The 2021 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) E-commerce Promotion Season for African products has been officially launched and will last for three months. The organizers hope to take this opportunity to build a new platform for China-Africa cross-border e-commerce cooperation and promote china-africa digital economic cooperation and diversification of trade modes.


The enterprises and experts interviewed in Africa said that China-Africa e-commerce cooperation has great potential and will provide impetus for Africa's economic recovery amid the epidemic.


China-africa e-commerce cooperation enjoys broad prospects

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Africa's e-commerce market is small, but China-Africa cooperation has huge growth potential. E-commerce sales in sub-Saharan Africa grew by 42 percent year-on-year from 2019 to 2020, according to the latest "Progress in e-Commerce in sub-Saharan Africa" report released by multinational financial services company Visa Card. At present, cross-border e-commerce transactions are the main mode of e-commerce market in sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for more than half of all e-commerce transactions in the region, including the participation of e-commerce platforms like Kilimall.


Kilimall, founded in Kenya in 2014 by Chinese entrepreneur Yang Tao, is one of the major e-commerce platforms operating in East Africa. According to Lu Xiaoyong, manager of Kilimall's Marketing Department, African consumers are switching from offline shopping to online shopping due to the impact of COVID-19, which provides an opportunity for e-commerce development. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the transaction scale of Kilimall e-commerce has doubled.


Talking about the prospect of China-Africa e-commerce cooperation, Lu xiaoyong believed that with the increasing penetration rate of smart phones in Africa, the increasingly mature mobile payment environment and the continuous decline of mobile rates, mobile Internet business in Africa is expected to see a surge around 2025, which will provide good opportunities for China-Africa e-commerce cooperation.


Muda Yusuf, head of the Lagos State Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Nigeria, told Xinhua that China's sound Internet ecosystem is impressive and That Africa can learn from China's mature experience in e-commerce market cultivation, digital payment and logistics management.


Youssef said that Chinese e-commerce platforms have achieved great success both at home and abroad, providing inspiration and reference for local e-commerce platforms in Africa. Now, more and more Africans are studying, working and living in China, and Chinese people are increasingly interested in some African products, which he believes has great potential to be tapped.


Yusuf said that in recent years he led Nigerian enterprises to participate in the China International Import Expo and fully felt the potential of African products to expand the Chinese market. This is of great significance to African countries' economic diversification and post-epidemic economic recovery. He looked forward to bringing more African products to China through e-commerce platforms and sharing the dividends of China's development.


The timing is right for China-Africa e-commerce cooperation


In the busy business circle of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, Chinese products and elements are dizzying. In the exhibition hall of Kigali City Tower, a variety of Chinese goods are neatly displayed, including household goods, kitchenware, hardware, stationery, electronic products and clothing.

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In October 2019, Zhejiang China Commodity City Group Co., Ltd. carried out strategic cooperation with Alibaba on world Electronic Trade Platform (eWTP), and established eWTP Yiwu Global Innovation Center - Rwanda Digital Trade Hub.


"Our platform connects Rwandan buyers (sellers) with Chinese sellers (buyers)." EWTP Yiwu Global Innovation Center - Rwanda Digital Trade Hub customer service manager Irene Dusabe told reporters.


The platform not only imports goods from China, but also cooperates with the Rwandan government to support Rwandan producers in bringing Rwandan products, especially agricultural products, to the Chinese market.


"So far, we have focused on agricultural products that Chinese buyers want, such as coffee, tea, honey, avocado oil and so on. We connect Chinese buyers with Rwandan suppliers and help them place orders in the same way as Rwandan buyers." Dusabe said.


In Rwanda, a landlocked country, online cross-border trade is creating new cross-border sales and cross-border shopping opportunities for Rwandans, said Alex Ntalai, CEO of the Information and communication Technology Department of Rwanda Private Sector Federation.


Dale Mudenda, a Zambian economist and head of the Economics Department at the University of Zambia, said the 2021 FOCAC E-commerce Promotion Season for African products is a meaningful event. E-commerce helps reduce costs and promote economic and social development.


Mudenda believes that the time is right for Africa-China cross-border e-commerce cooperation. "At the same time, we should also note that African countries, including Zambia, need to strengthen the construction of supporting telecommunications infrastructure in the process of embracing the digital transformation of economic society, so that African enterprises can maximize the benefits of e-commerce."