This archive report was first published on 30 August 2021.
Published on August 30, 2021, the Kenya e-Commerce Awards and Conference in Nairobi highlighted the need for local firms to innovate and compete with global giants.
Head of Digital Business at I&M Bank Michael Mwangi noted that while Kenya has held a prime slot in e-Commerce growth, behind South Africa and Nigeria, Ghana is closing in fast.
‘At the rate we see e-Commerce in Ghana going, it will be bigger than in Kenya,’ he said.
Mr Mwangi emphasized that cross-border transactions make up half of the sub-Saharan Africa market, with Google, Facebook, and Microsoft leading the way due to adverts and cloud services.
‘It means the competition is no longer local,’ said Mwangi, citing Alibaba and Amazon as some of the big competitors.
Standard Group Chief Executive Orlando Lyomu urged e-Commerce companies to review their catalogues with an eye on global growth, asking, ‘Is your catalogue compelling?’
He noted that supply chain and logistics issues have to be sorted out if local firms are to grow and compete with global logistics giants.
‘It has to be reliable, reach the customers and most importantly be an industry in itself,’ he said.
The 2021 awards recognized the best firms in e-Commerce categories, including Kericho Gold as the best in e-Commerce, beverages, and Copia Kenya winning gold in both e-Commerce and customer service.
