Page 6 - LUA July - August 2023 Magterz and Online

COVER STORY

instance, Chokshi said that with improved
logistics infrastructure and increased
connectivity, more African consumers are
now able to access products and services
from other African countries. “This
expansion of cross-border trade is driving
economic integration and fostering regional
collaboration. It presents an exciting
prospect for businesses to expand their While e-commerce
operations beyond their home countries
and tap into the growing demand across the in Africa has made
continent,” he said. significant progress
Meanwhile, Blas noted that Africa’s in enhancing
cross-border e-commerce is driven
by improved logistics infrastructure customer experience,
and favourable trade policies. “African there are still a few
consumers are increasingly looking beyond drawbacks that can
their local markets to access a wider range
of products and brands from international impact the overall
sellers. This presents opportunities for customer journey.
e-commerce platforms like Jumia to
facilitate cross-border transactions and LUCIA MUNOZ DE BLAS their shipments across multiple LSPs
support international trade,” she said. JUMIA on a single dashboard in real-time.
Does that mean the continent already They can provide distributors and
possesses the infrastructure to support this air mode of transport. “What we need is customers with complete milestone-
level of e-commerce growth? Certainly not. more local carriers in Africa. Trillions of based visibility of delivery status. Our
dollars are needed to upgrade African road smart logistics management technology
LOGISTICS ENIGMA OF infrastructure. Railways and seaports could immediately triggers alerts in case of
AFRICAN E-COMMERCE be less expensive. However, the cheapest cost diversions in invoices. Using Shipsy,
In fact, Blas noted inadequate logistics way to get over the infrastructure problems businesses accurately predict failures and
infrastructure, including warehouses, in Africa is by air,” he said. reorganize delivery workflows to mitigate
distribution centres, and transportation While talking about the challenges in the transportation risks, especially in terms of
networks as a challenge for shippers in African e-commerce landscape, Chokshi customer experience and costs.”
the region. pointed out that using manual processes Shipsy is also helping shippers
“Thus,” she added, “Jumia invests heavily to map consignments to suitable logistics address cross-border logistics cost
in building and maintaining a robust service providers (LSP) is tedious and concerns by providing greater visibility
logistics infrastructure across Africa. The inaccurate. And that's exactly what they are into spot rates, automating freight
company operates numerous warehouses trying to solve on this continent. procurement and negotiation processes
and fulfilment centres strategically located “Tracking shipments across logistics and providing real-time visibility of
to enable efficient order processing and partners, lack of standardised customer container and air cargo movement.
timely delivery.” communication, inefficient benchmarking Other challenges noted by Blas
Alastair Tempest, CEO of Ecommerce of 3PL performance, complexities in include the hurdles in the last mile, the
Forum Africa pointed out transport as one of managing non-deliveries and return to fragmented nature of the market as well
the ingredients that was missing for African origin (RTO) instances and invoicing errors as fraud risks. Ensuring efficient and
e-commerce business while speaking to and delays are some other critical challenges timely delivery to customers' doorsteps
STAT Media Group during air cargo Africa that shippers face daily,” he said. is crucial for a satisfying e-commerce
in Johannesburg in February 2023. To boost serviceability, shippers need to experience. Thus, Blas noted that
“The distance between capital cities in partner with multiple LSP. But every LSP e-commerce players are investing in
Europe is 1,200 kilometres while in Africa has its unique strengths. Some guarantee innovative delivery solutions, including
it is 4,200. It's an enormous difference. We rapid fulfilment, some have expertise in partnerships with local logistics
tend to forget that Africa is such a very handling white glove operations, and some providers, deployment of delivery drones,
big continent. That makes logistics very have specialised capabilities in moving and adoption of smart lockers.
difficult,” he said. sensitive goods and cold storage. She said, “Last-mile delivery, especially
Tempest made an interesting Chokshi added, “Shipsy empowers in remote areas, can be challenging due
observation that the cheapest way to shippers to completely centralise and to poor road conditions and inadequate
overcome the infrastructure problem in automate these processes. Using a address systems. Jumia has developed
the African continent is by embracing the single dashboard, shippers can view all innovative last-mile delivery solutions,

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