Ecommerce opens up the opportunity for trade across the world, no matter how big or small the country may be. Africa has a whole range of ecommerce maturity in its diverse markets. As of 2017 internet access across the continent currently resides at approx. 40%, and this is projected to rise to just above 43% in 2018.
When looking at device usage online, Africa is clearly a mobile-first continent with over 60%. This is followed by desktop usage at 37% and tablet usage far behind at 2%.
Below you will find a summary taken from our 2018 Africa Ecommerce Report.
Africa Ecommerce and Infrastructure Data
When looking at B2C ecomerce sales in some of the higher-GDP countries, it can be seen that an estimated $36 billion in sales was accrued in 2017, with an impressive growth rate of 25.55%. When looking at the most popular destination for shopping online, Souq (Egypt), Avito (Morocco) and Gumtree (South Africa) take the top spots. Other notable shopping portals include OLX, Aliexpress, Jumia and Amazon.
Social Media Usage
When it comes to consumers, it should come as no surprise that they vary greatly between regions and countries. Economic, cultural and infrastructural issues can all have a part to play in how consumers choose to use social media. Below is an example of the average usage across platforms taken from our latest Africa report.