(3 minutes read)
· In one second, Rwanda could sell three thousand (3000) bags
of a coffee beans which were lying in storehouses for months together
due the banning of air operations due to global lockdown
· Apart from Rwandan chili and Coffee, the other products which
hold promise for selling through platforms are coffee from Ethiopia,
Shear Butter from Mali, white pepper from Cameroon, Vanilla from the
Comoros Islands, peanuts from Senegal and Saffron from Madagascar
A new sense of business confidence is permeating across Rwanda and
other countries in Africa. In one second, Rwanda could sell three
thousand (3000) bags of coffee beans which were lying in storehouses
for months together due the banning of air operations due to global
lockdown.
How did that happen? It is thanks to Alibaba Business Group’s
initiatives to enable small-scale world brands to position themselves
on the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) to facilitate
business-to-consumer (B2C) sales. Importantly, the necessary back up
was provided by the UN Economic Commission for Africa, which is
helping to increasingly bring unique African products and their
promoters to the platform. This is one of its unique programs for
Africa in the post COVID-19 era.
Gorilla’s Coffee, a popular coffee brand of Rwanda is the beneficiary
of the deal. The coffee beans were stacked in its storage house due to
the COVID-19 lockdowns, which disrupted the supply chains especially
to cafés and hotels.
Ms. Vera Songwe, Under-Secretary-General of United Nations and
Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said
the Commission was taking action to bring many more small brands
from Africa with distinct products to access the platform and make
sales during and after the current health crisis.
Apart from Rwandan chili and Coffee, the other products which hold
promise for selling through platforms are coffee from Ethiopia, Shear
Butter from Mali, white pepper from Cameroon, Vanilla from the Comoros
Islands, peanuts from Senegal and Saffron from Madagascar.
The electronics sale platform was first proposed by Alibaba Group
founder Jack Ma in 2016 and is a private sector-led,
multi-stakeholder initiative offering SMEs easier access to new
markets through straightforward regulations. It has been recognized
by the G20 and launched in China, Malaysia, Belgium, Rwanda and
Ethiopia. Training and support in areas such as e-commerce, logistics,
financing, cloud computing and mobile payments are the other
activities under the program.
