In old Africa, walls were not built to keep neighbours out. The earthworks of the Benin Kingdom and the stone walls of Great Zimbabwe kept a community strong from the inside. They protected what people had built, so they could keep building.
That is what we mean when we say Ria's Colony wants to build the walls of Africa. We want Africa to be strong from the inside, and the way to get there is more trade between African countries.
Right now, only about 15 percent of Africa's trade is with other African countries. In Europe, about 60 percent of trade stays inside Europe. Too often, a business in one African country buys from the other side of the world what its neighbour already makes.
Trade agreements like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) open the door. But people still have to walk through it. We work on four things that help them do that.
1. Knowing our neighbours
You can't trade with a neighbour you don't know. Many business owners in Lagos know more about London than Luanda. Many in Nairobi know New York better than Niamey.
So we built African Ambassador, a free quiz card game about all 54 African countries, in English, French, Swahili and Arabic. Players learn each country's money, borders, raw materials, trade, history and customs. In Market Day, they do quick sums with African currencies at real exchange rates.
The more we know about each other, the easier it is to trust each other and do business.
2. Sharing useful information
Small businesses lose time and money when they can't find simple answers. Where is demand growing? What papers do I need at the border? How do I get paid in another currency?
On riascolony.org we share guides, country information and plain explanations of how trade works across Africa, including the AfCFTA and how payments move between countries.
3. Travel
Trust grows when people meet. A phone call can start a deal, but visiting a market and meeting a partner face to face often closes it.
We share practical travel information, like the visa and travel permit rules in our ETA tracker, so moving around Africa feels normal. We are also building a team of trade representatives in East and West Africa to help businesses find customers and distributors in new markets.
4. Knowledge: where Ria's Colony School comes in
Open borders and good information are not enough on their own. Someone still has to present the product, write the sales message, agree the deal and run the business well.
That is why we built Ria's Colony School. It has more than 40 free courses and over 2,000 lessons, all made to work on a phone. They include:
- Personal branding and presence, so founders and workers present themselves with confidence.
- Communication, from public speaking to writing that people act on.
- Marketing and public relations, so local businesses can sell beyond their home town.
- AI and operations, so small teams can do more with less.
- Trade and country marketing, including The Africa Trade Course, on how to buy and sell across African borders.
Every course ends with a final quiz. Pass it, and you get a certificate with its own web page, so an employer or partner can check it is real.
How it fits together
- African Ambassador helps people know their neighbours.
- Our guides and articles share useful information.
- Travel information and trade representatives help people and goods move.
- Ria's Colony School gives people the skills to do the trade well.
Join us
We will build these walls one brick at a time. A student in Accra finishes a marketing course: one brick. A trader in Kigali finds a buyer in Dar es Salaam: another brick. A young person in Dakar learns the currencies of the countries around them: another.
Start where you like. Play African Ambassador, take a free course at Ria's Colony School, and help us grow trade across Africa.