Rwanda selected to host continental e-trade platform

The African Union, through its department of Economic Development, Trade and Mining, on Wednesday chose Rwanda as the continental headquarters for the African e-trade Group.

The development, announced during the annual Africa Integration Day, will, among others, facilitate the group’s ambition of supporting 600,000 SMEs in Africa over the next five years.

The African e-Trade Group is a social entrepreneurship initiative with the primary aim of providing a comprehensive e-commerce platform to enhance the role of Africa’s SMEs in inter and intra-African trade.

In an interview with The New Times on Wednesday, the Minister for ICT and Innovation, Paula Ingabire, said that the move is aligned with Rwanda’s vision of becoming an ICT and logistics hub in Africa.

“With the mix of initiatives such as Smart Africa and YouthConnekt Initiative already hosted in Rwanda, we believe Ae-trade Group is another initiative to continue supporting trade across the continent,” Minister Ingabire said. She disclosed that, once established, the facility’s headquarters in Rwanda will host its SMEs programme, build a data centre in the country and also bring more than 5000 jobs in the next five years.

Source: TheNewTimes