Kevin Nyango
Rwanda was one of the luckiest countries in Africa this year since, during Alibaba training which began on 23rd November 2017, three entrepreneurs represented the state. Thanks to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for implementing this program in collaboration with Chinese business experts and other learning institutions. There were only 25 Africans who were selected to attend Alibaba Business School by Jack Ma, the founder, and chairperson of Alibaba Group. Presently, Alibaba has about 450 million active users from various sectors such as travel, entertainment, e-commerce and others. While visiting China, Jack Ma appealed to Rwandan entrepreneurs to utilize the technological innovations and internet in the country to solve their challenges.
The training is will for 2017 will be conducted for two weeks, and participants are expected to learn about Alibaba, tmall.com, and taobao.com. Mergims, Pikkostores Ltd, and AgriGo are three startups that represented Rwanda. The training is expected to end soon
The inaugural Founders Initiative Entrepreneurship Training Programme allowed Mergims to represent Rwanda as it connects merchants to migrants across different countries. Mergims allows the users to purchase mortgages, airtime, electricity, and pay tuition fee for friends and relatives.
The entrepreneurs who were given a chance to work at Alibaba headquarters should be able to learn more about artificial intelligence, e-commerce, and the internet. The program aims at training youths in African countries.
To enhance their experiences and compete fairly in the market, Alibaba uses data to manage consumer behavior and demand.
