Kigali, 31 October 2018
President Kagame and AliBaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma have Officially Launched the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) Africa, a partnership that will enable Rwandan products to be sold on Alibaba’s e-commerce network.
eWTP is a private sector-led and multi-stakeholder initiative, for public-private dialogue to incubate eTrade rules and foster a more efficient policy and business environment for cross border electronic trade.
In his address, President Kagame thanked Jack Ma for following through and delivering on the good ideas he discussed with him at the 2017 YouthConnekt Summit.
“The Electronic World Trade Platform opens up new frontiers in e-commerce and tourism for Rwanda and will also boost the capacity and competitiveness of our entrepreneurs and business people. Rwandan producers will be able to sell directly to a much larger set of customers than before while bypassing costly intermediaries. This improves productivity and profitability. Put differently, there really are no downsides to doing business on a global scale. I want to challenge Rwandan companies and youth people to take full advantage of this technology and not lose sight of fundamentals. It is up to each firm to produce high-quality goods that customers want to buy and to ensure consistent supply.”
The first of its kind on the continent, the launch of eWTP will also see the signing of three key Memoranda of Understanding between the Government of Rwanda and Alibaba. Jack Ma was last in Rwanda to attend the YouthConnect Summit in 2017.