E-Commerce in Algeria

Nov 04, 2020


Speaking in a webinar organized by WTC Algiers on the transformation towards e-commerce, Mr. Tibaoui estimated that the significant penetration rate of the Internet, the increasing use of new technologies and the skills of young people in this domain make Algeria a market with strong growth potential in terms of electronic commerce.

Affiche New

According to him, Algeria is currently lagging behind other countries in this promising niche but the country can catch up with this gap "very quickly".

"All that we have not lost, we can recover it in a little time. The necessary tools exist for the take-off of e-commerce", affirms Mr. Tibaoui while acknowledging that "the development of this niche hinders interests of certain parties who are afraid of the transparency of transactions ".

Algeria can even in the future export its services and in particular assist the development of African markets, underlines the director of WTC Algiers.

This growth will also be encouraged by the political will of the State, which wants to modernize the commercial sector, in particular through the compulsory generalization of very small businesses in commercial spaces.

"Of course, the deadline for complying with this provision should be pushed back by one year (according to the 2021 finance bill), but this is explained by the need to rely on national production and avoid the importation of TPE, "he maintains.

In this sense, the Director General of DZIGITAL Agency and DZIGITAL School, Mohamed Nadir Meddour, called for the Algerianization of solutions in the field of e-commerce in order to adapt the tools used to the local context.

He noted that platforms designed by Algerian startups are already available to meet market needs.

"National operators must be proactive. The development of e-commerce in Algeria can be done locally without resorting to foreign skills, which will make it possible to avoid spending in foreign currency", he explained.

For his part, the Algerian developer at Amazon, Lamine Kacimi, insisted on the importance of training and the adaptation of different programs to new market realities, in order to succeed in the transformation towards e-commerce.

"We are not going to start from scratch, but our training must be adapted," he said.
Asked about the role of global digital giants in the development of e-commerce in Algeria,

Mr. Kacimi said that the transformation comes first from local micro-businesses and startups, calling not to wait for the arrival large international companies to convert to this type of activity which currently achieves enormous turnover in developed and emerging countries.