Kagame, Jack Ma in pact to establish SMEs trade hub

Alibaba Group Executive Chairman Jack Ma and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Alibaba Group Executive Chairman Jack Ma witnessed the signing of a partnership between the Rwandan Government and Alibaba establishing an electronic world trade platform (eWTP) hub in Rwanda.

The hub is intended to enable cross-border trade, facilitate tourism, and provide capacity building to help empower the growth of Rwanda’s digital economy.

As a regional pioneer with a vision to create world class digital infrastructure, Rwanda becomes the first country in Africa to establish an eWTP hub.

The eWTP is a multi-stakeholder global initiative to enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in cross-border electronic trade.

 President Kagame said, “The Electronic World Trade Platform opens up new frontiers in e-commerce and tourism for Rwanda, and will also boost the capacity and competitiveness of our entrepreneurs and business people. Rwandan producers will be able to sell directly to a much larger set of customers than before, while bypassing costly intermediaries. This improves productivity and profitability. There really are no downsides to doing business on a global scale."

Mr. Jack Ma noted, “I am delighted that Rwanda is the first eWTP partner in Africa, and I look forward to the development of an innovative digital economy here. Entrepreneurs in Rwanda, and elsewhere in Africa, are ready to seize the opportunities offered by the digital economy. It is up to all of us to help them succeed.”