Ecommerce keeps growing as shopping online is the thing now. A huge number of Africans are doing their shopping online. But how many African ecommerce platforms do you know? According to Statista, there are currently 65.4 million eCommerce users in Africa and the Middle East, with an additional 20 million users expected to be shopping online by 2021.
With all this, there are actually few top African ecommerce platforms really taking over the continent. Some could not continue for reasons good to them. An example is Nigeria’s DealDey, which closed December last year after 7 years of service. OLX as well closed in Nigeria.
The close down of some ecommerce sites does not does not dampen the mood of other online markets. These 5 ecommerce sites are doing really well on the African continent.
Top African eCommerce sites that are making the mark
Jumia
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Founded in 2012 is Nigeria-based Jumia Group. With more than 3,000 employees, Jumia is “Africa’s best-funded eCommerce startup”, as IT News Africa puts it. Jumia runs operations in 14 countries in Africa and the Middle East, and each country has its own site.
Not only has Jumia been serving the needs of consumers via the internet, it has been helping with employment. The ecommerce site has employed many Africans qualified in the fields of IT and online marketing and web development.
Mall for Africa
MallforAfrica is an ecommerce platform established to help African buy products directly from international retailers – mostly companies that wouldn’t be able to access the African population. Thus, it is dubbed “Africa’s global eCommerce solution”.
The countries that MallforAfrica focuses on a number of African countries but the mostly focused ones include Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. MallforAfrica intends to expand too other countries in Africa.
Zando
Another South African ecommerce also making waves is Zando. Launched in 2012, Zando is an online fashion platform, which is funded by Germany-based Rocket Internet. It is a subsidiary to parent company, The Jumia Group.
The payment options with Zando include cash-on-delivery payment, EFT bank deposit, eBucks, etc.
Konga
Konga is another online shop from Nigeria established in 2012. This one ecommerce site is often called nicknamed “The Amazon of Africa”. It merges both the business of connecting with third-party suppliers and clean distribution activity. In 2015, Konga launched its own online payment method KongaPay, in conjunction with banks in Nigeria. This is an effort to tackle the issue of trust when it comes to online payments in Africa.
Takealot
Takealot, established in 2002, is a South African-based online market. This online supermarket wide collection of products from books to games, computers and beauty accessories.
Naspers (one of Africa’s biggest digital companies) landed Takealot an investment of over $60 million in April 2017. Before that, in 2014, Tiger Global Management has given Takealot a $100 million investment.
Currently, Tiger Global owns about 34% stake in the online market with Naspers taking a bigger chunk – 53.5% stake.
Honourable mention
KiKUU
KiKUU is actually not African. It is a Chinese ecommerce platform operating in Africa, retailing products from China into Africa. The online retailer runs operations in a couple of African countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Gabon, Uganda, Cameroon etc.