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Friday, June 15, 2001

Media: AMEX: eShopAfrica.com made 'lead' company

AMEX, a USAID project designed to increase non-traditional exports from Africa, has made eShopAfrica.com a 'lead' company. It has chosen us an example of how ecommerce can be used to achieve their objectives and wants other businesses to follow our example. They are giving us valuable and timely support in building up our business fast.

Here are the criteria that AMEX used: 

  • Wishes to be in the non-traditional export markets
  • Wishes to use the most modern, but appropriate, technology
  • Is a privately held market promotion and sales entity
  • Is either already commercially linked, or wishes to be linked, with smaller firms of any type or small-scale producers of up-stream components. Is willing to 'pull' these smaller entities into a larger commercial arena
  • Is willing to test concepts and develop new market opportunities
  • Willing to be involved in the production and marketing of Ghanaian products with a high potential for increased revenues and significant multiplier effects
  • Is willing to absorb new and innovative marketing and market intelligence systems. Growth potential in these aspects and also in revenues should be evident
  • Has the potential for increased employment
  • Has the potential to diversify its marketing of commodities, to include the United States as well as Europe and the West Africa sub-region
  • Is sensitive to, and wishes to adopt, environmentally sound practices
  •  There is the possibility of value addition to the enterprise's primary products.


Sunday, April 15, 2001

Media: Computer and Technology News: Africa's Shopping Mall Launched

Computer and Technology News, Ghana, April 2001
Africa's Electronic shopping mall launched

An African art and craft ecommerce website has been launched in Accra. The website eShopAfrica.com is a business to business site with the objective of selling indigenous African manufactured products online to retailers and resellers around the world. The site, perhaps the most comprehensive and marketable website to come from Ghana, has an impressive collection of African products including cloths from West Africa, coffins from Ghana, beads from the sub region and masks and sculptures from all over Africa. The site also provides visitors the opportunity to personalise the products they want to and have them delivered.

The amazing story of eShopAfrica.com is that of four wonderful expatriate women: Cordelia Salter, technical member, Tine Knott, marketing member, Trish Graham, products member and Kawther El Obeid, business member coming together from different fields of endeavour and working from home to create what one IT professional at the launch remarked 'is the most practical example of ecommerce yet to come from Ghana'.

eShopAfrica.com uses an ecommerce software package designed for small businesses that want to sell on the Internet but can't afford large overheads, and this according to Salter-Nour is why anybody who wants to sell on the web should be able to do so. Through the technology of the Internet the eShopAfrica.com team hopes to give local artisans access to the global market. They say: 'It's time for ordinary Africans to start benefiting from connectivity.'

Even though the eShopAfrica.com team believe they will be bigger they say they intend to do things the African way and that they do not intend to destroy the way of production of the African people and that people will as El Obeid puts it 'not have to stop going to funerals because orders are so huge - we will remain big but small'

Copyright CTN Ghana ctn@ighmail.com

Thursday, February 8, 2001

Launch Press Release Feb 01


eShopAfrica.com, a fair trade ecommerce website operating out of Ghana, West Africa is launching this week. eShopAfrica.com brings you top quality African arts and crafts made by traditional African artisans many of who currently live in povoery. The world has been told to buy more from Africa - we want to help them.

Launch Press Release February 2001

  eShopAfrica.com brings you top quality African manufactured goods in bulk. We are based in Ghana, West Africa and are using the Internet to create a larger global market for African products. The world has been told to buy more from Africa - we want to help them.
    We sell our goods in bulk - the more you buy the lower the price. As well as selling in bulk we offer pre-selected groups of items - Bumper buys - which attract a further discount. We offer a search service for unique and hard to find African items and can make product recommendations to help retailers find what their customers want. See the Gold Service page of our site for more details.
    We monitor the quality of all our products and agree quality guidelines with our suppliers. We enforce these guidelines rigorously to ensure our high standards. We do not disturb traditional supply and manufacturing lines and pay the fair market price for the quality we are buying. We put 10% of our profits back into the African community - see the Community page of our site for more details.
    As well as products, the shelves inside our shop are stocked with interesting facts about Africa and tips on how to use our products. Retailers can pass on these facts and tips to their customers to give the products added value.
    For our opening in February 2001 most of our stock is from Ghana. However, we are establishing links with artisans in other African countries and will be increasing our coverage soon. In the meantime, please visit our site and take a look at our products. The key to the success of any web business is publicity. Please help us by passing on our web address to anyone who may be interested. Thanks.

url   www.eShopAfrica.com

email  info@eShopAfrica.com