A Amazon, an international e-commerce technology company, is expected to expand into African countries including South Africa and Nigeria in 2023, according to news published by Business Insider.
Belgium, Chile and Colombia are also among the five markets the giant e-commerce company is expected to penetrate next year, according to leaked documents that were seen by the Business Insider.
Such a development would mean serious competition for eCommerce platforms like Jumia and Takealot. Currently, Amazon is present in 20 countries and intends to grow in the main US market.
"South Africa, a project named “Project Fela”, is also scheduled for February 2023. The market in Nigeria should be launched in April 2023. This project shares the same name with South Africa”, revealed the leaked report.
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The first project named “Project Red Devil” will be launched in Belgium in September 2022. The Colombia marketplace “Project Salsa”, which shares the name with Chile, will be scheduled for February 2023. On the other hand, the project in Chile will take in April 2023.
The documents also revealed that all countries are planning to launch their own marketplace and access Amazon's fulfillment service called Fulfillment by Amazon. According to The Cable, Amazon's flagship membership program will be available at launch in Belgium, while other countries will have to wait until introduction.
Amazon is also in the process of building its African headquarters in South Africa. There was, however, backlash in the lawsuit after an indigenous group in the country claimed that the tech giant had not gone through the proper process to acquire the land on which it would be built.
