Popular online marketplace portal, AliExpress, which is owned by the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, a brainchild of Jack Ma, is coming to East Africa.
According to sources, Alibaba seems to be soon making its way into Addis Ababa, where the trading portal for East and Central Africa will be established
‘My Views on News,’ of Addis Ababa quotes the Advisor to the Ethiopian Minister of Innovation and Technology, Abiyot Bayu, saying an agreement to that effect has been reached, with an official announcement expected to be released to the public soon.
Previously, on August 7, 2024, a virtual meeting was held between Ethiopian officials and the AliExpress team led by the Senior Advisor at Alibaba Global Initiatives, Chandee Zhuang.
After the online meeting between Ethiopia and Alibaba, the two sides agreed on signing the agreement.
Sources say Alibaba’s entry aligns with Ethiopia’s recent reforms to attract foreign direct investment, including a new e-commerce licensing regime.
Alibaba’s arrival, though delayed, promises to boost Ethiopia’s economy, create jobs, and support local entrepreneurs, but also to boost East Africa’s presence on the global online business.
The move is also a continuation of the 2019 Memorandum of Understanding to establish an Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) in Ethiopia, a key initiative by Alibaba founder Jack Ma.
Despite previous controversies, including a refuted claim by Ethiopian entrepreneur Ermias Amelga about his possible partnership with Alibaba, the Chinese company’s official entry into Ethiopia is almost confirmed now.
Alibaba ventures into Ethiopia at the time when other global online retail portals such as ‘The Amazon,’ and ‘Ebay,’ are also mulling to establish their footprints in Africa.
Alibaba Group Holding Limited, branded as Alibaba, is a Chinese multinational technology company which was founded in 1999, specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology.
Based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Alibaba provides consumer-to-consumer (C2C), business-to-consumer (B2C), and business-to-business (B2B) sales services via Chinese and global marketplaces.
But apart from the local consumer, digital media and entertainment, logistics and cloud computing services, Alibaba also owns and operates a diverse portfolio of companies around the world in numerous business sectors.