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US e-commerce giant Amazon, plans to launch its online marketplace in South Africa and Nigeria and three other markets by early 2023, a report by Business Insider revealed.
According to Amazon documents obtained, the additional countries also include Belgium, Chile and Colombia, to make them five in total.
This development will likely mean more competition for local e-commerce companies such as Takealot, which dominates the South African e-commerce market, Jumia, which operates across Africa and Mercado Libre, a leading online marketplace in Latin America.
The timing of the rollouts were detailed in an internal Amazon timeline which shows South Africa, codenamed Project Fela, expected to launch in February 2023. The marketplace in Nigeria is due to launch in April 2023. That project shares the codename Project Fela with South Africa.
Amazon has an expanding global footprint, with marketplaces in 20 different countries. Most are in more mature economies, and Amazon has so far had a relatively small presence in emerging markets like South America and Africa.
For Amazon, expanding into more countries makes sense. The company says it needs to generate more demand, as growth is slowing across the board following a two-year, pandemic-driven sales explosion.
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