Digital economy blueprint

Case study: Digital Business in Kenya

Kenya has seen an upsurge in the number of e-com-

merce platforms. A joint 2016 National ICT Survey by 

Communications Authority and the Kenya National 

Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) established that 39% of 

private enterprises are engaged in e-commerce. This 

percentage continues to grow exponentially as cur-

rently most businesses offer some form of digitized 

service, especially in the mobile payment ecosystem. 

Industry estimates indicate that 70% of all e-com-

merce payments in Kenya are settled through various 

mobile money payment platforms.  This is reflected 

in  Economic Survey 2018, that shows a remarkable 

growth on mobile commerce transactions. In 2017, 

mobile commerce transactions grew by 85.5 per cent 

from KSh 1.8 trillion in 2016 to KSh 3.2 trillion in 

2017. Total mobile money transfers increased by 8.4 

percent from KShs 3,356 billion in 2016 to KSh 3,638 

billion in 2017. Established e-commerce players in 

Kenya include Africa Internet Group Jumia, Masoko 

(operated by Safaricom) and  Kilimall International. 

In Kenya, the growth of e-commerce has been un-

derlined by the success of mobile money payment 

platforms such as M-PESA, an innovation that was 

initially rolled out in Kenya and acclaimed globally as 

an instrument of digital financial inclusion. 

Beyond  e-commerce  and  digital  finance,  this  Blue-

print proposes the need for e-commerce to expand 

beyond national boundaries. Integrating Africa to a