The embattled pan-African e-commerce platform Anka is grappling with a severe data breach affecting over half a million users, compounding a period of intense turmoil that just saw its parent company liquidated and the platform sold in a distressed deal.

A 12.1 GB database allegedly belonging to Anka is being sold on hacker forums. According to security alerts, the data dump contains 537,000 unique user records, including full names, usernames, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and gender.

Most critically, the leak reportedly includes authentication tokens. This sensitive data could allow malicious actors to bypass password requirements, hijack user sessions, and gain unauthorised access to accounts, posing a significant risk of identity theft and financial fraud.

The breach comes at the worst possible time for Anka, which was founded in Ivory Coast in 2016 (as Afrikrea) and serves over 22,000 African sellers. The platform is currently being acquired and integrated by the newly-formed Global Shop Group, following the financial collapse of its French parent company.

Cybersecurity experts described the timing as an “ideal window of opportunity” for cybercriminals, who could leverage the confusion of the acquisition to launch targeted phishing campaigns.

An urgent appeal has been issued to Anka users: “Immediately change your passwords and activate multi-factor authentication (MFA/2FA) on your accounts…” The experts also warned users to be “extremely vigilant” regarding any unsolicited communications claiming to be from Anka or Global Shop Group.

As of this report, Anka’s management, now under new ownership, has not issued a public statement on the breach or the measures being taken.

A Company in Crisis

The security incident is the first major test for the new ownership, which acquired Anka out of a rapid financial collapse.

Anka’s French parent company, MANSAART, entered judicial recovery — a French procedure similar to Chapter 11 bankruptcy — on July 1, 2025. The company had declared it could no longer meet its financial obligations as of May 7, 2025.

The recovery attempt failed almost immediately. Court records show the procedure was converted to judicial liquidation on July 29, 2025, just 28 days later, after authorities determined the company could not be saved. This forced the sale of the company’s primary asset: the Anka platform.

The collapse followed significant venture backing. Anka had raised approximately $13.5 million in total capital, including a $6.2 million pre-Series A round in 2022 and a $5 million investment in 2023.

Notable investors on its cap table, whose equity was likely wiped out in the liquidation, included the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Proparco, the French Public Investment Bank (BPI), Saviu Ventures, Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), and the Joe & Clara Tsai Foundation’s Bluepool.

Despite its parent company’s insolvency, the Anka platform itself was a significant player in the African e-commerce space, having processed over $60 million in transactions and gaining recognition for connecting African entrepreneurs to global markets.

The New Ownership

The platform’s new owner is Global Shop Group, an entity founded in 2024 and led by Matilda Ceesay, a Gambia-born executive with strategy and fashion experience from Nike, American Eagle, and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The acquisition price was undisclosed, though the distressed nature of the forced sale suggests a significantly reduced valuation.

Global Shop Group has stated its commitment to “preserving ANKA’s brand, culture, and team,” with the platform intended to “continue to operate autonomously.”

However, the three Anka co-founders, including CEO Moulaye Tabouré, will be transitioning out of the business. In a statement, Tabouré confirmed his departure, noting his “shift is coming to an end” after nearly a decade.

“At ANKA, we’ve spent years building the infrastructure that makes global African trade possible,” Tabouré said. “Global Shop’s strategy and its team’s deep experience in fashion are exactly what was missing to take ANKA to the next level.”

For Matilda Ceesay and Global Shop Group, the task ahead is now twofold: executing that new strategy while simultaneously managing a critical data breach that threatens to erode trust in the very community it just acquired.