Ethiopia aims to grow cross-border trade through Alibaba partnership

Ethiopia is committed to leveraging technology through its partnership with Alibaba Group to grow cross-border trade and improve its economy from low to high income.

Witnessed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Dr. Getahun Mekuria, minister of Innovation and Technology, Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma, and Alibaba Group Director and Chairman and CEO of Ant Financial Services Group Eric Jing, the Ethiopian government and Alibaba Group signed on Monday three memoranda of understanding to establish an electronic World Trade Platform, or eWTP Hub, in Ethiopia, the second in Africa after Rwanda.

The eWTP is an Alibaba-led multi-stakeholder global initiative intended to enable cross-border trade, provide smart logistics and fulfillment services, assist small and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs, to reach China and other markets, and provide talent training.

"It is an honor to partner with the government of Ethiopia to establish the eWTP Ethiopia Hub," Jing said during the signing ceremony. "We will continue to support the creation of a more inclusive, digitally-enabled global economy, where small businesses can participate in global trade. We look forward to working together with entrepreneurs and SMEs from Ethiopia and other African nations to seize the opportunities provided by the digital era," he added.

The Ethiopian prime minister said the platform will open new frontiers in Ethiopia's e-commerce, as well as boost the capacity and competitiveness of the country's entrepreneurs.

The first major initiative for the eWTP partnership in Ethiopia will be the development of a multifunction digital trade hub to serve as a gateway for Ethiopian products to China, a center for cross-border e-commerce and trade within Africa, and a training center. Yiwu China Commodities City will partner with Alibaba in the development of the eWTP Hub.

Alibaba through the Alibaba School is committed to implementing the capacity building and training, which consists of a number of programs, including specialized programs for Ethiopian entrepreneurs, business leaders and university lecturers.

The vision of eWTP is to develop new partnerships, technology and policies to enable more inclusive global trade. The eWTP initiative was officially included in the 2016 G20 Summit Leaders' Communique.

Since it was first proposed by Ma in 2016, the eWTP has been adopted by China, Malaysia, Rwanda, Belgium and Ethiopia. The goal is to launch a series of e-hubs across the globe, so that all businesses, not just multinational companies, can participate in cross-border commerce. The eWTP also aims to facilitate the development of electronic trade and the digital economy through the development of infrastructure to solve outstanding issues facing SMEs, especially in developing countries.

As the number of eWTP Hubs increases, it is hoped that trade will increase between the hubs, providing new opportunities for their merchants in the global economy. Ma said that the letter 'T' in eWTP stands for trade, training, technology and tourism.

"Through these four elements, we believe we can enable the small businesses, farmers, youth and women in Africa to succeed," he said.