World Insights: Chinese technology, expertise help advance Africa's digital transformation

Staff members of Kilimall work at a warehouse in Mlolongo, Kenya, Nov 10, 2023. [Xinhua]

Compared with other places in the world, the internet infrastructure in Africa is still weak. The "Measuring digital development: Facts and Figures 2022" report released by the International Telecommunications Union shows that two-thirds of the world's population uses the internet, while the average for Africa is just 40 percent of the population.

Since the founding of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000, Chinese companies have helped African countries build a communications backbone network of 150,000 km and a network service covering nearly 700 million user terminals, according to the "China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals" white paper.

"China has actively participated in the construction of Africa's internet infrastructure and provided ICT support to help African countries accelerate their integration into the global digital economy," said Humphrey Moshi, a professor of economics at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

E-COMMERCE COOPERATION

As the "Black Friday" shopping season approaches, the Kilimall headquarters located on the outskirts of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is already in full swing. The shelves, towering several meters high, are filled with a diverse array of goods from China and other countries.

Established in 2014 by an information technology company based in Changsha in China's Hunan Province, Kilimall has now become a major e-commerce platform in East Africa and one of the most popular shopping websites among Africans. As of the first half of this year, over 8,000 enterprises and individuals from African countries and China were running a total of 12,000 shops on the platform, selling about 1 million varieties of commodities.

"China's experience in e-commerce brings inspiration to African entrepreneurs," said Dickson Nganga, marketing supervisor of Kilimall.

Alibaba.com, Kikuu, Shein and other Chinese platforms have also entered the African market. As e-commerce has become an engine for the fast-growing economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa, both sides have also made efforts in talent training to help African young people acquire relevant skills.

Asnake Nigussie, a bicycle rider working for beU delivery, checks online orders on his phone in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on July 19, 2022. [Xnihua]

"I am happy that with the help of beU, I am now reaching a far greater people irrespective of the geographical limitations we had," said Birhan Gebremedhin, a restaurant owner partnering with beU Delivery, who singled out the maximum assurance, delivery speed, and constantly growing customer base as a distinguished quality in working with the delivery platform.

Transsion, a China-based smartphone manufacturer, has been Africa's number one smartphone seller for years. The company is now expanding to the area of mobile applications, attracting more and more users with its music streaming media Boomplay, news aggregator Scooper News, short video-sharing platform Vskit, among others.

During the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar, Scooper News launched the "World Cup" column, featuring live updated results and online interaction, which won popularity among African football fans.

"With the youngest population in the world, the African continent is undergoing rapid urbanization and regional integration, which makes the digital economy in Africa promising. It is believed that with the help from China, Africa will accelerate the pace of digital transformation," said Costantinos Berhutesfa, a professor of public policy at Addis Ababa University.