e-Commerce Driving Economic Growth by Enterprises in East Africa.

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue II, February 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

e-Commerce Driving Economic Growth by Enterprises in East Africa.

 Eliphas Frank Tongora
Dar es salaam Institute of Technology (DIT)
Morogoro/Bibi T. RD Junction.
P. O BOX 2958 DSM

Abstract
Electronic commerce (e-Commerce) and Information and communications technologies (ICT) are transforming enterprises and fueling the growth of the global economy. Yet despite the broad potential of ICTs, and e-Commerce, their economic benefits have not been spread evenly especially in East Africa. Indeed, using ICTs effectively to foster economic growth is among the key challenges facing policymakers today E.Africa even though some developing countries have achieved important economic gains in nurturing the development of domestic e-Commerce enterprises. The aim of this study is to find out whether or not e-Commerce could be the powerful tool elevating and fueling economic growth in E.Africa, and the findings are pointed out.
Keywords: ICT, e-business, e-Commerce, online payment, innovation.

1. Introduction
To date, African producers and traders are barely represented in e-commerce for business customers (business-to-business, B2B). As there is very little integration with regional and international value chains, the potential for scaling up is limited. However, this is essential for making African products more competitive at both national and international level.e-commerce in Kenya is more common than most of us are aware. A joint 2016 National ICT Survey between the Authority and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) National ICT Survey established that 39% of private enterprises are engaged in e-commerce. Though
the survey focused only on private enterprises and did not take into account households, for the first time it was possible to determine e-commerce penetration levels at the national level.
Although East Africa faces enormous challenges in reaching the potential and competitive economic development driven by the use of ICT. it is estimated that about 2.75 million enterprises owners own and manage about 3.16 million small business and the sector is estimated to contribute 6.9 Trillion Tanzania shillings ( 5,354,155,047 U$D) or about 27% of the country’s GDP [1] [ 2 ]. Therefore small and medium enterprises sector has been recognized as a significant sector in employment creation, income generation, and poverty alleviation and as a base of industrial development [3]. Small and medium enterprises sector is important to the socio-economic development of Tanzania, though some studies have revealed that it is largely informal and very much under-performing due to a multitude of constraints facing it [4].
2. Literature Review
Despite the fact that the use of e-Commerce and ICT equipment is still low in East Africa especially in Tanzania and Kenya compared to other countries in the world but it is growing at a staggering pace [5]. Realizing that, e-Commerce has been a major source of competitive advantage as well as a cost effective way for enterprises to reach customers globally and to compete with their counterparts globally, however the Government of the Republic of Tanzania is actively assisting small enterprises with expanding, growing and prospering their businesses through the development of various policies and open programs for improving the economic environment for small and medium enterprises [6].
However, robust evidence in support of that upbeat perspective still remains in short supply. This paper presents an attempt to add to our understanding of how ICTs driving force to enterprises on the competitive economy growth in East Africa. Some scholar suggest that informal enterprises are actually or potentially very productive, but are kept from exercising that productivity because of unfair taxes, burdensome government regulations, and limited access to capital. If these barriers to becoming more formal are eased, then enterprises are more likely to register, borrow, and, due to the benefits of a more official status, grow and generate economic development [7]. One survey pointed out that among enterprises in Ghana indicated that larger enterprises have taken the opportunity of ICT to gain the edge over their competitors unlike the small and medium enterprises [8]. As the global economy became increasingly reliant on ICT to receive, process, and send out information, the enterprises within the developing countries which form a significant portion of their developing economies have yet to reap these benefits offered by ICT [9]. The use of credit cards also is making great progress in East Africa. In 2016, 3 per cent of the African population over the age of 15 had a credit card, and this rate has been increasing steadily [18] Bank account ownership is highly correlated with possession of a credit or debit card, the favoured means of payment for e-transactions or e-Commerce.

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