TN
Thandiwe Nkosi
Founder & CEO · 15y exp
South African, ex-Standard Bank digital lead. Built Tradewind to be the agency that actually understands African unit economics.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ What clients say
"Tradewind cut our Nigeria CAC by almost two-thirds. They built a WhatsApp onboarding flow that actually fits how Nigerians use the internet."
Ifeanyi Eze
Head of Growth, Kuda Bank
"1.4 million paid subscribers in 14 months across Kenya and Ghana. They get African EdTech in a way no global agency we hired ever did."
Adaeze Nwosu
CMO, uLesson EdTech
"Reaching informal SMBs in their own language, with content that respects them, was the unlock. Our merchant signups doubled."
Kayla Morrison
Marketing Lead, Yoco Payments
TM
Tradewind Marketing — Social Media Marketing Agency in Cape Town
Africa-focused growth for fintech & marketplaces
Cape Town, South Africa · African market entry + WhatsApp marketing
30+
Clients served
4
Years active
4.5x
Average ROI
$28M+
Revenue generated
420k+ WA conversations
Leads delivered
16
Active retainers
About Tradewind Marketing
Tradewind Marketing helps global tech companies launch and grow across African markets. They specialize in WhatsApp-first marketing strategies - the dominant channel across the continent.
What sets them apart
Tradewind builds its strategy on a single observation: in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, and Ghana, WhatsApp is the dominant commerce surface, not Instagram or TikTok. The team has staff in Lagos, Nairobi, and Cape Town who operate verified WhatsApp Business API funnels with chatbot plus human-handover pricing tuned for low-bandwidth users. They run mobile-data-light ad creative (under 1 MB Reels with hard-coded captions) and Meta campaigns optimized for cents-per-conversation rather than CPM, which is the right unit of economics across the continent.
Industries served
- FinTech
- Marketplaces
- EdTech
Services
- Market research
- WhatsApp marketing
- Mobile-first content
- Community moderation
Meet the team
The people who'll be running your account. Names with are Inflowave-verified.
AO
Adebayo Okonkwo
Lagos Country Lead · 11y exp
Runs the Nigeria team. Specializes in WhatsApp Commerce and BVN-aware fintech onboarding flows.
WM
Wanjiru Mwangi
Nairobi Country Lead · 9y exp
Heads the Kenya operation. Deep experience with M-Pesa integrations and Swahili-first creator programs.
Pv
Pieter van der Merwe
Head of Performance · 12y exp
Ex-Yoco growth lead. Builds mobile-data-light Meta creative for sub-1MB delivery and runs cents-per-conversation optimization.
Qualifications & certifications
Meta Business Partner
Meta · 2023
WhatsApp Business Solution Provider
Meta · 2024
Google Ads Certified (Africa)
Google · 2024
Inflowave Verified Agency
Inflowave · 2026
Notable clients
- K Kuda Bank (NG)
- J Jumia Marketplace
- U uLesson EdTech
- Y Yoco Payments (ZA)
Case studies
Real client engagements with measurable outcomes — swipe or use the arrows.
Kuda Bank cut Nigeria CAC by 64% via WhatsApp onboarding
FinTechClient: Kuda Bank
-64% CAC
78% KYC completion
71% WA-led signups
Challenge
A Nigerian neobank was paying $4.20 blended CAC across Meta and Google for new account signups. Drop-off inside the in-app KYC flow was 58%, mostly on slow connections.
Approach
Tradewind moved the entire top-of-funnel onto WhatsApp: ads clicked through to a WA Business chat that walked the user through pre-KYC, captured BVN (bank verification number) safely, then handed to the app for the final identity step. Used 200 KB MP4 ad creative tuned for 3G.
Result
CAC dropped from $4.20 to $1.51 (-64%) in 4 months. KYC completion rate went from 42% to 78%. WhatsApp now handles 71% of all new account starts.
uLesson hit 1.4M paid Kenya subscribers via mobile-first creator program
EdTechClient: uLesson EdTech
1.4M subscribers
-15pt refunds
2.3x LTV
Challenge
A pan-African EdTech needed to scale paid subscribers in Kenya and Ghana. Existing Meta funnel was English-only and converting at 0.6%, with high refund rates from parents who did not understand the product before paying.
Approach
Built a 60-creator program with Kenyan and Ghanaian teachers and parents producing demo content in Swahili, Twi, and English. Routed all ads to a WhatsApp consult that explained the curriculum match before billing. Layered M-Pesa and MTN Mobile Money as primary payment options.
Result
1.4M paid subscribers added across Kenya and Ghana in 14 months. Refund rate dropped from 19% to 4%. WA-led conversions had 2.3x lifetime value vs ad-direct conversions.
Yoco Payments doubled SMB merchant signups via Cape Town SMB outreach
FinTechClient: Yoco Payments
+2.1x signups
81% same-day approval
38% pipeline share
Challenge
A South African card-reader fintech needed to reach informal SMB merchants (spaza shops, salons, food trucks) who did not respond to digital ads in English-only formats.
Approach
Produced 40 short-form ads in isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans, and English, each shot inside actual partner merchant locations. Built a WhatsApp signup flow with FICA document upload and same-day shipping confirmation. Trained a 6-person community-moderation team for after-hours coverage.
Result
SMB merchant signups grew 2.1x year-on-year. Same-day approvals went from 22% to 81%. Tradewind's WA pipeline now drives 38% of Yoco's monthly net new merchants.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a social media marketing agency in Cape Town cost? +
Tradewind Marketing works on a retainer (zar 60k-250k/mo, usd 3.5k-14k/mo) + per-conversation fee on whatsapp volume model. Most social media marketing engagements in Cape Town run as monthly retainers — request a quote for exact numbers based on your goals.
What does Tradewind Marketing specialize in? +
Tradewind Marketing is a Cape Town, South Africa agency specializing in African market entry + WhatsApp marketing. They serve FinTech, Marketplaces, EdTech.
Is Tradewind Marketing a good fit for my business? +
Tradewind Marketing works best with FinTech, Marketplaces, EdTech brands and has served 30+ clients. If you need market research, whatsapp marketing, mobile-first content, they're worth a conversation.
How is Tradewind Marketing vetted? +
Every partner agency in the Inflowave directory is verified before listing. We confirm the business, its services, and its track record.
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