Pan-African Alliance on e-commerce debuts

A Pan-African Alliance on e-Commerce was last Friday launched in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The alliance emerged at the end of a two-day Trade Facilitation and Aid for Trade, held in Addis and aimed at intensifying cooperation and initiating common projects of interest to African countries and the sub-region.

President of the executive committee PAA on e-Commence while speaking to journalists, said that presently, about 10 African countries have signed up with the alliance while a number of other countries are expected to join the alliance in the next few months.

He gave the list of the founding member countries to include Cameron, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Ghana, Morocco, Gabon, Libya, Togo and Kenya were listed as the 10 countries that have signed with the alliance.

According to the president, the alliance is the first of its kind on the continent, and the signatories hope to encourage more countries to create their own single window platforms that would become part of the wider network.

Director, Strategic Planning and Programme at Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Urbain Zadi, said the launching of the pan-African alliance on e-commerce is a milestone in the development of electronic trade in Africa and reflects the determination of African countries to work together in promoting international trade through the use of ICT.

He also said Senegal, Tunisia and Mauritius already have such platforms, which dramatically reduced the time it takes to clear customs in those countries.

The Pan-African Alliance on e-Commerce seeks to set up a framework for exchange of Single Window experiences in Africa and to establish a mechanism to assist countries in the development of Single Windows among others.


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