Alan Betu

e-Commerce is an integral part of free trade and critical to boosting intra-Africa trade.  In February 2020, the AU Assembly decided to include digital trade within the AfCFTA. In order to realise such a vision, inputs from public and private actors will be crucial. How does Africa realise a vision of a single online market and develop a strong enabling environment and ecosystem for digital trade? e-Commerce is much broader than traditional trade facilitation topics and covers data governance, digital payments, among others. This public-private dialogue will examine how the continent can capitalise on the opportunity presented by the digitalisation of trade and value chains and how can the continent build off uniquely African success stories. However, there are also significant risks associated with e-Commerce related to a lack of trust in emerging platforms, and environmental risks from a lack of appropriate packaging and increased delivery and returns traffic. It will try and examine what concrete next steps should be taken by stakeholders which could minimise these potential risks