Why B2C e-commerce hasn't yet scaled in African markets

This week, select members of the Afridigest Thought Circle—an expert community of founders, investors, executives, and thinkers—provide insight, commentary, & analysis on e-commerce in Africa.

Afridigest provides ideas & analysis for startup founders, operators, and investors across Africa and beyond. 

If you’re new, welcome 🙌 — you’ll receive 2 weekly Afridigest emails: the weekly digest (every Monday at ~12 noon Lagos time) and an original essay or this new Thought Circle snapshot (on Saturdays at 7pm-ish Lagos time). For past essays and digests, visit the archive.

This week, Thought Circle members were asked to reflect on the state of e-commerce across Africa and share thoughts on why it hasn’t yet scaled. For example, Jumia, the continent’s most notable e-commerce player, reported "annual active consumers" of just 6.8 million on a continent of ~1.3 billion people.

Questions or comments about the Thought Circle? Send a note to hello@afridigest.com. And if you’re interested in joining this expert community, sign up here.