2023-10-29 09:20:28
It was during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic that the e-commerce sector experienced an unprecedented boom in Tunisia. The figures relating to online transactions recorded since 2020 attest to a real and probably lasting dynamic which has established itself in a sector which was wrongly believed to be stillborn, suffering, for years, from sluggish growth. .
According to official statistics, the rate of people aged 15 and over having made online purchases tripled in the year following the Covid crisis, to reach 17%.
“Even with this growth, the potential of e-commerce remains underexploited in Tunisia. It is estimated that the number of people who can transact online can reach a third of the population if all conditions are met. I am talking here, in particular, about cyber security,” said Faiçel Belaïd, international consultant to UNCTAD, in a statement given to The Pressand this, on the sidelines of the awareness and training workshop which was recently organized by the Ministry of Commerce, in partnership with UNCTAD and the Swiss Confederation for the benefit of e-commerce companies.
The primary factors
According to the expert, this potential can be achieved, or even exceeded, thanks to the formalization of the activities of informal businesses which flourish in the sector, through the facilitation of their access to financing and the provision of solutions to them. secure and simple payment.
The recruitment of a qualified workforce and the strengthening of the skills of young people in the field of new technologies are also among the essential factors which will contribute to the revitalization of the sector.
Asked about the persistent online payment challenges which continue to be the stumbling block facing e-commerce in Tunisia, Belaïd explained that the study carried out by UNCTAD in 2022 recommends, in particular, reducing costs online transactions which constitute a barrier to entry for operators and to encourage banks to promote their payment solutions to encourage SMEs to adopt them.
He added that the improvement of the regulatory framework relating to banking transactions abroad will facilitate the formalization of transactions and allow e-merchants to have a foreign currency account through which they can be paid, but also finance their expenses. abroad.
Delivery regulation is necessary
For his part, Khabeb Hadhri, director of the development of e-commerce and the intangible economy within the Ministry of Commerce, explained that formalizing the activities of e-commerce companies, which flourish on social networks, constitutes the challenge No. 1 for the development of this sector.
“The absence of a representative organization, which can play the role of intermediation between players in the sector and the authorities, makes the task even more difficult. These companies escape the control of the State which can only intervene through a judicial decision,” he stressed.
Khabeb added that despite the difficulties that limit the potential of e-commerce, it remains a sector providing jobs where young people take refuge and acquire new skills. According to the manager, the ministerial department is currently looking into the issue of delivery which today poses a real regulatory problem. It should be noted that according to the latest statistics, there are 1,100 electronic sites in Tunisia using online payment methods. The number of transactions carried out during the first half of the current year reached 7.5 million for a volume of 540 million dinars.
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