Rwanda’s Small and Medium Entrepreneurs have cited challenges in the pick-up of electronic-commerce ventures.

Some of the challenges in the way of E-commerce uptake, they say, has been lack of trust among clients as well as limited knowledge of the sector.

Hakym Reagan, who owns a boutique in downtown Kigali and relies on E-commerce, said that the majority of clients seem to prefer visiting a physical shop as opposed to online shopping.

Reagon noted that clients are accustomed to physically purchasing products, which includes closer inspection of goods which e-commerce outlets do not provide.

"E-commerce is a new way of shopping and many people have not embraced it yet. In our case, our clients live in Kigali and most of them come  to shop physically,” he added.

For establishments outside the city, they often do not have access to quality internet which gets in the way of their work, he said.

According to Emmanuel Ntabana, the Marketing Manager at Mall for Africa Rwanda, there has been reluctance by a section of residents to embrace the trend.

"Online shopping has not developed yet. Also, entrepreneurs still lack skills in technology. Lack of the ability to afford internet cost is a big challenge unless the people running the similar businesses work together,” he said.

Jaures Habineza, the Chief Executive of Made in Rwanda Online Ltd, which advertises and sells products and services made locally online, said that more efforts still needed to raise awareness on how E-commerce is effective in terms of saving time and money.

"Small and Medium Enterprises have to be the first people to understand how the platforms work and finally the customers will become accustomed to using the model.  With technology, we can access bigger market even beyond the country,” Habineza said.

So far, the company is working with about 50 entrepreneurs to market their products.

As a logistics company dealing with offshore and cross-border deliveries, DHL Express said that local SMEs require adequate training to understand the value of E-commerce to their business and economic wellbeing as well as help them to penetrate national and regional markets.

According to Julie Mutoni, the DHL Express Country Manager, entrepreneurs should benefit from the advancement of technology and use diferent devices, including smart phones, to sell their products to the entire world.

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