A new partnership aimed to avail relevant digital payment options to online shoppers across different African countries thereby breaking barriers between local and international commerce by addressing payment needs is driving the recent partnership between Cellulant and Link Commerce.

Cellulant, a Pan-African payments company, says that the partnership with Link Commerce, a turn-key B2B eCommerce platform will aid relevant digital payment options to consumers in Africa; making it possible to purchase goods directly from global retailers online.

Figures from UNCTAD, the UN agency in charge of global trade and commerce shows that the number of online shoppers in Africa has surged annually by 18% since 2014. As of 2019, the number of digital buyers in Africa experienced an increase to 233 million. The number of e-commerce users in the continent was projected to grow significantly in the next few years, according to a Statista forecast.

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In 2021, there might be some 334 million online shoppers in Africa. By 2024, there could be roughly 478 million, about double the number in 2019. The most significant contributor to this surge in e-commerce is the rapid growth in smartphone penetration over the past decade in Africa and the shift in consumer-spend behavior.

They are turning more and more to online shopping for their goods. The payments infrastructure has also evolved to offer payments solutions that enable more consumers across Africa to participate in online shopping without a bank account.

The partnership between Cellulant and Link Commerce aims to break barriers between local and international commerce by addressing payment needs and enabling African consumers to shop directly from their favorite global stores using local payment options.

Link Commerce CEO Chris Folayan stated, “With a global surge in online sales, and travel restrictions, finding the right partner to enable our customer the ability to pay locally and via mobile payment platforms is important to us. We are excited to be partnering with Cellulant as we grow cross-border trade across Africa.

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Removing payment and delivery barriers by ensuring everyone can pay for and receive products directly from US/UK retailers via Link Commerce powered apps.”

Speaking on the partnership, Cellulant’s Acting CEO, Akshay Grover said that “In Africa, there are over 150 different payment channels, and in most cases, very fragmented for the consumers.

Therefore any global retailer looking to reach African consumers needs to prioritize local payments such as mobile money into their strategy.

Through our partnership with Link Commerce, we can connect consumers in two-thirds of the countries in Africa with global retailers on a single payments platform.

Consumers can shop from US or UK retailers or any global businesses of their choice and pay easily with digital methods already familiar to them.’’

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eCommerce platforms can leverage the partnership between Cellulant and ink Commerce to power trade and eCommerce activity to last mile-consumers. Retail platforms such as DHL eShop and Mall for Africa are some of the eCommerce businesses benefitting from this partnership.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry