How to capitalise on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and develop an African e-commerce strategy for possible adoption by the Africa Union (AU) dominated discussion at a recent AU conference in Kenya.
Jean Bertrand Azapmo, Regional Trade Advisor at the AU Trade & Industry Department, said, “The roadmap provides for the mapping of stakeholders and the creation of Multi-stakeholder Working Group/Platforms so as to provide an opportunity for African SMEs and startups to share experiences and best practices, share ideas; which is crucial for e-commerce development.”
e-commerce can contribute towards increasing intra-African trade which currently stands at around 18% leveraging the recently-launched AfCFTA as one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063 to boost Africa’s share of global trade from its current estimated less than 3%.
Organisers cite a McKinsey and Co 2013 report which predicted that e-commerce in Africa could reach US$75 billion by 2025, with Nigeria in the lead.
It also showed that e-commerce now contributes more than 1% to the GDP of several African countries including Senegal (3%), Kenya (2.9%), Morocco (2.3%), Mozambique (1.6%), Nigeria (1.5%), South Africa (1.4%), and Ghana (1.1%).
