Germany has donated €750 000 to a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) project to help some of the world’s poorest countries assess their readiness to develop e-commerce.
“The potential of e-commerce remains largely untapped in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) – from Afghanistan to Zambia – and the German intervention will enable a rapid assessment of e-trade requirements such as secure payment systems and reliable delivery logistics in these countries,” said an Unctad spokesperson.
The donation will be administered by the project through a trust fund in regular disbursements up to 2019.
According to Unctad, fewer than 3% of internet users in LDCs are able to shop online, in comparison to the 90% in developed countries, due to the difficulty in making payments online.
