Africa’s e-commerce industry must shift its focus from scale-at-all-costs to profitability, trust and operational efficiency if it is to achieve sustainable growth amid rising inflation, logistics costs and weakening consumer spending, industry leaders have said.
The consensus emerged at the Third Annual E-Commerce & Payments Forum, where senior executives from the payments, logistics, retail, technology and digital infrastructure sectors gathered to examine the structural frictions constraining commerce across African markets.
Held under the theme, “Minimising Friction. Maximising Commercial Impact,” the invitation-only forum brought together operators and policymakers to discuss how businesses can operate efficiently an increasingly challenging environment marked by inflationary pressures, foreign exchange volatility, rising fulfilment costs, infrastructure deficits and changing consumer expectations.
Participants agreed that while Africa’s digital commerce sector continues to offer significant growth opportunities, sustainable success will increasingly depend on efficiency, resilience, profitability and customer trust rather than aggressive expansion alone.
Opening the forum, Louis Nzegwu, congress chair of the Africa Retail Congress, described friction as one of the most significant hidden costs within Africa’s commerce ecosystem.
According to him, failed deliveries, delayed payments, weak customer experiences and low trust levels create inefficiencies that accumulate throughout the value chain, reducing productivity and increasing operating expenses.
“These may appear as isolated problems, but together they impose substantial costs on businesses and limit the growth potential of the entire ecosystem,” he said.
Olu Akanmu, co-convener of the forum, noted that e-commerce operators are facing increasing pressure as inflation, energy costs, exchange rate volatility and logistics expenses continue to erode margins.
He observed that weakened consumer purchasing power has made it difficult for businesses to pass rising costs on to customers, forcing many operators to reassess growth strategies and business models.
“Several large e-commerce businesses have had to rethink operating structures, adjust expansion plans or withdraw from certain markets where the economics no longer support growth,” Akanmu said.
At the same time, he pointed to the rapid expansion of social commerce across platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, driven by improved digital payments, informal distribution networks and the participation of small businesses.
The forum’s keynote address by Nnamdi Ekeh, chief executive officer of Konga Group, focused on the future of cross-border payments within Africa and the role stablecoins could play in reducing transaction friction.
Ekeh argued that cross-border payments remain expensive, slow and operationally complex due to multiple intermediaries, foreign exchange conversions and settlement delays.
He said regulated stablecoin-based settlement systems could significantly improve payment efficiency across African markets, provided regulators establish clear governance and compliance frameworks.
“Technology is not the primary challenge. Regulatory clarity, governance standards and infrastructure readiness will determine adoption,” he said.
Discussions throughout the forum repeatedly returned to the issue of profitability.
A panel featuring executives from Konga, Bumpa, Moniepoint, Bayobab Nigeria and Omni stressed that growth without sustainable economics is becoming increasingly difficult to justify.
Participants argued that businesses must maintain discipline around customer acquisition costs, fulfilment expenses, margins and customer lifetime value while building resilience into operating models.
They also highlighted customer trust as a critical determinant of conversion and retention.
Refund mechanisms, dispute resolution systems and post-purchase service recovery are increasingly becoming strategic capabilities rather than operational functions, the panel noted.
Insights presented during a case study session on OmniRetail further reinforced the structural challenges facing African commerce.
According to industry practitioners, demand is not the primary constraint to growth. Instead, limited visibility across supply chains, weak distribution efficiency, insufficient access to working capital and poor market intelligence remain the more pressing barriers.
The session highlighted how integrated ecosystems that combine payments, technology, financing and distribution can improve inventory management, liquidity and decision-making across the value chain.
Logistics operators also identified mounting cost pressures as one of the biggest challenges facing the sector.
Executives from Feegor, Red Star Express, Glovo and Qoray Mobility noted that customers increasingly expect real-time tracking, flexible delivery options and seamless returns, even as businesses grapple with rising fuel costs, exchange rate volatility, infrastructure deficits and security concerns.
Industry leaders said last-mile delivery remains the point where cost, operational complexity and customer experience intersect most sharply.
As a result, many businesses are moving toward asset-light models and strategic partnerships rather than owning every component of the logistics chain.
The forum concluded that trust remains the single biggest barrier to broader e-commerce adoption across African markets.
Participants observed that many consumers remain more willing to prepay international platforms than local operators due to persistent concerns about refunds, product quality, dispute resolution and after-sales support.
Industry leaders also called for stronger use of data and analytics to improve visibility into profitability, fulfilment performance, customer behaviour and operational efficiency.
They argued that collaboration across payments, logistics, retail and technology ecosystems will be essential to reducing duplication, lowering costs and unlocking the next phase of growth.
The forum identified six priorities for the sector: improving profitability through stronger unit economics, strengthening customer trust, increasing data-driven decision-making, building operational resilience, exploring emerging payment technologies and expanding collaboration across the commerce ecosystem.
For an industry confronting mounting economic pressures, participants agreed that the future of African e-commerce will be determined not by scale alone, but by the ability of businesses to minimise friction, improve efficiency and deliver trusted customer experiences.
