isoko

What it is

Isoko means "market" in Kinyarwanda. Post what you sell, find what you need, message the seller (text or voice), and agree on delivery: within the people you are connected to.

The vision

No central list of listings, no company taking a cut or suspending you, no profile that follows you. A listing travels like word of mouth: from your device to the people you know, and from theirs onwards.

It must never become a way to track what someone buys or sells.

Using it

1. Browse what has reached you from your network.

2. Sell: post a listing with photos and a price.

3. Talk: message the seller or buyer, voice messages included.

4. Deliver: follow a trade step by step when your community uses a delivery agreement; disputes go to a mediator.

5. Cells: small market groups for a street or a group of friends.

6. Safety: an optional scanner that warns of suspicious wireless devices nearby.

Features switch on as your community adopts their protocols. The full guide is on soma.

How it's built

Listings are signed by their sellers and passed from device to device; messages are end-to-end encrypted. Delivery agreements and disputes follow protocols a community adopts in abantu.

Run it yourself

The apps' code will be published after their outside security review. Until then, use the web version at isoko.paramira.org or try a whole trade, dispute included, in the playground.

Get help

We can set isoko up for your community, for a minimum donation.