Key facts
- Local and foreign package-forwarding companies are facilitating online purchases from global brands like Amazon and Walmart for African shoppers.
- Services overcome hurdles such as lack of formal addresses and access to traditional banking, utilizing mobile money for payments.
- Afrety, a Senegalese startup, provides international delivery addresses and consolidates purchases for West African delivery.
- Aramex, a larger competitor, offers similar services through its MyUS and Shop and Ship platforms.
- South Africa leads in online shopping in sub-Saharan Africa, with Amazon and Walmart establishing a presence.
- Nigeria's e-commerce market is substantial, with local player Jumia facing competition from Chinese firms.
Shoppers across Africa are increasingly able to purchase goods online from major international brands like Amazon and Walmart, despite the absence of these companies' direct physical presence on much of the continent. This trend is largely facilitated by local and foreign package-forwarding companies that leverage technology and growing internet penetration to overcome significant logistical and financial hurdles.
Afrety, a startup based in Senegal, exemplifies this model. The company provides customers with delivery addresses at warehouses in France, the United States, and China. It consolidates multiple purchases, repackages them, and dispatches them to West Africa. For customers lacking traditional bank cards, payments are handled through digital mobile money accounts, which are widely used across Africa as an alternative to conventional banking. Upon arrival in Senegal, packages are delivered to customers' doorsteps in major cities like Dakar using GPS navigation via motorbikes and vans.
Souane Diop, Afrety's CEO, emphasized the need for flexibility in this market. The company, founded in 2018, has grown significantly, handling substantial weekly volumes by air and sea. To maintain low costs, Afrety utilizes rented warehouse space in France and partners in the U.S. and China.
A more established player in this space is the global logistics company Aramex. It operates two platforms that offer services similar to Afrety's. Aramex's MyUS platform, acquired in 2022, initially served U.S. expatriates in Africa, while its Shop and Ship platform was developed internally. Aramex Group Chief Executive Amadou Diallo stated the company's goal is to provide African customers with access to a wider choice of brands. Aramex reports that Sub-Saharan Africa is one of its fastest-growing regions, with high demand for electronics, apparel, toys, and machinery.
However, growth in e-commerce across much of Sub-Saharan Africa is limited by the concentration of wealth and internet access in major cities. While internet penetration is around 43%, only a fraction of the population has sufficient income for online shopping. South Africa stands out as an exception, boasting the highest level of online shopping on the continent, with significant annual growth in its online retail volumes. This market has attracted major brands, with Amazon launching its first online marketplace there in 2024 and Walmart opening its first African stores in Johannesburg last year.
Even with the absence of direct operations from global giants in many regions, intermediaries face increasing competition. Jumia, a Nigerian retail company often referred to as the 'Amazon of Africa,' operates in eight sub-Saharan countries. Despite not yet being profitable, Jumia expects to break even this year and is adapting its services, including opening local help centers in rural areas, to counter competition from Chinese retailers like Temu and Shein. Both Aramex and Jumia executives see Nigeria as a market with immense potential, with Jumia reporting substantial growth in the country.