E-commerce a booming front in China-Africa cooperation

Before 2014, Bernard Muiruri was a struggling freelance e-commerce writer developing content for vendors selling goods on platforms like eBay and Amazon.

With his skills and knowledge in e-commerce, Muiruri lacked a platform that would tap into his considerable skills while giving him the opportunity to grow.

This was until Kilimall opened shop in Kenya in 2014. Kilimall is an online shopping company in East Africa started by Yang Tao, a Chinese businessman.

"During those days that I got exposed to e-business, prospects were hard to come by so when an opportunity popped up at Kilimall, I welcomed it with open arms. I joined Kilimall as a content editor and soon rose to the rank of digital marketer," Muiruri said.

From its beginnings as a simple online shopping website, Kilimall has grown to establish operations in Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria. It created more than 10,000 jobs for young people like Muiruri and helped more than 5,000 African sellers to do business online.

The platform has expanded the market for African products since Chinese consumers can now buy goods such as flowers, coffee and nuts. They can receive them in about two to five days.

Muiruri is grateful that cooperation between China and Africa has opened up more opportunities by creating jobs for the young through e-commerce. He says the cooperation allows the transfer of knowledge in technology which is crucial if Africa is to move forward.

"Technology is growing and no one has enough time to follow what traditional media is saying or showing. Most companies are now channeling their marketing budgets to the digital department. Digital is where the future is and that is why Kilimall is a success story," Muiruri said.

A similar account where China and Africa are changing lives through cooperation in e-commerce can be found in neighboring Rwanda.

The Electronic World Trade Platform, or eWTP, is an Alibaba-led initiative which has helped coffee farmers as well as small and medium-sized enterprises participate in the global market.

Rwanda and the Chinese e-commerce giant signed an agreement in 2018 that opened doors for small businesses in Africa to take part in cross border electronic trade by allowing their products into the Chinese market through the eWTP platform.

Online event

As a result of the deal, Rwandan coffee is available on Alibaba's platforms and coffee lovers in China can access the product through Tmall, a subsidiary online platform of Alibaba.

In May, more than 1.5 tons of roasted Rwandan coffee beans were sold within a minute during an online live streaming event aimed at promoting Rwandan coffee in China.

Evariste Mutibagirana, a coffee farmer who delivers his coffee to the Rwanda Trading Company which participated in the event, said the move was significant for coffee farmers. It removed middlemen between the Rwandan farmers and Chinese consumers, boosting the prices of the beans for the farmers.

"China is leading in terms of e-commerce throughout the world. The unit price of Rwandan coffee in China is 30-40 percent higher than that sold to the traditional American and European markets. So it is a more profitable market for Rwandan growers and merchants," Mutibagirana said.

In June, a promotional event for chili took place on the eWTP.

Since the event, Rwanda's chili products have been steadily gaining popularity on the Chinese market. According to Alibaba, more than 60 tons of the chili has been imported since the beginning of 2019.