Ethiopia’s E-Commerce Expansion Held Back by Logistics, Trust Gaps Despite Digital Payment Growth, Experts Say

EBR_News May 7, 2026

Ethiopia has solved the technical puzzle of online payments, but the country’s e‑commerce sector will not take off until logistics, consumer trust, and last‑mile delivery catch up with digital payment infrastructure, experts warned during a symposium organised by Addis Ababa University’s Department of Marketing Management.

The one‑day event, held at the College of Business and Economics, brought together researchers, logistics executives, payment specialists, and legal advisors to assess the state of e‑commerce under the Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy. While presenters acknowledged impressive gains in mobile money and payment gateway services, they identified a fragmented ecosystem and a weak “fulfilment and trust” layer as the biggest obstacles to scaling online trade.

Presenting a paper titled The Current Status of E‑Commerce in Ethiopia, Minale Ashagre (PhD) noted that several e‑commerce platforms such as Jumia, Balesuq, and Qefira have collapsed due to a combination of regulatory uncertainty, payment integration problems, high logistics costs, and unsustainable pricing.

He pointed out that the digital divide remains wide: internet adoption for persons with disabilities ranges from only 6 to 49 percent, compared with 23 to 74 percent for non‑disabled citizens, while rural areas and women continue to lag behind in smartphone ownership and digital literacy.

Minale also highlighted the absence of a central coordinating body for e‑commerce, unclear tax policies, weak dispute‑resolution mechanisms, and a lack of dedicated rules for returns and reverse logistics. Despite these hurdles, he underlined strong opportunities, including the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Digital Trade Protocol, the government’s new 15,000‑square‑metre e‑commerce logistics facility, and rapidly growing digital wallets.

Abenezer Lakew, Chief Portfolio Officer at EthSwitch, delivered a paper titled E‑Payment as a Catalyst for E‑Commerce Growth in Ethiopia. He argued that the National Payment Gateway (NPG) and the EthioPay scheme have already solved the online payment acceptance layer, offering instant settlement, hosted checkout pages, and interoperable routing across banks and payment service providers. “Payment is a catalyst, but the rest of the e‑commerce chain logistics, addressing, digital receipts, and consumer trust has not matured equally,” Abenezer said.

He stressed that without reliable delivery networks, uniform e‑receipts, clear refund policies, and strong data protection, merchants and consumers will remain hesitant. He added that the cash preference remains strong, digital literacy is low, and fraud or fake merchant incidents continue to weaken confidence. “The narrative is shifting from ‘can we pay online?’ to ‘can we deliver, prove, and support the purchase reliably and safely?’” he told the audience.

In a paper titled Digital Marketing and E‑commerce for SME Competitiveness and International Access, Bereket Nigussie of Asmar Advisors noted that digital channels offer Ethiopian SMEs a rare opportunity to reach international customers without a physical presence abroad. The global internet user base stands at 5.3 billion, including 570 million in Africa.

He identified social commerce, e‑marketplaces, mobile commerce, and branded websites as effective tools, but he warned that limited digital skills, weak online brand credibility, and poor export readiness prevent most SMEs from taking advantage of these platforms. Globally, he noted, fewer than 20 percent of SMEs directly export, and Ethiopia’s structural gap is even wider.

The panel discussion, moderated by Tewodros Mesfin, featured Tewodros Ayalew (Manager of E‑Commerce Logistics Services at Ethiopian Cargo & Logistics Services), Abenezer Lakew, Bereket Nigussie, and Kiya Tsegaye (Principal Attorney at Kiya and Associates Law Office). Panelists called for better coordination between logistics providers, payment systems, regulators, and digital platforms.

They prioritized legal reforms such as clear e‑commerce tax policies, stronger consumer protection laws, enforceable data privacy rules, and a regulatory sandbox to test innovative business models without fear of punitive enforcement.

Presentations cited impressive numbers that show the potential waiting to be unlocked. Telebirr has approximately 57 million subscribers, 358,000 agents, and 344,000 merchants, processing nearly 7 trillion birr in transactions. CBE Birr counts 34.2 million users.

Payment gateway Chapa has onboarded more than 10,000 merchants across 18 banks and processed over 30 billion birr. A new 15,000‑square‑metre facility dedicated to e‑commerce logistics has been built, but its full utilisation depends on solving last‑mile delivery and address system shortcomings.

Participants agreed that while Digital Ethiopia 2030 provides a coherent vision, realising it requires urgent investment in last‑mile infrastructure, nationwide consumer education, and inter‑agency coordination.

Betegbar Yaregal

#Ecommerce #DigitalEthiopia #EthSwitch #TeleBirr #SME #Logistics