By Pascal Oparada
Social Media/Tech Reporter
Express mail delivery and logistics company, DHL has launched an e-commerce app called DHL Africa eShop for global retailers to sell goods to African consumers.
The platform goes live today in 11 African markets including Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Mauritius, Ghana, Senegal, Malawi, Rwanda, Botswana, Sierra Leon, and Uganda.
It brings more than 200 U.S. and UK retailers like Nieman Marcus and Carters closer to African consumers.
The eShop will operate using a Nigerian startup, MailforAfrica.com’s white label and Link Commerce while payment methods will be through another Nigerian online payment platform, Paga and Kenya’s M-Pesa.
This comes as e-commerce in Africa has largely faltered with online sales startup, Jumia announcing an IPO at the New York Stock Exchange and other e-commerce platforms closing shops.
DHL Africa eShop takes advantage of shipping giant’s existing delivery structure on the continent, able to get goods to doorsteps near and far through its DHL Express shipping, tracking, and courier service.
DHL’s partner for the new app, MallforAfrica, has experience collaborating with DHL and a number of big-name retailers, including Macy’s and Best Buy. Backed by Helios Investment Partners, MFA was founded in 2011 to solve challenges global consumer goods companies face when entering Africa.
MallforAfrica’s payment and delivery system serve as a digital broker and logistics manager for U.S. retailers that come online with the startup to sell their goods to African consumers.
DHL has been a MallforAfrica logistics partner since 2015 and in 2018, the two teamed up to launch MarketPlaceAfrica.com—an e-commerce site for select African artisans to sell their goods in any of DHL’s 220 delivery countries.
For DHL Africa eShop, MallforAfrica’s Link Commerce service will facilitate local payments, procurement, and delivery, MallforAfrica CEO Chris Folayan said.
“That’s what our service does. It takes care of that whole ecosystem to enable global e-commerce to exist, no matter what country you’re in,” he said.
n a statement, DHL Express CEO for Sub-Saharan Africa referred to the DHL Africa eShop app as something that “provides convenience, speed, and access to connect African consumers with exciting brands.” The DHL Africa app is also intended to fill a commercial void, according to DHL, as many U.S. and UK retailers do not ship to Africa.
E-commerce ventures, particularly in Nigeria, have captured the attention of VC investors looking to tap into Africa’s growing consumer markets. McKinsey & Company projects consumer spending on the continent to reach $2.1 trillion by 2025, with African e-commerce accounting for up to 10 per cent of retail sales.
As mentioned, Africa’s e-commerce startup landscape has seen its own ups and downs. Pan-African e-commerce startup Jumia’s recent IPO filing on the NYSE is a first for any startup from Africa. MallforAfrica has also continued to expand into new countries, now operating in 17, with partners, such as DHL.
On the flip side, the distressed acquisition of Nigerian e-commerce hopeful Konga.com, backed by roughly $100 million in VC, created losses for investors. And in late 2018, Nigerian online sales platform DealDey shut down.
On a B2C level, DHL Africa eShop brings distinct advantages on a transaction cost basis (i.e., the cost of delivery) given it is connected to one of the world’s logistics masters, DHL.
Another component of DHL and MallforAfrica’s partnership is the market for offering e-commerce fulfilment services through MallforAfrica’s white label Link Commerce service.
This could put the duo on a footing to compete with (or work with) big e-commerce names entering Africa and adds another layer of competition with Jumia, which offers its own fulfilment services vertical in Africa.
