Tanzania e-commerce is growing at an average of 50 per cent, thanks to government and stakeholders’ initiative to improve mobile data.

Speaking at the launch of premium services yesterday at the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair, online shopping portal-Kupatana.com Acting Manager, Makusaro Tesha, said access to internet is changing people’s attitude and now the majority people are gaining interest in online shopping.

According to Tesha, online shopping in Tanzania is not a new service with the company alone having more than three years of undertaking its operations. He explained that the new services launched by the portal will enable online payment processing for small and medium-sized businesses as well as marketplaces.

“The costs are relatively affordable and will enable a subscriber with an advert an advantage of 25times more than the conventional method,” said Gift Joshua, Kupatana.com Head of Marketing.

He said the firm has been registering at least 2000 advertisements daily, about 60,000 a month, allowing more customers to make online purchases from a largest range of products.

The site offers a growing portfolio of over 7,500 products, with a commitment to keep sourcing new, innovative and premium products to satisfy the needs of all its loyal customers.

 

ZAMBIA has signed a bilateral trade agreement with Angola to increase trade between the two countries. The trade stands at US$8 million in exports and US$175,000 in imports

The bilateral trade agreement will further exempt some products from customs duty.

Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Margaret Mwanakatwe, who signed for the Zambian government, said that the bilateral trade agreement will have a positive impact on the diversification programmes being pursued by the two countries.This is according to a statement issued in Lusaka yesterday by Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry permanent secretary Kayula Siame

Mrs Mwanakatwe said the agreement is designed to facilitate the expansion of trade between the two countries and further strengthen economic and political ties.

The minister said in Luanda during the signing ceremony last week that: “Synergies between trade promotion and investment promotion will be critical to harnessing the benefits associated with the implementation of the bilateral trade agreement.”

She urged Zambian exporters to take advantage of the trade agreement and the Angolan market by ensuring that their goods meet international standards and to work with the Zambia Bureau of Standards.

“The Zambia Development Agency will be on hand to provide any facilitation the exporters will require to access the Angolan market,” Mrs Mwanakatwe said.

Angola’s Minister of Commerce, Rosa Escorcio Pacavira De Matos said the agreement will enhance trade, improve market transactions and the movement of people and goods.

Ms De Matos said the agreement will also foster public and private investments between the two countries.

The agreement is intended to make Angola one of Zambia’s largest export markets and further create an opportunity for investment, competition and innovation for the private sector, thus, enhance job and wealth creation in areas such agriculture, tourism, energy and construction.

The trade agreement has provided a list of products that will be exempted from custom duty.

The agreement will further compliment other initiatives such as the development of the Lobito Corridor, which is aimed at renewal of the Benguela Railway Line which was commissioned last year.

Angola has lost some 60,000 jobs in the past 12 months due to the economic crisis triggered by the falling international oil prices, according to the latest statistics by the Angolan Industrial Association.
Most of the job losses occured in the civil engineering and oil sectors with state revenues reduced by half from June 2015 to May 2016, said Jose Severino, chairman of the Angolan Industrial Association in an interview with foreign journalists.
The business leader believed the Angolan economy would improve as international oil prices bounced back.
“Oil prices are rising and the economy will be running in a new macro-environment,” Jose Severino said.

He said the International Monetary Fund was also expected to provide economic assistances to Angola to raise its credit ranking and improve the financial conditions of the African country.
The inflation rate, which officially stood at 26 percent in the past 12 months, would help Angola to export more of its oil, diamonds, farming products and construction materials.
However, the country needed to re-establish a stable supply of foreign currencies to buy raw materials and equipments for the industrial sector, the chairman said.
He called on the Angolan government to put in place stricter control and management over the shrinking foreign currency reserves and to re-establish a direct link between commercial banks and enterprises to channel more foreign currencies to the industrial sector.