For millions across Africa, something as basic as having a home address remains out of reach. Yet, in a digital economy increasingly reliant on logistics, last-mile delivery, and identity verification, the absence of standardized addresses is more than an inconvenience — it’s a systemic barrier to financial inclusion and economic growth.
FindMe, a Cameroonian startup founded in 2021, is attempting to change that. The company has emerged as one of the most ambitious players in the push to digitize Africa’s addressing systems, starting with Cameroon and Senegal. Its latest move — a partnership with CCA-Bank, one of Cameroon’s major banking institutions — marks a significant step in integrating digital addressing into daily economic life.
Why Addressing Matters
Despite the proliferation of fintech, e-commerce, and logistics platforms across Africa, a lack of formal addresses remains a blind spot in infrastructure. According to UN estimates, more than four billion people globally lack standard addresses, with much of that concentrated in Africa. The absence complicates deliveries, identity verification, and access to essential services such as healthcare, financial services, and government programs.
“The reality is that many Cameroonians can’t open a bank account, apply for a loan, or receive deliveries because they don’t have an address that can be verified by modern systems,” says Brandon Wanguep, CEO of FindMe. “We’re solving that, one household at a time.”
FindMe’s solution is deceptively simple: via a smartphone app, users can generate a geolocated, standardized postal address certified through partnerships with national postal services. The generated address is GPS-compatible and usable on major platforms like Google Maps and Waze.
The company’s latest partnership with CCA-Bank requires every new customer to provide a certified digital address when opening a bank account or applying for credit. The goal? To bolster Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance, combat fraud, and bring greater formality to banking relationships. The agreement will impact more than 700,000 CCA-Bank clients, potentially setting a precedent for other banks in Cameroon’s financial sector.
Before CCA-Bank, FindMe had already secured a significant collaboration with Cameroon Postal Services (Campost), the country’s official postal operator. That agreement laid the groundwork for a national Plan de Localisation Postal (PLP), a country-wide effort to standardize addressing systems in line with international postal standards.
Since the agreement was signed in 2024, FindMe reports that around 15,000 Cameroonians have generated addresses via its platform, with 10+ local partners already integrating the system into their services. The cost for a certified address is set at 2,000 CFA francs (around €3), making it broadly affordable for much of the population.
The Tech Behind the Vision
While the addressing challenge might seem rudimentary compared to more glamorous tech ventures, the complexity lies in integrating disparate systems — government postal services, financial institutions, logistics providers — into a single framework.
FindMe’s application makes use of the smartphone camera for accurate location capture and integrates mapping tools to translate that data into a certified, shareable address. This is key for services like food delivery, ambulance dispatch, or e-commerce fulfillment, where accuracy is paramount.
But the potential doesn’t stop with logistics. “Addressing is foundational infrastructure,” says Wanguep. “It feeds into banking, telecom, even governance. Without a reliable address, you’re essentially invisible to many systems.”
Competing in a Crowded Market
FindMe is not alone in this space. International competitors like What3Words, OkHi, and MPost are also tackling Africa’s addressing challenge, often with slightly different technological approaches. What3Words, for example, assigns three-word codes to precise GPS coordinates, while OkHi has specialized in verification processes for fintech and telecom operators, particularly in East Africa.
Yet FindMe’s focus on Francophone Africa and its integration with national postal systems sets it apart. Rather than bypassing official channels, FindMe positions itself as a partner for modernization, helping countries align with global addressing norms, including aspirations to meet standards for Universal Postal Union (UPU) initiatives.
The company’s approach also blends free and paid models — addresses can be generated freely, but official certification, required by banks and some services, incurs a small fee.
Backed by early-stage investors, including a €30,000 loan from an incubator and €300,000 in seed funding from private investors, FindMe is now eyeing a Series A round to support its growth ambitions. The focus is on scaling operations across Francophone Africa, with countries like Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, and the Democratic Republic of Congo expressing interest in adopting the system.
The long-term vision is bold: to ensure that every African household has access to a verified, usable address.
What’s Next?
FindMe’s partnership with CCA-Bank is expected to trigger a domino effect across Cameroon’s banking sector, particularly as financial regulators increase pressure on institutions to improve KYC practices. The startup’s integration with national efforts to introduce postal codes further solidifies its position as a key player in Cameroon’s digital transformation.
Still, scaling won’t be without challenges. Beyond competition, the company must navigate digital literacy gaps, regulatory hurdles, and the operational complexities of serving remote rural populations.
Yet for now, Wanguep is optimistic. “If we can help give every Cameroonian an address, we’re not just talking about fintech or logistics anymore — we’re talking about national development.”
FindMe’s journey may just be starting, but it offers a playbook for how African tech can tackle foundational challenges in pragmatic, commercially viable ways. Address by address, household by household, a fragmented system is being woven into something more whole.