Web Savvy Africans fuel Growth in Online Shopping

Armed with her mobile phone, Temiloluwa Akinremi embarks on her daily online routine, scouring the internet to keep up-to-date with what’s happening in her city of Lagos, Nigeria.

 

 
But these days, along with her daily dose of news and e-mail, Akinremi’s web expedition also involves one of her favorite pastimes: shopping.

“I go online every day,” says Akinremi, a 26-year-old store manager, “to check for something, to just see if I can get whatever I want to buy. Online shopping saves you time and money because it is cheaper and fast,” she adds.

Akinremi is among a growing generation of young, internet-savvy Africans who have embraced new technology, driving efforts in the continent to bridge the gap between the virtual and real worlds.

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), internet-user penetration in sub-Saharan Africa has grown from 0.5% in 2000 to 10.6% last year.

Although the figure is still far behind the world average of about 30%, an increasing number of Africans are becoming more familiar with online shopping.

Both the proliferation of mobile phones and the rollout of faster internet networks — like the fiber-optic cables launched in areas such as east Africa — have helped the expansion of e-commerce activities in countries such as Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.

Read more - edition.cnn.com/2011/10/10/business/online-shopping-nigeria/