New partnership aims to help country’s economy grow by leveraging technology and the internet
Rwanda is committed to leveraging on technology and the internet through its partnership with Alibaba Group, the Chinese multinational high-tech conglomerate, to grow its economy.
Recently, the East African country and Alibaba signed three memorandums of understanding that saw establishment of an electronic world trade platform.
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Clare Akamanzi (left), the CEO of the Rwanda Development Board, and Angel Zhao, the president of Alibaba Global Business Group, address a news conference in Rwanda on Oct 31. Edith Mutethya / China Daily |
The agreements are intended to strengthen cooperation in support of Rwanda’s economic development by promoting policy innovation, enabling cross-border trade of Rwandan products to Chinese consumers, facilitating tourism to Rwanda and providing capacity building to empower the growth of Rwanda’s digital economy.
The electronic world trade platform is described as a multistakeholder global initiative that promotes public-private dialogue to foster more effective and efficient policy and business environments to enable small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in cross-border electronic trade.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has said the platform will open new frontiers in Rwanda’s e-commerce and tourism as well as boost the capacity and competitiveness of the entrepreneurs.
He said Rwanda will continue to make major investments in education and broadband infrastructure to accelerate growth in technology-linked industries that drive prosperity in upper-income economies.
“In the latest World Bank ease of doing business report, Rwanda ranked as the 29th most business-friendly country in the world, up from 41st position last year. We will work harder, smarter and faster to improve the position. I’m glad that Alibaba Group is helping us to be on the right path,” Kagame said.
According to Clare Akamanzi, the CEO of the Rwanda Development Board, the electronic world trade platform is in line with the country’s development priorities.
“Our development priority as a country is to improve income levels of our people, and that means increasing our per capita income. To do that, we need to ensure that our people have sustainable jobs or sources of income,” she says.
Akamanzi says the electronic world trade platform provides a good opportunity for entrepreneurs to maximize their income. By selling directly to consumers, they avoid the costly intermediaries.
“When it comes to the specifics of export numbers, we are improving productivity by using e-commerce. All of these are directly linked with our goal as a country, and so when our president met Jack Ma to discuss the platform, we were excited because it was a perfect fit in our big development agenda,” she says.
Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, said: “What impressed us most about Rwanda is not only the products but the government’s leadership. The government is efficient and transparent.”
Within a short time of piloting the electronic world trade platform, Alibaba sold more than 1,000 packets of Rwandan coffee to Chinese consumers, Ma said.
“I’m informed that farmers earn $8(7.10 euros; ￡6.22) from the coffee sold to the US. The US, on the other hand, can sell the coffee at $16. However, through the (electronic world trade platform), a farmer can sell his coffee at $12,” he said.
Ma said Alibaba will work in partnership with the government of Rwanda to prove that any country can be successful.
“We believe that Rwanda convinced the Alibaba Group, it changed our vision and our view of Africa and Rwanda in particular. Now we will make the world change its view about Rwanda and Africa in general. If Rwanda can be successful, 80 percent of the countries in the world can be successful,” he said.
“In order to face the future, we need to build up the new facility and infrastructure for the global trade. The letter ‘T’ in eWTP (the acronym for electronic world trade platform) stands for trade, training, technology and tourism. Through these four elements, we believe we can enable small businesses, farmers, youths and women in Africa to succeed,” he added.
Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial will share expertise in inclusive financial tools, such as mobile payments, to support the Rwandan digital economy.
Alibaba is also committed to providing capacity building to academics, policymakers and entrepreneurs on how to grow a digital economy.
In January, Alibaba will host a three-day workshop for Rwanda policymakers at its headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, to showcase the nature, capabilities and promise of a new digital economy through firsthand experience with digital finance, logistics, e-commerce and big data industries.
(China Daily European Weekly 11/16/2018 page31)