Rwandan official shave said that farmers and exporters will greatly benefit from the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), an Alibaba e-commerce platform – the first of its kind in Africa, launched last year in Rwanda.

The remarks were made during a 4 day workshop concluded on Friday in Hangzhou China where Rwandan officials were trained on the transformative impact and promise of a new data-driven digital economy and how to drive economic growth by accelerating implementation of digital solutions like e-commerce, e-finance, big data industries and other digital solutions.

The eWTP aims at opening doors for small businesses in Africa to take part in cross-border electronic trade.

During the workshop, twelve participants from Rwanda met with Alibaba executives for the training that aimed at equipping them with knowledge to continue supporting the development of Rwanda’s digital economy.

Participants included the Ambassador of Rwanda to China Charles Kayonga, the CEO of National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) Ambassador George William Kayonga and representatives from the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Higher Education Council (HEC), Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority (RURA), Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA), Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB).

The CEO of NAEB Amb. George William Kayonga who was leading the delegation from Kigali also said that Rwandan farmers and exporters will benefit from eWTP as they will be able to directly export value added products to China, a country with a market of 1.4 billion people.

Charles Kayonga, Rwanda’s ambassador to China said that there are many solutions which can be adapted to Rwanda, citing taobao, Alibaba’s ecommerce initiative which has helped to lift out of poverty millions of Chinese rural residents by providing them access to markets for their products via ecommerce.

The Ambassador added that Rwanda and China share the same vision, as both c governments focus on inclusive development making sure that no one is left behind.

The New Economy Workshop is part of the implementation steps of the activities content of the first African Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) Project signed between Rwanda Development Board and Alibaba Group last year.

Still in line with eWTP, a delegation of Rwandan coffee exporters will visit China to learn about e-commerce and discuss partnership with Chinese coffee buyers.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw