With the help of China and e-commerce, Africa could industrialize faster – United States



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Li Min / China Daily
With the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg concluding with bold decisions and the China-Africa Cooperation Forum scheduled for September in Beijing, the time has come to reflect on the development paths of African countries and China and to evaluate Technology perspectives and new innovations reflect the type of economic transformation that Africa seeks to achieve.

Africa is still facing innumerable development problems – some old, others relatively new. Since new challenges are constantly emerging, they can seem overwhelming. Under these conditions, it is essential that the key players of the continent, especially in the economic field, thoroughly evaluate all the tools at their disposal that will enable them not only to lead the economic transformation of Africa, but also to help all African countries achieve their developmental aspirations at a faster rate than before, but causing less damage to the environment. E-commerce is a key pillar here.

It is often quoted that one of the reasons China has managed to grow at the pace it has is that, during its process of industrialization, it possessed the kind of technologies that It allowed him to jump on many stumbling blocks that many of the economies that industrialized before him had faced. As Africa's largest trading partner, China has an important role to play in supporting African economies in this endeavor, as e-commerce companies like Alibaba have a vital role to play in facilitating growth and growth. Economic expansion of Africa. For example, they can expand access between the two markets and make their trade more efficient.

So where is e-commerce currently in Africa and what role could it play in the future? E-commerce in Africa is growing rapidly both in terms of sales of goods to African consumers and sales by African producers and traders. For example, Alibaba.com saw an increase in transaction value in Africa of 188% and 389.9% in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Most of this growth was recorded in the "pivotal economies" of South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Morocco, as well as in markets such as Ghana, the Caribbean and the Caribbean. Ethiopia, Sudan and Algeria. At its core, its pace is indicative of the fact that conditions are ripe for explosive growth of e-commerce in Africa. The high rate of mobile phone penetration, the increasing penetration of the Internet – which is currently about 35% – and the fact that nearly 300 million Africans have mobile portfolios, eclipsing the number of Africans with bank accounts. To achieve this, players like Alibaba have already gained a foothold in the e-commerce market in Africa – with 4.2 million consumers making purchases through its AliExpress online sales portal in 2017 – to develop solutions tailored to the African context. and consumers. In addition to helping Africa's growing middle clbad bypbad traditional, often more expensive, distribution channels, e-commerce platforms also allow African producers to reduce many barriers to access. to markets around the world. This is crucial for Africa looking to embark on industrialization at a time when other regions already have extensive reach and presence in global markets. Electronic commerce thus acts as a leveler for emerging African producers and industrialists seeking to find foreign markets.

As high-level meetings are taking place between China and Africa, one must take into account the importance of e-commerce. achieve the development goals of the continent, especially because of the ability of e-commerce to accelerate certain elements of the process of economic expansion

The author is a visiting scholar at the University from Beijing.

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