From what has been seen in recent times, taking into account the growing trend of electronic commerce in Angola, our country has shown the potential to become an important axis in the handling and distribution of logistics in Southern Africa.
Although distribution, logistics and the reality of the sector in the country, as well as the improvement of road infrastructure, telecommunications, foreign exchange acquisition and procedural speed are one of the many problems in this sector, the companies present in the national territory that work with the electronic commerce remain confident in the expansion of the national market.
Companies like DHL, Correios de Angola, Tupuca, Kubinga, Soba e-store, Mamboo, Buitanda and many others end up playing a “big role” in the credibility and distribution of sales made through the growing digital platforms, says Bruno Monteiro, Director of Operations at DHL, speaking to the magazine Economy & Market.
In the manager's view, the domestic market "it is very attractive“, considering aspects such as political stability, its geographical position, without forgetting of course the good path that e-commerce companies have been following.
"Angola is geographically well positioned to become a logistics platform in the region” says Bruno Monteiro, speaking to the national economic magazine.
For several national analysts, the Lobito Corridor is pointed out as an evident example of such potentialities, where for them, with the improvement of access roads by the national executive, the offer of cargo flights will exponentially increase, since it is an investment- key and important for increasing the supply of goods and services.
Emerson Paim, Managing Director of Kubinga, is another manager who considers our country “geographically blessed“, regarding electronic commerce. Angola's maturity and political stability over the last decade are other important points that give our country more assurance, in the opinion of the "Founder", who gave an example of the agreement that made the African Continental Free Trade Area possible, signed in November from 2020.
“Added to population growth of more than 3%, plus the commitment to national production, supported by an effective policy of incentives, these are certainly very positive elements. Those who manage to guarantee a consistent positioning will certainly have greater opportunities”, adds the Director General.
BUT: Pandemic drives e-commerce
In recent times, Kubinga has taken great steps in national territory, where in November 2019 it achieved the “Operational Breakeven", only with the product called "rides“, which involves transporting people from one point to another. At that time, Kubinga expanded its services to the logistics and distribution sector, without forgetting, of course, that it now has a digital wallet and marketplace, available for Android and iOS devices.
Still talking about the companies that are on the main path of Angolan trade, we highlight the Partner, a digital platform that allows consumers to share the costs of products purchased on the wholesale market, where its Manager, Augusto Firmino, is of the opinion that the prices of developed technologies are positioned as an exclusion factor for solutions, whereas, on the contrary , would facilitate their use by users and increase their level of technological education and raise the level of reputation of the companies that develop them.
Despite all these devices, the manager also mentions some factors that make the Angolan market less attractive.
"there is still a long way to go, and currently it is still the Angolan State, mostly, the generator of jobs. We are still far from the quality we want“, argues Augusto Firmino.
Talking about electronic commerce in Angola is also talking about Tupuca, which since 2015 is one of the fastest growing national startups, which with the Covid-19 pandemic, had a dizzying rise in its monthly billing. According to data provided by the newspaper “Valor Económico”, Tupuca had a 100% increase in its sales, where the company led by Erickson Mvezi, plans to reach the mark of one million deliveries in the coming months.
According to the numbers that were made available, in the current year Tupuca made more than 250 thousand deliveries, a number that stratospherically exceeds the 10 thousand registered in 2016, the year in which it began its operations.
Tupuca also informs that in recent months it has had more than 150 new companies registered on its platform, totaling 1.300 companies in its application, not forgetting the 150 new employees it has hired. Mvezi also says that his startup launched a business expansion program that year, which has the southern provinces of Angola as its background, starting activities in Benguela and Huíla.
Check now the numbers of these companies in recent years.*
DHL
Products Distributed in 2019: More than 200.000
Products Distributed in 2020: More than 1.000.000
Collaborators: More than 100
TUPUCA
Products Distributed in 2021: More than 250.000
Products Distributed in 2016: More than 10.000
Collaborators: 250
KUBINGA
Products Distributed in 2019: More than 145.000
Products Distributed in 2020: More than 222.000
Collaborators: 21
PARTNER
Products Distributed in 2020: More than 100 items per month(Average)
Products Distributed in 2020: More than 3.000 items per month(Average)
Turnover/Month: More than 100.00
*Information provided by the magazine Economia & Mercado
