Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

United Nations Conference onTrade and Development

(UNCTAD)  

Expert Meeting

 Designing e-commerce strategies:

Roles of Governments and non-governmental actors 

 Joseph Kiggundu

Uganda Investment Authorityhttp://www.ugandainvest.comhttp://www.ugandainvest.com

Email: Kiggundu@ugandainvest.com

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

Designing e-commerce strategies: roles of governments and non-governmental actors

Government’s role begins primarily with: o Participation: the promotion of the use of electronic

transactions firstly through e-governance and o  the creation of an environment in which these

transactions are completely secure– o      New opportunities for improving the operations of

public sector entities and for delivering government services through electronic means should be examined and implemented accordingly

– o      Development of a National Data Resource Centre Network as soon as possible

– o      Make IT literacy a mandatory requirement for the recruitment and selection of officials and staff in the government

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

Promote improvements in E-business related legal,

regulatory and tax environment

As a priority, there is a particular need to focus on:• Streamlining or eliminating restrictive regulations:

o Eliminate or streamline the process for the actual creation and registration of new Internet-based businesses

o Reduce or eliminate fees, duties and other restrictive taxes on imported hardware and software required for E-business operations

o Eliminate or streamline the existing ponderous and costly import and export procedures which hobble the operations of E-businesses

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

Promote the creation of consumer accessible electronic

payment systems • To achieve this, it will be necessary to:• Promote the development of fast, reliable,

economical fulfilment logistics systems capable of delivering physical goods in a timely fashion and cost effectively on a regional and international basis.

Promote viable E-business projects• Strengthening e-commerce information, training

and education structures in all aspects related to E-business

• Entrepreneurs need more information about the workings and the business potential of the Internet. The priority here is to promote:

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

• Targeted media information campaigns addressed to the private sector and the informal sector. The Web will become a powerful medium for connected people.

• Specific training of entrepreneurs in the development and running of E-businesses.

• Training of E-professionals at all levels, from business web designers (as opposed to web designers), web masters, E-marketers, to E-business managers, etc.

• Practical internships in local/regional/international existing e-businesses

• The integration of Internet knowledge in the regular curriculum of all educational institutions, at all levels

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

Identifying, researching and disseminating information on

potential market niches for African E-entrepreneurs • Information is needed not only in quantitative

terms but also in qualitative terms, namely:o Who are the (business) clients by type of

activities, types of needs, reasons for need, volume of needs, quality, speed and other requirements, as well as more information on the competition

o Providing this information to existing and prospective entrepreneurs should be one of the highest priorities of this undertaking.

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

Developing E-business mentoring, twinning and

intermediation mechanisms This requires establishing a mechanism able to provide:E-business mentoring and twinning to start-up E-

businesses, using Diaspora resources whenever available. In Uganda, we have adopted the partnership model for this and it has proved to work very well. (See illustration of the model in appendix of main paper)

• Intermediation and facilitation of the establishment of sub-contracting and other strategic business alliances between E-entrepreneurs and established firms in the target markets

• Intermediation and facilitation between local sub-contractors and overseas strategic partners

• The multiplication of private sector led, donor-assisted pilot projects in all major niches

• Govt supported, marketing effort for B2B capabilities

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

Solutions Providers

Clients Ugandan Firms

Opportunities

Solutions Facilitators

Driver

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

Supporting the creation and development of local, regional, international and especially Diaspora focused

Internet Portals

This will involve:

• Identifying Africa based radios, televisions, newspapers and other existing media ventures who have the potential to become local, regional or international Portals;

• Providing them, on a priority basis, with specialized information, training, mentoring and other forms of assistance required to give them an opportunity to develop themselves without delay, into viable Internet Portals

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

Facilitating the creation of national, regional, and

international institutional electronic markets Setting up a region-wide E-procurement system would

require, among other things:• Identifying the governments and other large

institutions such as international and regional organizations, large NGO’s, etc., who would be interested in participating from the start

• Identifying the operational mechanisms and procedures most appropriate to the task

• Identify the products and services to be included at start-up

• Developing a preliminary business plan • Assessing the likely outcomes, benefits and impacts

of implementation • Preparing the competitive bid package

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

Measures that Governments can take to eliminate the

existing barriers With regard to exporting towards North America and

Europe, there are real possibilities, as mentioned earlier, but some measures have to be taken in order to remove the barriers that were identified.

a) At the infrastructure level In order to promote export development among the

SMMEs, as far as electronic commerce is concerned, it is important to bring improvements to the infrastructure.

o the telecommunication sector has to be liberalized in order to stimulate the initiatives and further the emergence of a competitive framework.

• it is important to develop an approach aiming at sharing the infrastructure. This approach favours competitiveness of supply and reduces the barriers to entry.

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

b) At the capabilities levelAs far as capabilities are concerned, the challenge lies

fundamentally in the training and information areas. • SMMEs should be made aware of the opportunities

offered by the new technologies regarding e-commerce.

