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E-Commerce Platform MallForAfrica Partners With DHL To Bring African-Made Products To The World

E-Commerce Platform MallForAfrica Partners With DHL To Bring African-Made Products To The World

 

African e-commerce platform MallforAfrica has announced a partnership with global express services provider DHL that will benefit its new Marketplace Africa site.

The partnership is designed to assist online retailers in Africa to make their African-made products available to the U.S. and global markets, according to CNBCAfrica.

Founded in 2011, MallforAfrica enables Africans to purchase products from more than 250 U.S. and British online retailers through their e-commerce platform, staying true to their slogan, “shop global, pickup local”.

MallforAfrica and eBay began a partnership in 2016 with the launch of the eBay “Powered by Mall For Africa” app in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa, according to Tech Crunch.

The association with DHL adds further reach to an e-commerce brand that now caters for Africans wanting to buy items from a global market, as well as people globally who want to purchase African-made products.

The platform, called Marketplace Africa, will offers products from African designers and artisans within a variety of categories including fashion, handbags, jewellery, body care and home decor, according to Fin24.

African e-commerce platform bringing global products to the continent

In February this year the Nigeria-based MallforAfrica platform continued with its aggressive African expansion by entering 11 new markets in response to demand for the company’s patented platform on desktop and mobile.

The e-commerce site is now available in Angola, Chad, Guinea, Botswana, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, according to a MallforAfrica press release.

The app is already available and popular in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda, with over 8.5 billion items to choose from that are shipped straight to the customer’s door.

The technology used on the platform is bridging the gap between African consumers and global retailers.

e-commerce platform
MallforAfrica gives Africans access to over 250 international brands online. Photo – MallforAfrica

The MallforAfrica site allows African users to shop via their mobile device or computer at international brands that would be familiar to a U.S. consumer including Victoria’s Secret, Payless, Ann Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Banana Republic, Bath & Body Works and Nordstrom.

These brands would ordinarily be inaccessible to consumers in most parts of Africa, but thanks to MallforAfrica’s platform and Africa’s high levels of mobile internet penetration, African online shoppers have more options at their fingertips.

Global retail e-commerce sales are expected to reach $4.5 trillion by 2021, which represents a 246.15 percent increase worldwide from 2014, according to Statista.

The internet’s contribution to Africa’s gross domestic product could rise to 10 percent, or $300 billion, by 2025, according to a report by consultants McKinsey’s & Company.

In December 2017 MallforAfrica was awarded a fashion retailing accolade for its efforts to provide African consumers with access to international markets through innovative tech, Techcabal reported.

The African e-commerce business won the Drapers Award for Innovation in Fashion at the Drapers Award ceremony in London. Previous winners included H&M, Next and BooHoo.com.