According to a UN report, Algeria has made significant progress with twenty-nine (29) ranks at the global level in the field of e-commerce.
According to the annual report issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, “Algeria has made significant progress estimated at twenty-nine (29) ranks at the global level, according to the latest annual report issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, on e-commerce, as it moved from 109th to 109th place. Worldwide 80th, ranking fourth in Africa. “
This UN report, cited by the Ministry of Post, indicated that “Algeria is among the four countries that have made the greatest progress at the global level according to the same index, along with Brazil (advanced 10 places), Ghana (advanced 20 places) and the Republic of Laos (advanced 11 places)) “.
The report is based on its classification on a number of indicators, namely the prevalence of Internet use, its security, financial inclusion, as well as the reliability of postal services according to the Universal Postal Union ranking.
Experts explain the reasons
Some experts specializing in communication technologies and digitization read that there is a real leap in Algeria regarding e-commerce in the recent period, especially that the pandemic conditions helped in that, but they emphasized that there is still a long way to go to achieve the desired qualitative leap.
The expert in media and communication technologies, Younes Qarar, reads in a communication he collected with “Sky News Arabia” the content of the report issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development regarding Algeria’s ranking in the fourth place in Africa in e-commerce as “based on real and credible numbers because they are taken from studies offices. And ministries. “
The same spokesman explained that the aforementioned report “talks about electronic commerce related to payment.” Mail On the Internet and not in the shops and hotels, especially since the field of electronic payment is wide and we have not kept up with all its developments. ”
The consultant in the field of information and communication technologies confirmed that “the leap occurred when Algerians were forced during this stage of the Corona epidemic to pay online communications, electricity, water, and gas bills, in addition to dealing with companies that sell their products via the Internet.”
“The numbers confirm that the number of electronic payment transactions in the stage of the Corona epidemic exceeds the number of transactions in the past three years,” said the consultant in communication technologies, Yunus Qarar.
Electronic transactions expand
In the recent period, Algeria has witnessed significant steps in embodying dealing with e-commerce, due to the preventive measures imposed by the authorities, such as the quarantine that in the first months of the Corona pandemic limited the movements of citizens, so what they had to do to maintain social distancing was to go towards the digital space.
Many store owners, especially those related to the sale of clothes, shoes and perfumes, initially found the opportunity to save their situation from the repercussions of the closure by opening pages on social media sites from Facebook and Instagram to promote their goods and deliver them later to the customer wherever it is at reasonable prices.
Mohamed, the owner of a clothes and shoe store in Algiers, says that “resorting to social networks saved them from inevitable unemployment,” and assures “Sky News Arabia” that “before the emergence of the Corona epidemic, I was not interested in communication technologies or e-commerce, but after stopping activity because of Closure measures and the continuation of the situation was imposed on us to market our products. “
The situation in front of sellers continued even after the gradual increase in commercial activities in the country, as you find dozens of pages on social media sites that provide customers with their phone numbers to communicate with these merchants to choose the product they want to purchase after agreeing on the price and then the place of delivery.
As for electronic payment, last summer the “Algeria Post” company launched a new mobile payment service via the QR code “PostPay” to facilitate the payment of purchases dues to citizens.
The president of the National Association of Merchants and Craftsmen, Hajj Tahar Bollnouar, confirms that, as representatives of traders, they have seen during the last three years an increasing interest in digitization and e-commerce in Algeria, but he stressed that “in the period of quarantine, the scope of digital commercial transactions has expanded.”
“Merchants have become interested in the field of e-commerce, and therefore an agreement has been signed between the association and the Ministry of Post, as well as Algeria Telecom, with the aim of thinking about training programs for the benefit of merchants and craftsmen in the field of digitization and electronic commerce,” Hajji Taher Bollnouar said in a statement to “Sky News Arabia.”
The spokesman pointed to some problems that stand in the way of electronic payment in Algeria, including, according to his opinion, “the absence of a digitalization culture among some consumers and merchants, in addition to the weak Internet flow in some regions.”
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