Kenya-East Africa, are e-commerce ready?

Today, very little business is transacted online in Kenya. E-commerce has great potential to expand markets, productivity and competitiveness, in Kenya, East Africa, Africa and under developed Nations, according to experts.


What is E-Commerce? E-commerce is a form of business transaction in which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchanges or direct physical contact. It is also a means of doing business online through the World Wide Web by purchasing goods and services online.


E-commerce includes business-to-business connections that make purchasing easier for big corporations, whilist interaction with middle, small, startups and personal businesses is maximized. This is due to it's nature i.e non-personal interaction, speed and proximities. It also includes the so-called micro transactions that allow businesses or consumers to pay small amounts of cash to access online content or games.


African, East African and the Kenyan government's failure or slowness to address ICT policy and strategy in a cohesive and comprehensive manner, which would have provision for e-transactions bill. In Kenya today for instance, as of June, this year, it was projected that the total number of credit card users would have increased and surpassed 100,000 if the pace of subscription remained consistent.


This forms the basis upon which e-commerce could be developed, improved and sustained. However, despite the availability of the necessary infrastructure, e-commerce has not taken off in Kenya strongly due to the absence of enabling legislation.


Statistics show that e-commerce is estimated to be worth over US$2 trillion and extraordinary growth is expected in the next few years. Kenya only needs to tap 1% of this business to thrive.