush due diligence to please a seller. A motivated seller who pushes for speed is often trying to limit scrutiny. Our average from NDA to close is 38 days — that includes DD.

For deals under $100K: a thorough self-directed DD using our checklist guide is usually sufficient. For $100K–$300K: consider a freelance accountant to verify financial claims ($500–$2K). For deals above $300K: we strongly recommend engaging a professional experienced with African digital business acquisitions. The cost is marginal versus the deal size.

Note every refusal and its context. A seller who declines to answer a minor procedural question is different from one who won't provide bank statements. Critical item refusals (especially around revenue verification or IP ownership) should be treated as deal-breakers. All Q&A through our platform is logged — this creates a clear record if disputes arise later.

After reviewing the data room, you submit a formal offer through the platform. You specify your offer price, deal structure (full cash, earnout, seller financing), proposed exclusivity period, and any conditions. The seller is notified and can accept, reject, or counter-offer. All offers are logged and time-stamped.

An LOI is a non-binding document that formalises the agreed deal framework — price, structure, exclusivity period, and key conditions. It's the milestone that begins formal due diligence and locks in your position as the preferred buyer. We provide an LOI template, and Buyer Members get AI-assisted review of key terms. Both parties must sign before due diligence begins.

Earnouts are used to bridge valuation gaps, particularly when a seller believes the business will grow strongly post-acquisition. For example: $300K at close, plus $50K payable if MRR reaches $X within 12 months. Earnouts work best when milestones are objective, measurable, and verifiable. We facilitate earnout tracking in our deal pipeline.

Absolutely — this is one of the most legitimate uses of due diligence findings. If you discover undisclosed risks, overstated revenue, or higher-than-claimed owner time requirements, you have every right to renegotiate the price. Document your findings specifically and present them professionally. Sellers generally accept re-pricing when backed by evidence.

Seller financing is when the seller accepts a portion of the purchase price as future payments — typically structured as a promissory note. For example: $200K upfront from a $300K deal, with $100K paid over 18 months. This lets buyers close larger deals with less upfront capital and keeps the seller invested in a successful transition. We facilitate seller financing structures within our deal documentation.

After both parties sign the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA), the buyer deposits the full purchase price into our escrow account via Paystack or Stripe. The asset transfer then occurs — domain, code, accounts, IP, everything on the checklist. Once both parties confirm all conditions are satisfied, we release funds to the seller within 48 hours. Escrow protects both sides: buyers don't lose money on a failed transfer, sellers are guaranteed payment once they deliver.

We support international wire transfers in USD, GBP, and EUR, plus local payments in NGN (Paystack), KES (M-Pesa and local transfers), GHS, ZAR, EGP, and RWF. For cross-currency deals, we agree a fixed exchange rate at LOI signing to protect both parties from FX movements between LOI and close.

Buyers pay a transaction processing fee of 0.5–1% depending on payment method and currency. Wire transfers have a flat fee. This is displayed clearly before you confirm funding. There are no hidden fees. The seller pays the closing commission to Africa Acquisition from their proceeds.

We don't release escrow funds until both parties have signed off on the asset transfer checklist. If an asset is missing or doesn't transfer as agreed, you simply don't sign off — escrow remains held. Our team mediates any disputes. In the rare case of bad-faith behaviour by a seller, we have a defined dispute resolution process and legal recourse mechanism.

The escrow system requires the full purchase price to be funded at close. However, deal structures like seller financing or earnouts effectively create instalment-like payment schedules. In these cases, the cash portion goes through escrow, and the deferred amounts are governed by the promissory note or earnout agreement in your SPA.

Standard deals include a 30-day transition period where the seller remains available for training, introductions, and handover. Premium deals ($500K+) typically include 60–90 days. The transition scope — number of calls, documentation, staff introductions — is negotiated in the SPA. We provide a standard transition agreement template.

Observe first, change nothing major. Spend your first 30 days shadow-running the business: attending all meetings, learning every process, and speaking with key customers and staff. Resist the urge to make immediate changes. Document everything you observe. Build relationships with the team. Your first changes should be small, reversible experiments — not major strategic pivots.

This depends entirely on how relationship-dependent the business is and how your transition is handled. B2B businesses with contractual relationships are generally stickier than personality-driven service businesses. During DD, assess the relationship dependency honestly. During transition, have the seller personally introduce you to all significant customers.

Your protection comes from the reps and warranties section of the SPA. If the seller misrepresented a material fact, you have legal recourse during the warranty period (typically 12 months). If the issue was knowable during DD but you didn't catch it — that's usually on you. This is why thorough pre-close due diligence is non-negotiable.

Yes, there are no restrictions on reselling. Many experienced acquirers buy businesses, grow them for 1–3 years, and then list them again at a higher multiple. This is a legitimate and common acquisition strategy. Africa Acquisition is happy to list your business again when you're ready to exit — and your improved financials will likely command a significantly higher multiple.