Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is upbeat about Africa, though its present footprint in the region is scanty. That is going to change now. Sometime later this month, Jack Ma and his Foundation will head to Accra, Ghana as co-hosts of the Africa Netpreneur Summit. The summit is aimed at boosting African participation in the emerging e-commerce and digital sectors. The summit will have a business pitch contest with a prize money of US$1m prize fund. The summit is designed to encourage e-commerce development while keeping an eye on future opportunities. With a population of 1.3 billion spread over 54 countries, Africa is the future of e-commerce since every country the region is embarking on digitization.
Jack Ma came to Africa in 2017 for his first trip in the capacity of special adviser to UNCTAD on entrepreneurship and small business. When he visited Rwanda and Kenya he was really struck by the level of passion and energy of the youth around entrepreneurship, despite its relatively small strides in entrepreneurship development. Despite the nascent stage of e-commerce as compared to China and India, he realized that there was groundswell of opportunities to tap.
In the meantime, the percentage of Africans using the internet increased from 2.1% in 2005 to 24.4% in 2018 in the vast continent , and yet, e-commerce remains embryonic. A combination of reasons is attributed to that. Limited transport and logistical infrastructure, regulatory uncertainty, low digital trust and moderate regional integration are some of them. There are 264 e-commerce startups operational across the continent and has a potential to grow exponentially to provide employment to over 3 million by 2025 ranging from delivery drivers to retail and hospitality workers. According to another estimates, e-commerce sales could reach US$75billion a year by the mid 2020s. Alibaba’s latest move to focus on Africa should be seen from this perspective. Alibaba is also keen to develop a clutch of e-entrepreneurs to be the first movers in the e-commerce revolution that will take place in the country. It is also helping African universities to develop e-commerce curriculum
The World Economic Forum, in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC), Geneva released the Africa E-Commerce Agenda, an eight-step action plan for Africa. The salient features of the proposed eco system include a policy refresh, expanded connectivity, and logistics and e-payments solutions. The African Union Commission and other stakeholders have been tasked by governments to develop a digital trade and digital economy development strategy by February 2020.
