E-commerce in Africa

Online commerce on the African continent, enabled by mobile money (M-Pesa, MoMo, Airtel) and platforms like Jumia. AfCFTA digital-trade protocol aims to ease cross-border barriers.

Country:Africa

Language:English

Published:2026-01-08

Audience:SMEs, traders, students

E-commerce in Africa refers to the buying and selling of goods and services on the internet across the continent. Growth has been driven by rising mobile-internet penetration, the expansion of mobile money (such as M-Pesa, MTN MoMo, Airtel Money) and the entry of platforms including Jumia, Konga, Takealot and Kilimall. Common payment options include mobile money, debit card, cash-on-delivery and bank transfer. Cross-border logistics, inconsistent addressing systems and trust in online payments remain key barriers. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocol on digital trade is intended to reduce some of these barriers.

Keywords

e-commerce

mobile money

M-Pesa

Jumia

AfCFTA

Source & licence

Source: Wikipedia

URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

Wikipedia article. CC BY-SA 4.0 attribution required.

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