A fast growing e-commerce platform in the country, Bolorims.com, has partnered with a Kenyan-based firm, African Sokoni, to bolster e-commerce business.
The partnership, Daily Sun learnt, is an expansion strategy, considering the unprecedented growth of SMEs and the urge to reach a wider customer base through online stores.
A joint report by the communications authority of Kenya and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics established that about 27 per cent of Kenyans sold their products online. The report also found that, for most enterprises, 32.1 per cent, the main deterrent to online selling and buying was the fact that their products were not suited for sale via the Internet.
A statement issued recently by the Chief Executive Officer of Africa Sokoni, Ebrima Fatty, said: “We shall vigorously pursue our customer-centric philosophy by making the customer the centre of everything we do, be obsessed about addressing their every need and concern, leverage on innovation for and on their behalf as we consolidate the growth witnessed in the B2C segment, we will expand the B2B segment. In Kenya, e-commerce is estimated to be worth more than Kshs 70- 120 billion in the short term and Kshs 400 billion in the long-term, thus presenting lucrative business opportunities. Furthermore, e-commerce will be a catalyst to the achievement of the Big Four Agenda, in which manufacturing is a key pillar.
According to the CEO of Bolorims.com, Michael Orimobil, ‘’Bolorims was eager to invest in the e-commerce market in Kenya to build a cohesive partnership between Nigeria and East Africa. We have acquired a 10 per cent stake of Africa Sokoni but we will be trading in West Africa as Bolosokoni.com.”
Both parties believe that e-commerce will enable SMEs lower costs, make it stay competitive and at the same time, take it global by harnessing the power of the internet.