Focus on CIFTIS 2021: Africa’s e-commerce development potential is huge

China (Beijing) International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) is the world's only national, international, comprehensive service trade platform and the world's only comprehensive service trade fair covering 12 major areas of service trade.

This year's 8th CIFTIS trade fair was held in Beijing from September 2 to September 7. The event was themed "Towards a Digital Future and Service-Driven Development" and covered eight industries including digital services, healthcare and sports .

It is reported that e-commerce is a highlight of this year's trade fair. In the past nearly two years, affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, global e-commerce has shown amazing growth.

According to VISA statistics, global e-commerce sales are expected to grow to $7 trillion by 2024. This growth is evident in Africa, where merchants are using emerging Internet platforms to sell goods and provide services.

A recent report released by VISA shows that although Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the smallest regions in the world for e-commerce, it has shown steady growth potential.

The report mentions that the Asia-Pacific region, especially China, India and Southeast Asia, is the main driving force behind the e-commerce market, accounting for 56% of the global total. However, countries in the Middle East and North Africa have the greatest growth potential in the next five years, with a compound annual growth rate of 23% (almost twice that of other regions).

Although Sub-Saharan Africa lags behind the Middle East and North Africa, the region as a whole still saw a year-on-year growth of 42% from 2019 to 2020, showing strong potential.

The report also pointed out that South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya are the largest markets in the region, and the industry is at the forefront of expansion, driven by the penetration of the Internet and smartphones, which provides great advantages for the development of e-commerce.

South Africa ranked first in total sales in 2019 and 2020, Nigeria ranked second, Kenya and Ghana tied for third, followed by Mauritius and Zambia, indicating the real significance of the development of e-commerce in East Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa.

It is reported that at the CIFTIS 2021 trade fair, traders are also keen to discover and seek new development opportunities, which will also inject new vitality into the growth of e-commerce trade in Africa and related regions.

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