ADVERTISEMENT
TechEconomy
Sunday, June 1, 2025
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Tech
    • DisruptiveTECH
    • ConsumerTech
      • Accessories
      • Phones
      • Laptop
      • Gadgets and Appliances
      • Apps
    • How To
    • TechTAINMENT
  • Business
    • Telecoms
      • Broadband
    • Mobility
    • Environment
    • Travel
    • Commerce
    • StartUPs
    • TE Insights
    • Security
  • Partners
  • Economy
    • Finance
    • Fintech
    • Digital Assets
    • Personal Finance
    • Insurance
  • Features
    • IndustryINFLUENCERS
    • Guest Writer
    • Appointment
    • EventDIARY
    • Editorial
  • Apply
  • TecheconomyTV
  • Techeconomy Events
  • BusinesSENSE For SMEs
  • TBS
  • News
  • Tech
    • DisruptiveTECH
    • ConsumerTech
      • Accessories
      • Phones
      • Laptop
      • Gadgets and Appliances
      • Apps
    • How To
    • TechTAINMENT
  • Business
    • Telecoms
      • Broadband
    • Mobility
    • Environment
    • Travel
    • Commerce
    • StartUPs
    • TE Insights
    • Security
  • Partners
  • Economy
    • Finance
    • Fintech
    • Digital Assets
    • Personal Finance
    • Insurance
  • Features
    • IndustryINFLUENCERS
    • Guest Writer
    • Appointment
    • EventDIARY
    • Editorial
  • Apply
  • TecheconomyTV
  • Techeconomy Events
  • BusinesSENSE For SMEs
  • TBS
No Result
View All Result
Tech | Business | Economy
No Result
View All Result
Podcast

Home » The Bloom of E-commerce and Payment Solutions in Africa

The Bloom of E-commerce and Payment Solutions in Africa

Writer: Hilary Utuke

Techeconomy by Techeconomy
July 26, 2024
in Commerce
0
Cart, ecommerce, Retail, Retailers, e-commerce business Trends
ecommerce

ecommerce

RelatedPosts

td africa Black Friday

Every Friday is Black Friday: TD Africa Turns Up the Heat on Tech Accessibility

May 27, 2025

EU Warns Shein: Clean Up or Face Sanctions

May 26, 2025

The financial and banking sector in Africa has snowballed into an era where traditional payment methods, characterized by its hectic and daunting procedures have passed batons on the run to activate a spark in electronic commerce where banking as a business becomes suave and easy with the invention of quick payment platforms. 

E-commerce in Africa boasts as the economy’s centre piece of survival, following the evolution of businesses owned by software engineers, web developers, and tech experts using their operational software packages as catalysts for transformative change on the continent’s economy, further ushering a state of e-commerce boom.

It’s therefore important to explore the rapid growth of e-commerce in Africa and its significant impact actively spurred by increased mobile penetration on the internet.

Examining how these inform trends and shape economies in view of the future beckons heavily on the need of this article.

The internet and increased mobile penetration in Africa are root reasons behind the growth of e-commerce in Africa. Without high engagement in internet connectivity, businesses online wouldn’t thrive.

The revolution in Africa is purely as a result of technology and the mind-shift that comes with it. According to the GSM Association (GSMA), 495 million mobile application subscribers were recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa at the end of 2020.

This figure is mounted on the expectancy rate of growth in 2025 raking 615 million mobile subscribers – BCG Global.

This data draws a parallel with the internet usage and subscribers therein. Over 272 million mobile internet users are projected to climb to a peak of 475 million by 2025 and might grow beyond its expectations.

Behind these figures are the accessibility and availability rate of smartphones and mobile network connectivity of Africans.

Frontier countries like Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa have buoyantly utilized the internet creating avenues for e-commerce initiatives, especially after being motivated by the shimmering potentials of 4G and 5G, in view, for guaranteed satisfactory user experience.

All of these and more gave rise to the potentials gagged from the IT industry, marking the blooming landscape of e-commerce in Africa.

Digital Payment Platforms

Away from the limitations of traditional banks, digital payment platforms explore convenient patterns of banking by providing easy payment transactions to people without the arduous formalities associated with conventional banking infrastructures.

This contributes hugely to the success of e-commerce because digital payment platforms are now on the increase leading to drastic development in the industry; in the long run secures jobs and financial security for users. Some of these platforms include:

Mobile Money: Began operations in 2007, this digital application runs a mobile money system where users can easily deposit, transfer and withdraw money in exchange for goods and services all with their mobile phones.

M-pesa, popularly used in Kenya is a distinct example of this service and with its 40 million users this has made waves on the country’s economy, according to BCG Global.

Fintech Innovations: Financial technology burgeons as a result of technological advancements.

Basically, these applications are innovations that advance payment procedures of mobile money systems through the provision of avenues where transactions can occur via different currencies all in a single application. Typical example of this is Flutterwave, with its signature 140 million transactions worth $9 billion in 2020 (BCG Global).

