How an ex-Huawei employer fed up with shopping in Africa built continent's biggest e-commerce platform Kilimall
- Since being founded in 2014, Kilimall has grown rapidly to become the biggest e-commerce site in Kenya with about 10 million users
Kilimall, the Chinese start-up that is now one of Africa’s leading e-commerce players, is building a platform that empowers thousands of Chinese small businesses eyeing Africa with their localised services.
Named after Africa’s highest mountain Kilimanjaro, Kilimall was the first Chinese e-commerce company to enter Africa, selling products that span various categories including electronics, clothing, home appliances, fashion bags, make-up and more.
Since its founding in 2014, it has grown rapidly to become the biggest e-commerce site in Kenya with about 10 million users and over 10,000 sellers from both Africa and China. Now, it also distributes in Uganda and Nigeria.
Yang Tao, the founder and chief executive of Kilimall, was irritated by the inconvenience of shopping in African countries after being sent there by his former employer Huawei to help local telecoms companies build mobile payment platforms in 2012.
“The price of goods was very high in Africa while choices were limited,” Yang said, “At that time, I felt that e-commerce would not only solve a shopping problem but also a bigger problem for the continent.”
“There are very modern cities in Africa, with many handsome men and beautiful women, who are becoming increasingly affluent,” said Yang. “The middle class is booming and their requirements for quality of life are getting higher and higher.”
With China’s e-commerce market dominated by Alibaba and JD.com, Africa’s markets are relatively young with huge potential. Africa’s e-commerce market will amount to US$18 billion in 2019 and reach US$32 billion by 2023, with an annual growth rate of 15.4 per cent, according to market and consumer data provider Statista.