Day 1: A geophysics student at the University of Ghana wants a pair of $100 Birkenstocks, but the price tag is out of reach, and affordable lecture clothes are nowhere to be found. Day 500: He teaches himself to code on YouTube, launches a website, and battles the classic chicken-and-egg marketplace dilemma. Day 1000: Cedisaver averages 6,000 monthly users, connects 37 informal vendors, and scales completely bootstrapped. In this edition of Day 1 to 1000, OPEYEMI KAREEM charts the journey of Moriah Adika—from a campus thrift struggle to building Ghana’s digital marketplace for budget-friendly fashion.
Moriah Adika’s journey to founding Cedisaver began with a pair of Birkenstocks. As a senior high school student at Achimota School in Ghana, he noticed that the popular German sandals commanded sticker prices upwards of $100. For students on a tight budget, acquiring a pair meant scouring second-hand markets or relying on personal favours. The challenge of finding affordable, stylish clothing persisted long after he graduated from Achimota.
“When we started university, I realised that even buying clothes for daily lectures wasn’t easy,” Adika says. “There were simply no affordable options.”
As COVID-19 lockdowns shifted consumer habits online, Adika began exploring whether a dedicated digital platform could make budget-friendly clothing accessible. Studying geophysics at the University of Ghana, he lacked a background in software development or coding. Undeterred, he taught himself how to build the site using YouTube tutorials.
Originally published by TechCabal.