• This sensitisation should be done through practical examples of success stories. The exchange of experience is fundamental.

This has been the approach in Uganda.• Once the interest is awakened, the next step is skills

transfer through training. The emergence of specialized training centres can be a good starting point.

• Continuing with the strengthening of the capabilities, some incubation mechanisms could allow stakeholders quick access to e-commerce

• This step speeds up the involvement of SMMEs and helps consolidation of expertise that could be easily duplicated.

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

Finally, to prepare future generations to practice e-commerce, it is necessary to:

• integrate ICT into all school and university courses. This must be implemented in both public and private education

• Governments have to provide tax and customs incentives easing the purchase of computer and communication material

• Private or public operators have to facilitate access to telecommunication by granting special privileges to pupils, students, households and private stakeholders, working directly on ICT

c) At the logistics and organizational levelsRequires new logistics which are more fluid,

adaptable and controllable. o Encourage iinitiatives from the private sector,

break monopolies – obtain high quality services at good prices.

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

Facilitating the creation of common tools and instruments • To share experience: 1) Web Site 2) Stakeholders

Forum• To share resourcesStrengthening capabilities and trustworthiness • Regarding training• The new ICTs offer new opportunities with respect to

diffusion of information • Regarding financing• It is necessary to invent a mechanism for the financing of

e-business start-ups. • Regarding intermediation services with B2B clients (the

partnership model)• E-commerce start-ups lack the resources and the facilities

to approach North-American and European business clients.

• Regarding trustworthiness – certification mechanism

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

Role of the large enterprises (development focus centers) Large enterprises such as PTOs (Public

Telecommunications Operators), water and energy supply companies, etc., can play a key role by:

• developing subcontracts with SMMEs ordering products, by-products and services;

• familiarizing SMMEs with their purchasing procedures;

• developing extranets with SMMEs or extending their computer and telecommunication networks to them, allowing them to access to purchase requisition databases, submitting proposals through the network, getting paid through the network;

• training and nurturing SMMEs in using the extranet; • defining min-quality standards for access to the

extranet.

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

Role of Private sector Associations in e-commerce development

Private sector associations can play a big catalytic role mainly by:

 • Serving as links between Governments and the

private sector• Coordinating specialised training programmes• Serving as standards watchdogs In Uganda, we have the Uganda ICT Outsourcing

Services Association (UICTOSA), which represents all firms interested in doing either local or export-oriented e-business.

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

A possible plan of action  Creation of a framework

• The proposed activities outlined in the previous section should be undertaken by an appropriate structure, with local, regional and international focus, fully supported by government and the private sector.

• For implementation, resources should be drawn from donors, lenders and NGO’s, as well as any other relevant source of public and private moneys.

Although a high level of autonomy is desirable, it is conceivable that an organism such as ECA could play the role of incubator in the formative stagesGoals : The overall goal of the proposed plan is to create a framework aimed at promoting and accelerating the growth of all aspects of e-commerce.

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

The justification for a strong regional effort/initiative on e-commerce is based on the following:

• First, to ensure that developing countries retain and possibly improve their share of the world trade in goods and services;

• Second, to make full use of the international comparative advantage in human resources cost;

• Third, to create a vibrant E-entrepreneurship sector which will stem the tide of emigration of Africa’s brightest entrepreneurial resources;

• Fourth, to provide very significant numbers of entry, semi-skilled and skilled jobs in and out of the major urban centers;

• Fifth, to create job opportunities which do not discriminate in terms of sex, age, religion, ethnicity, mobility and disabilities; and

• Sixth, to do all of the above well within the short window of opportunity

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

• Objectives The global operational objective would be to: o Create an e-commerce friendly and nurturing

environment at the national, regional and local levels o Promote the international competitiveness of starting

e–commerce ventures. • Actions o Create an e-commerce friendly and nurturing

environment at the national, regional and local levels. This includes promoting improvements in:

o Telecommunication infrastructure and accessibility; o E-business related legal, regulatory and tax

environment; o Consumer accessible electronic payment systems;

and • Local, regional and international fast package

delivery systems.

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

o Promote the international competitiveness of e–commerce ventures. This includes providing leadership in terms of:

o Strengthening e-commerce information, training and education structures;

o Identifying, researching and disseminating information on potential market niches for E-entrepreneurs;

o Developing effective E-business mentoring, twinning and intermediation mechanisms;

o Supporting the creation and development of local, regional, international and especially Diaspora-focused Internet Portals; and

o Facilitate creation of larger institutional electronic markets

o Sharing of experience o Sharing of resources o Create mechanism to ensure the credibility of E-

businesses

Geneva, Palais des Nations, 10-12 July 2002

CONTACT INFORMATION:

• UGANDA INVESTMENT AUTHORITY,• The Investment Center• Plot 28 Kampala Road• P.O.Box 7418 Kampala

• Tel: (256) 41 251562/5• Fax: (256) 41 342903• Email: kiggundu@ugandainvest.com • WebSite:

http://www.ugandainvest.com

THANK YOU