E-commerce to create 3m jobs in Africa

The International Trade Centre (ITC) has called on youths to embrace e-commerce and tap into global online sales worth Sh2,600 trillion ($26 trillion). 

This is as the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) gets off the ground in 2021. “Online marketplaces could drive inclusive growth across Africa, with e-commerce likely to create as many as three million jobs by 2025,” ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton told a trade forum in Nairobi last week.

Trade Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina said prioritising e-commerce would support efforts to build digital capabilities and integrate enterprises into regional value chains. She said technical issues such as cross-border payment systems ought to be worked out.