国际英语资讯:UN urges Africa to develop regulations to spur e-commerce growth_时事

国际英语资讯:UN urges Africa to develop regulations to spur e-commerce growth

NAIROBI, July 23 -- The United Nations on Monday urged African states to develop regulations in order to spur e-commerce growth.

Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), told journalists in Nairobi that the continent lags the rest of the world in the uptake of digital trade due to lack of a conducive ecosystem.

"Africa needs to develop laws to enhance on integrity of procurement on electronic platforms so that consumer can trust e-commerce platforms," Kituyi said during the African Union e-commerce conference in Nairobi.

The three-day event aims to provide a platform to enhance understanding of the current state of e-commerce in Africa, the challenges and opportunities, build on the experience of actors on the ground as well as other regions of the world, and to discuss key elements of a roadmap for the development of a African protocol on intellectual rights to facilitate emergency of African players.

Kituyi called for adequate regulations to protect consumers who order goods electronically and as well as delivery mechanism to ensure seamless connectivity of goods procured online.

He noted that some of the rules that need to be introduced should ensure that e-commerce firms are compelled to deliver goods paid for by consumers as they have promised.

According to UNCTAD senior official, states should also develop online dispute mechanism so that contracts can be honored by all parties involved including in the case of cross border trade.