Cryptocurrency: This is a digital payment platform that has gained massive traction and users across the globe, most especially Africans who constantly milk its opportunities.

Cryptocurrencies mine coins and can be used for transactions in exchange of anything. Modern crypto now exchanges coins tantamount to the currency value, say Naira for instance. Although currently banned in Nigeria, it served as a bright digital prospect for Nigerians, opening pathways for wealth accumulation through currency trade. Platforms like Luno and Binance are popular crypto-oriented platforms for buying, selling, and storing cryptocurrencies (Ref: Ventures Africa)​.

Successful E-commerce Ventures

Jumia

Jumia eCommerce Pay on Delivery
Advertisements
MTN ADS
Jumia Pay on Delivery

Ask 10 Nigerians about their awareness of Jumia, be rest assured that 8 or more of them would attest in affirmative.

Launched in Nigeria, 2012, Jumia is a popular e-commerce venture, vested in the buying and selling of goods and services of different ranges in 14 African countries.

This platform has stood a test of time and maintained buoyant prosperity because of constant technological upgrades and partnerships from local associates including a well mapped-out logistics network, ensuring timely and consistent delivery.

Technically,  Jumia manages its inventory and supply cycle with advanced machines programmed with  algorithms that optimizes cost and efficiency (Ventures Africa)​.

Konga

KongaNow

Konga, standing tall as Jumia’s major competition, is a leading e-commerce platform in Nigeria whose transactional history bears the trademarks of focus and innovation.

Konga was acquired by Zinox Technologies in 2018 and has since then offered multidimensional shopping experiences for customers through her technology’s incorporation of offline and online retail channels.

Technically, Konga operates a hybrid cloud infrastructure to monitor its dynamic operations through the use of microservices that allows for feature development and versatility (Ventures Africa).

Takealot

Takealot e-commerce
Takealot app

Takealot is in South Africa and has proven to be dominant as an e-commerce driver. It holds a diverse range of products and is known for fast deliveries. Its technological framework ensures seamless transactions with easy payment patterns.

Technically, Takealot banks on data analytics to manage its marketing strategies to ensure that algorithms pinpoints the interests of her users. Mr D Food which is the platform’s logistics partner, efficiently uses GPS tracking to easen deliveries and reduce mishaps (Business Insider Africa)​.

The emergence of e-commerce has blessed the economy to stupendous dimensions.

The growth of e-commerce gives immense contribution to business opportunities and water dreams of many whose idea conceptualizes small scale businesses, to hope that their dreams are valid and can produce effective returns upon venture.

Furthermore, e-commerce has served as the cornerstone for job opportunities especially in fields that bothers on logistics, customer service and IT. In areas pertaining to GDP, e-commerce proves to contribute significantly upon yearly return.

This further correlates the findings of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), stipulating that the e-commerce sector could contribute up to 10% of Africa’s GDP by 2025, up from 4% in 2020 (Ventures Africa).

Evidenced here is exponential growth on the backdrop of increased consummage by consumers, digital expansion and internet penetration.

E-commerce has also enhanced financial inclusion as its digital payment solutions  attract people especially those with no prior bank experience into utilizing mobile money applications.

This has crystallized the possibility of financial awareness and the introduction of financial liberty schemes to minimize the rate of poverty and hunger.

Challenges and Opportunities

Some of the challenges e-commerce face in Africa include Infrastructure, Regulatory frameworks, and cyber security.

E-commerce faces stiff realities that hinders smooth operation ranging from bad roads to epileptic power supply that leads to an overall slack in operations.

The issue of regulation about the mobility of payments across countries pose a threat to inclusivity, disabling the universal objective of e-commerce.

Cyber security isn’t appropriately staged yet in Africa, this is the reason why some e-commerce softwares are hacked and robbed of their resources.

Some of the opportunities of e-commerce in Africa include Fintech Integration, Local solutions and partnerships.

The marriage of e-commerce and financial technology grows highly possible to achieve beautiful results.

Here, e-commerce can align with financial technology to improve payment solutions that cover security and transparency.

E-commerce can be used to curate cultural-oriented values in ways that applications can be created to support local languages and preserve culture just as it’s fashioned in other countries whose hypertext markup languages are designed with indigenous language which can’t be understood if one isn’t familiar with the language. Another grand opportunity for the e-commerce industry is the possibility for greater accomplishments to be meted out especially when fruitful collaborations exist between tech companies and governments, international organizations and tech companies, this will accentuate the situation of things and bolster development.

With Statista’s $75 billion projection of ecommerce’s revenue  in 2025 and GSMA’s prediction of mobile money payment peaking at $500 billion in 2025, the future of e-commerce in Africa definitely shines bright.

It’s left for e-commerce drivers to capitalize on these potentials by throwing creative expertise in the dynamic market for the sake of consistency and security of the Industry.

Conclusion

E-commerce is technology’s new gold. Creating diverse opportunities for tech professionals to thrive and build infrastructures to position the relevance of their works. Most prominent are Fintech experts whose input to the digital terrain is essential to the ultimate growth of technology and the economies of African countries which it practises.

