African Countries with the Most  E-commerce Users

In recent years, African countries e-commerce users have seen a significant rise in the number of e-commerce users at which mobile e-commerce dominated online retail in Africa is quite huge. This is expected to continue as there are several factors that contribute to this robust growth. Africa is forecasted to have a heavy potential for a digital audience. It has the second largest and the youngest population in the world making it easy to explore the online retail world.

Along with that, there has been a wide range of smartphones and mobile devices which is the basic factor that dominates and motivates online shoppers. According to a Statista report, online shopping in Africa has generated about $37 billion and might reach over $82 billion between 2022 to 2027.

In 2022, the revenue generated by online shopping in Africa was estimated to be around 37 billion U.S dollars, increasing from approximately 13 billion U.S. dollars in 2017. According to estimates made by Statista Digital Market Outlook, the e-commerce revenue in Africa would keep increasing between 2022 and 2027. In 2027, the e-commerce sector in Africa might reach a value of over 82 billion U.S. dollars

Nigeria – 90.9 million e-commerce users

According to a recent report, the Nigerian e-commerce market is expected to skyrocket for about a 12.24% CAGR from the period 0f 2022-2027. Nigeria is now seen as a market driven by well advanced infrastructure, high internet penetration and a large growing number of card-based payment systems.

The pandemic increased the rate of digital purchase and cashless transactions all over the country. A record 30% increase was recorded in 2021, Nigeria e-commerce market contributed about 29% growth rate globally. Consumers were mostly at home during the lockdown restrictions which made them purchase their basic and essential requirements through online shopping.

Egypt – 55.7 million e-commerce users

Recently, Egypt has been placed ahead of South Africa in terms of largest marketplace with a predicted revenue of about $7,909.9 million by the end of 2023. By 2027, it is expected to have  generated a revenue amounting to a compound annual growth rate of (CAGR 14.7%) with a total market volume of about $13,677.5.

Egypt’s e-commerce market is expected to be the largest leading e-commerce in Africa due to its population and the speedy internet penetration. Egypt has about 99.3 million population making it the third most populated country in Africa with a robust record of internet penetration.  The country marked about a 41% increase compared to January 2027 where it had just 14 million users in the space of 12 months which made it the second highest number of internet users in Africa.

Kenya – 22.6 million e-commerce users

The country with one of the most active e-commerce systems in Africa is Kenya. The country has not failed to show her steady growth.  The covid-19 lockdown paved the way for more businesses to open up online shops with an expectation of accelerated growth.

 This report might not have the exact data but according to Statista, Kenyan e-commerce has grown and is expected to increase to an approximated volume of $2 billion by 2024.

South Africa’s – 27.4 million e-commerce users

Between 2019 to 2020, South Africa’s increased by 66% resulting in more than $1.8 billion. Aside from the telecommunication industry, the top leading e-commerce product category in South Africa is clothing and apparel as well as online entertainment. Due to the pandemic in 2020, which resulted in lockdown restrictions, groceries stores also saw an increase of 54% more than the previous year.

The fast food category also gathered tremendous increase with competitions from both local and foreign platforms. Customers are now more than ready to go through the internet to browse competitive prices and seek product recommendations through various social media platforms.

Morocco -14.7 million e-commerce users

Morocco had ventured into e-commerce since 2005 with some legal regulations gilding it. However in 2020, during the covid-19 pandemic, her online commercial activities took a drastic turn as a result of the lockdown which forced a shift from physical stores. After the covid-19 restrictions were eased, a lot of market observers concluded that the growth of online business would wax cold but it did not, instead, it grew stronger.

Before the pandemic, a lot of people do think online buying and selling is dangerous and not something to venture into. More Moroccans have eradicated these fears as Morocco’s e-commerce growth showed an increase of about 48$ in total in 2021 and a 30$ total number of transactions in 2020.

Internet and smartphone penetration contributed hugely to the growth of e-commerce in Morocco. Internet users share in the country has been estimated to be about 75% of the country’s population of 37 million people with 89.6 users connected to a mobile device. Thus, developing African countries e-commerce users