News

By Rachid Bouhia, Economist, UNCTAD, and Emily Wilkinson, Researcher, ODI

An assessment of the e-commerce ecosystem in Côte d’Ivoire will help businesses in the sector adapt to COVID-19 challenges and comply with new regulations.

Preliminary data for 2020 from three major economies shows the growing reliance on digital technologies could boost imports and exports of communications devices, which fell in 2019.

Despite COVID-19 hurdles, online businesses in Zambia are clinging to their big dreams while the government strengthens the nation’s e-commerce ecosystem.

UNCTAD’s eTrade for Women advocate for Eastern Europe explains her journey to e-commerce success, discusses the impact of COVID-19 and encourages women to take a seat at the policymaking table.

In years to come, we will look back at 2020 as the moment that changed everything. Nowhere else has unprecedented and unforeseen growth occurred as in the digital and e-commerce sectors, which have boomed amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The technology that runs cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin could be used in many applications that contribute to sustainable development, from crop insurance to vaccine supply chains.

Although many low and middle-income economies are unprepared for the new technological wave, some are punching above their weight, and a new UNCTAD report spotlights the overperformers.

UNCTAD’s Technology and Innovation Report 2021 warns, however, of serious implications for development objectives if poor communities are overwhelmed or left behind by the new technological wave.

Switzerland replaced the Netherlands at the top of UNCTAD's Business-to-Consumer E-commerce Index 2020, which ranks 152 countries on their readiness to engage in online commerce.