AFRICA IN FOCUS >> Coming up on 2 September, 2014: E-Commerce in Ghana & Africa: Challenges; Prospects; and the Future

E-commerce in Ghana & Africa: Challenges; Prospects; and the Future

Buying and selling. It is something Ghanaians and Africans do very well.

Extrapolate this to the virtual, and one finds that E-commerce offers an opportunity to buy and sell in radically-different ways. As the internet is increasingly used as a tool for business, it offers a quick way to connect producers and suppliers, and, possibly, serve as a panacea for local artisans.

As Berlin–based online retailer Jumia – a so-called Amazon counterpart – considers expanding to Cameroon; Uganda; and Ghana very soon, we want to use the 16^th edition of AIF to have a discussion about Africa and its new future of buying and selling. Already, given our informal sector, it is something that is second nature to many in Ghana, the sub-region, and the continent.

Even as we interrogate the issue of e-commerce, we want to ask hard questions about infrastructure; e-payment systems; and e-shipping opportunities in Ghana, the sub-region; and Africa.

And, also, even as we start with a localization of the issue, it is important to get a regional perspective. For example, ECOWAS has a legal framework on e-transactions; cyber-crime; and personal data protection, but they have all yet to be implemented by Member States.

Programmes Manager at the Dakar-based ECOWAS Agency, Intergovernmental Action Group against Money-Laundering (GIABA), will be offering us deep insights into the state of e-commerce and efforts to combat regional cyber-crime that will make e-transactions safer and more secure for citizens.

Guiding Questions to be answered:

·        What is e-commerce, and how is it an important driver of a country’s development?

·        Do countries like Ghana have sufficient enabling environment for e-commerce (Rancard/Surfline)

·  Does West Africa/Africa/Ghana have necessary infrastructure to facilitate E-commerce? (Surfline/GIABA)

·        How do e-commerce practitioners (like Zoobashop) set about protecting consumers and their data, even as they want to make business?

·        How do we promote E-commerce as facilitator of Africa’s integration? (GIABA)

Guests in the studio:

Ø  Henking Adjase, Surfline

Ø  Ato Ulzen-Appiah, Rancard Solutions

Ø  Albert Biga, CEO, Zoobashop.com

On the line

Ø  Stella Attakpah, Programmes Manager, ECOWAS agency GIABA (Intergovernmental Action Group against Money-Laundering), Dakar, Senegal @13h55

Ø  Dornu Narhkom, Baahe.com @14h20