Burkina Faso flag Burkina Faso: Buying and Selling

E-commerce in Burkina Faso

E-commerce

Internet access
Data from Internet World Stats (IWS) shows that as of December 2017, Burkina Faso had an internet penetration rate of 18.8%.
According to Statista, in 2017, there were 93.5 mobile subscriptions registered for every 100 people, while a 2016 Pew Research Center report showed that 16% of adults in Burkina Faso owned a smartphone.
In 2016, the government, with the support of the World Bank, launched the e-Burkina project, which aims to digitally connect public agencies, schools and health facilities, develop e-education, e-health and e-agriculture services, promote the ICT industry, through investments in incubation centres, innovation, research and development
The most popular web search engines in Burkina Faso are Google (95.4%), Bing and Yahoo (2.1% and 1.9% respectively).
E-commerce market
E-trade is not yet developed in Burkina Faso, as the country lacks the infrastructure and legal systems to support it. Other obstacles to the development of online commerce are the low rates of internet penetration and the poor quality of internet connection (which is not helped by the lack of competition in the telecommunications sector).
According to a study on Western African countries by UNCTAD, e-commerce is developing mainly in the informal economy, through private classifieds sites (like Jumia.bf, Rigo Faso or Bonbiz) and social networks (according to IWS, in Burkina Faso there are around 840,000 Facebook subscribers). Furthermore, some professional operators have developed platforms covering sectors such as agribusiness, clothing, IT and household appliances. Online payments remain marginal despite an increased dynamism in the development of electronic payment systems, with cash on delivery still being the standard payment method.
Logistics is another factor hindering e-commerce, as often delivering consumer goods bought or sold online is almost impossible, especially outside of urban areas.

Return to top

Any Comment About This Content? Report It to Us.

 

© eexpand, All Rights Reserved.
Latest Update: October 2024