Maverick Research, a leading African market intelligence and technology company, is set to launch Mapela.io, an AI-powered platform designed to help businesses better understand retail markets across developing economies.

In a statement issued in Accra on Friday April 17, 2026, the company said the tool will drastically cut both the time and cost of doing retail censuses and market mapping—especially in informal trading hubs like open-air markets and street kiosks, where reliable data has traditionally been hard to come by.

Mapela.io uses computer vision and machine learning, trained on data from more than 1.5 million retail outlets across 80 markets. It can identify, classify, and map retail stores—whether they are formal shops or informal roadside stalls.

Ato Micah, Managing Principal at Maverick Research, called the platform a major step in the company’s shift toward tech-driven intelligence.

“What once required months of fieldwork can now be delivered in a matter of days, at significantly lower cost and with greater accuracy,” he said.

In many emerging economies, informal retail channels like kiosks, open markets, and neighborhood shops make up a huge chunk of daily commerce. But gathering data from these places has always been slow, expensive, and often incomplete. The company says Mapela.io is built to close that gap by offering a structured, near-real-time view of what’s happening on the ground.

According to Maverick Research, the platform can complete retail census projects up to 70% faster and reduce costs by as much as 40%. That could give businesses a much clearer picture of underserved markets, helping them make smarter decisions about where to enter, expand, or set up distribution.

The launch builds on Maverick’s existing work across West and Central Africa, where the firm already tracks over 60 fast-moving consumer goods categories and roughly 15,000 products per country each month through its retail audit network.

By folding Mapela.io into its broader data system, the company hopes to offer clients a more complete view of market structure and performance.

Pilot deployments are already underway, with a wider rollout to clients expected soon.

Maverick Research provides real-time insights into consumer buying habits and operates in Ghana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Senegal, with a focus on traditional retail channels.