Addis Globe, September 13, 2020
The landscape of trade is constantly evolving. And the way that goods and services cross borders is transforming. Businesses today can use the Internet to manage almost every business process, from
product sourcing and purchase to financial management, sales, marketing and distribution, cutting down on costs and reaching new markets.
E-commerce has great potential to become a significant part of the economic activity of countries throughout Africa. Increasing digital literacy and unprecedented new demand are occurring at the same
time as breakthrough developments in infrastructure and technology.
News of successful investment rounds for local e-commerce platforms, the increasing adoption of mobile money, and the reach of Internet connectivity to a significant percentage of the population all suggest a
dynamic continent that is developing new ways of conducting business digitally. Innovations abound as African entrepreneurs devise solutions to low consumer trust and limited access to formal banking.
African e-commerce is getting a boost from the United States. The United States’ International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) confirmed a $5 million equity investment in Copia Global, a Kenya-based e-commerce and logistics startup. Founded by Tracey Pettengill Turner, Copia Global is an online shopping service for low and middle income Africans. Based out of Nairobi, Kenya, Copia’s mobile platform attempts to access this market unreached by e-commerce and formal retail suppliers. According to Copia, 750 million middle and low-income consumers in this region spend $680 billion a year. The platform connects consumers to products whether they have access to the internet or not and serves approximately 180,000 consumers. Copia serves customers in rural Kenya through a 5,000-strong agent network comprising mainly of local, small shopkeepers who earn commissions by serving as “points of aggregation of orders and delivery distribution.” Essentially, rather than make purchases online via a website or consumer-facing mobile app, Copia customers walk into stores of partnered agents who place orders on their behalf, take payments and serve as delivery points.
The Trump administration set up the DFC in 2018 to replace the four-decade old OPIC. One of the biggest changes with DFC was that it would be allowed to make equity investments for the first time as it has done with Copia and Kasha. Many observers believe DFC’s main purpose with a $60 billion budget was to counter China’s influence on Africa, even though their respective approaches to development finance are quite different.
Picture Source: Social media.
