An Industry Powered by Mobile Access and Mobile Payments

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Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is currently one of the world’s smallest e-commerce regions, according to a recent report from Visa. But the report also highlighted the region’s potential: It has seen 42% year-on-year growth from 2019-2020, and its leading markets – South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya – are starting to mature, providing a foundation for continued growth.

Meanwhile, other factors are aligning to support the industry’s continued momentum: As Visa points out, in the last five years payment facilitators have become key players in SSA’s e-commerce value chain, and this – along with burgeoning mobile internet access – is making it increasingly easy and convenient for customers to access e-commerce solutions. The report also notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has driven increases in e-commerce and digital payment usage, as lockdowns and the closure of physical stores have provided a growth opportunity for online alternatives – including those offered by a maturing base of regional e-commerce japan whatsapp number data merchants.

Afrikrea is among these emerging e-commerce providers. I worked with my co-founders, Kadry Diallo, Luc B. Diallo and Guillaume Darnaudet, to create the company with one mission in mind: to build a bridge between Africa and the rest of the world. We all share a common love for Africa, and we wanted to make African-made products accessible to a wider audience. We dreamed of building a platform that would promote the financial empowerment of Africans, especially women, through fashion, crafts, arts and culture. To that end, Afrikrea works with vendors (both women and men), providing them with online shops on the platform. Some of these entrepreneurs also have physical stores of their own in addition to their online shops, but their Afrikrea shops give them the ability to sell worldwide. Sellers pay a monthly subscription of around US $12, which gives them access to our suite of vendor services, and we take a commission of 5-8% on each sale.

Below, I’ll explore how the growing e-commerce sector has paved the way for local sellers – particularly women – to showcase their talents and build their businesses. I’ll also highlight some ways to encourage more women entrepreneurs to sell online, and discuss how Afrikrea is adapting to take full advantage of the industry’s ongoing growth in SSA.