28/04/2021
South Africa’s m-commerce up 35%, Nigeria is Africa’s biggest e-commerce market, and Kenya primed for massive growth
Multiple factors have combined to bring African countries to an e-commerce adoption tipping point, creating more opportunities than ever for online and omnichannel merchants. This is particularly true for merchants in fashion, beauty, education, and digital goods.
This evolution has seen the emergence of more digitally savvy shoppers with strong demand for globally sourced goods and services in regions where parts of the population have access to increasing disposable income. These factors make Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa particularly interesting for emerging e-commerce leaders from outside these markets.
These are the key findings in a report published by PayU, the fintech and e-payments business of Prosus. Titled “The Next Frontier: the most promising markets for emerging e-commerce leaders in 2021 and beyond”, the report highlights unprecedented consumer spending growth in 19 e-commerce in high-growth markets that have often been overlooked before 2020 in favour of more traditional, Western markets, including South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.
The report examines four of the fastest-growing consumer sectors where PayU sees the biggest growth potential over coming years: beauty and cosmetics; fashion and gallantry; digital goods; and education.