Aiding recovery

Zhang Chunyu, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Africa has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and boosting exports is a major means of economic recovery for many.

As opposed to service industries like tourism and transportation, which suffered great losses due to strict lockdown measures, the digital economy and e-commerce have undergone rapid development in many African countries during the pandemic. More companies in sub-Saharan Africa have seized the opportunity to increase investment in digital technology, Zhang said.

Gerald Mbanda, a Rwandan researcher on China and Africa, said that e-commerce has grown rapidly in his country in recent years, and has become a new highlight of bilateral cooperation, greatly boosting agricultural exports.

As a result of the greater demand for Rwandan coffee beans, farmers in the country can make $4 more for each kilogram of beans sold to China, he said.

In addition to coffee, dried chile peppers have also become increasingly popular on the Chinese market. It is estimated that 50,000 tons will be exported to China over the next five years, he said, adding that more agricultural products from Rwanda will find their way into the Chinese market, benefiting the people of both countries.

Maksym Golubev, country manager at Jiji Kenya, a popular African e-commerce platform, called on African countries to take after Rwanda and Ethiopia. To boost their exports to China, they, too, could take steps including signing memorandums of e-commerce cooperation with the Chinese government.

"African diplomats in China should create online communities where people can livestream and sell products directly. They should also use Chinese influencers to test their products and market them," he said.

He said governments should hold annual online shopping festivals and invite Chinese participants, as well as conduct economic and trade expos focused on both Africa and China.

"They should also implement government policies that encourage cross-border trade on e-commerce, as well as liaise with the Chinese government to build the infrastructure to promote e-commerce delivery to China."

To make better use of e-commerce, Golubev said there is a need to teach Africa's web-based vendors how to sell online, including the best ways to post photos, the kinds of products to sell and how to describe and package goods to meet consumer expectations.

He added that e-commerce companies should conduct quality checks before a product is posted to ascertain that the photos are of good quality and the description is clear. Transparent delivery time frames should also be adhered to, and African e-commerce sites should increase cooperation with counterparts in China to market each other's products interchangeably.

Despite the rapid growth of e-commerce in Africa in recent years, many challenges remain that hinder its growth, Golubev said. These include an influx of scammers, slowness in embracing technology, the high cost of setting up a site, poor infrastructure and a lack of government policies that promote cross-border e-commerce trade.

Golubev said that e-commerce sites should employ fraud detection systems and cooperate with local and international authorities.

"Government policies should be enacted that support e-commerce trade and strengthen cooperation with other countries when it comes to the digital economy," he said.