Hilary Utuke is the CEO of Korlod Works, a top Digital Marketing firm in Lagos. He’s authored four books including “Digital Strategies for Online Brand Visibility” and created Digital Luminary Pro (TM), a model helping Nigerian Thought Leaders connect with Millenials and GenZ audiences.

Hilary Utuke - SaaS, Mobile connectivity
The WRITER: Hilary Utuke is the CEO of Korlod Works, a top Digital Marketing firm in Lagos. He’s authored four books including “Digital Strategies for Online Brand Visibility” and created Digital Luminary Pro (TM), a model helping Nigerian Thought Leaders connect with Millenials and GenZ audiences.

Loading

Author

  • Techeconomy
    Techeconomy

    View all posts
0Shares
Tags: Hilary Utuke
Previous Post

Chat with Gabriel Ayodele: Scaling African AI Research with a Trustworthy Data Stack

Next Post

OpenAI Challenges Search Giants with New AI-Powered Search Tool – SearchGPT

Techeconomy

Techeconomy

Related Posts

td africa Black Friday
Commerce

Every Friday is Black Friday: TD Africa Turns Up the Heat on Tech Accessibility

by Destiny Eseaga
May 27, 2025
0

TD Africa, a trailblazer in technology distribution and innovation across Africa, has launched an exciting weekly campaign titled 'Black Friday...

Read more
EU Warns Shein: Clean Up or Face Sanctions

EU Warns Shein: Clean Up or Face Sanctions

May 26, 2025
How Businesses In Africa Are using automation | leveraging data

How Businesses in Africa Are Finally Closing the Efficiency Gap with Automation

May 22, 2025
Temu and International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition - IACC

Temu Signs MoU with IACC to Strengthen IP Enforcement

May 22, 2025
MaxAB-Wasoko acquires Fatura

DEALS: MaxAB-Wasoko Acquires Fatura, Advancing Bold Ambition for Pan-African E-Commerce Consolidation

May 19, 2025
My Airtel App + eShop

Airtel Adds eShop Feature in Upgraded My Airtel App

May 16, 2025
Next Post
OpenAI Challenges Search Giants with New AI-Powered Search Tool - SearchGPT

OpenAI Challenges Search Giants with New AI-Powered Search Tool - SearchGPT

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Techeconomy Podcast

Techeconomy Podcast
Techeconomy Podcast

Infowave is brought to you by TechEconomy. Every week we will bring new stories from startups and influencers who are shaping and changing the world we live in. We’ll also bring you reports on topics you should know.

Follow us @techeconomyng for more.

TECH TALK EPISODE 2
byTecheconomy

PRODUCTIVITY AND WORK-Life Balance

TECH TALK EPISODE 2
TECH TALK EPISODE 2
May 22, 2025
Techeconomy
CYBERSECURITY ESSENTIALS
April 24, 2025
Techeconomy
Digital Marketing Trends and strategies for 2025 and beyond
February 27, 2025
Techeconomy
Major Lesson for Techies in 2024 and Projections for 2025
December 6, 2024
Techeconomy
Major Lessons for Techies in an AI-Driven World | Techeconomy Business Series Highlights
November 26, 2024
Techeconomy
Maximizing Profitability Through Seasonal Sales: Strategies For Success
November 8, 2024
Techeconomy
Techeconomy Business Series
October 15, 2024
Techeconomy
PRIVACY IN THE ERA OF AI: GETTING YOUR BUSINESS READY
May 30, 2024
Techeconomy
Unravel the Secrets of Marketing Everywhere All At Once with Isaac Akanni from Infobip | Infowave Podcast Episode 1
February 9, 2024
Techeconomy
The Role of Ed-tech in Life Long Learning and Continuous Education
October 19, 2023
Techeconomy
Search Results placeholder

WHAT IS TRENDING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_MCUwS2woc&list=PL6bbK-xx1KbIgX-IzYdqISXq1pUsuA4dz

Follow Us

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Privacy Policy

© 2025 Techeconomy - Designed by Opimedia.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Tech
    • DisruptiveTECH
    • ConsumerTech
      • Accessories
      • Phones
      • Laptop
      • Gadgets and Appliances
      • Apps
    • How To
    • TechTAINMENT
  • Business
    • Telecoms
      • Broadband
    • Mobility
    • Environment
    • Travel
    • Commerce
    • StartUPs
    • TE Insights
    • Security
  • Partners
  • Economy
    • Finance
    • Fintech
    • Digital Assets
    • Personal Finance
    • Insurance
  • Features
    • IndustryINFLUENCERS
    • Guest Writer
    • Appointment
    • EventDIARY
    • Editorial
  • Apply
  • TecheconomyTV
  • Techeconomy Events
  • BusinesSENSE For SMEs
  • TBS

© 2025 Techeconomy - Designed by Opimedia.

Translate »
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.