Digital platforms in Africa: A case-study of Jumia Egypt's digital platform

Africa has struggled to maintain e-commerce in its growing economy, as e-commerce share in Africa's GDP amounted to less than 1 percent in 2018. However, Latin America succeeded in reaching 2.4 percent of e-commerce share of its GDP. E-commerce share in the GDP of the United States reached 10 percent, while China placed itself as a leader by reaching 20 percent level of e-commerce as a share of its GDP (UNCTAD, 2018). This evident gap created a massive opportunity for the establishment of e-commerce digital platform such as Jumia Group. A critical motivation for the present study is that digital platforms in Africa are gaining momentum, due to the increase that has been taking place in the apps economy in these countries. Furthermore, there is a knowledge gap, specifically on how African policymakers should govern this new disruptive technology to understand and promote digital platforms in African countries, as it is a new disruptive technology. This paper analyzes digital platforms (DPs) in developing countries by applying the analytical framework introduced by Rossotto et al. (2018). This framework can be summarized by the following pillars: definition, business models, platform enablers, and platform dynamics. The current study applies this framework to Jumia Egypt's digital platform. Additionally, this study investigates the importance of the changing nature of network effects and other economic idiosyncratic features of DPs. Finally, the paper concludes with practical and holistic policy recommendations to support the growth of DPs in Africa.