Is Africa the next emerging global market? Well, for the SaaS industry, Africa is one of the most accelerating markets in the world today. But, one of the most notorious challenges of the SaaS revolution in Africa is creating a market-fit product.

However, today, I must recognize the efforts of the African founders to create products that solve actual African problems. Gwiji For Women has gone over and beyond to identify a local problem and created a product to solve it.

Gwiji, as famously hailed “Uber for Mama Fua” is a localized product that’s growing fast to disrupt the Nairobi cleaning business. It is an application that bridges the gap between cleaning ladies and clients.

Gwiji For Women won the 2023 Aurora Tech Award which recognizes women founders across the tech startup industry. The director and co-founder of Gwiji, Elizabeth Mwangi, was awarded $30,000 to scale the startup. She won this award upon beating 400 competitors across the globe!

Being a new tech startup (launched in May 2022), Gwiji has managed over 2,000 orders. Each cleaner can earn up to $10 per day. According to the founder, the startup has empowered over 150 women by connecting them to a vast pool of clients.

Elizabeth Mwangi has also been awarded as a Zuri Awards 2023 STEM Honoree! It is a huge first quarter for Elizabeth and her team at Gwiji.

Today, I am writing about her because she had done what most African tech startups struggle with:

Localizing the product

Gwiji focuses on addressing local pain points. It saves both the clients’ and users’ time. Instead of lining up in the estates waiting for potential clients, these women can engage in other activities awaiting orders from the App.

Defined target audience

Gwiji targets women living in the slums. In most cases, these women don’t have a formal education. They depend on cleaning gigs for income to provide for their families. Gwiji targets women between 18 and 40 years who are also breadwinners in their families.

Value-stacked the product

The app allows users to offer cleaning services beyond laundry. Other types of cleaning services include, utensils, washing bedding, and even mopping!

Excellent User experience

Gwiji is easy to use and you only need to have a smartphone to access the app. Users only need to fill in their name, country, phone number, and password to access the services.

Besides, Gwiji also offers training for the users to maximize their potential.

High-value output for users

Gwiji allows its users to get value from the service by leveraging the pricing between $2 and $10 per gig. These women get to keep a valuable amount even after deducting transport money.