Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
process. The digital convergence of the Internet, telephony, and broadband cable
has allowed cable companies to bundle all three services, greatly expanding e-
commerce in the domain of household (final) demand. Five major retail chains
dominate the Israeli e-tail market (most of which centers on electronics and
computer products), with a combined share of 60 %.
4.7.9 Sub-Saharan Africa
In Africa, as with much of the developing world, e-commerce is in its infancy,
hobbled by low disposable incomes, modest internet penetration rates, lack of secure
on-line transactions, and relatively infrequent use of credit and debit cards (Elbeltagi
2007
). Many African small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are not e-ready,
and lack the human capital, computers, and support services to take advantage of
internet-based trading and financing (Mutula and Brakel
2006
). Various national
legal systems that inadequately protect intellectual property rights are of little help
as well (Manteaw
2002-2003
). Nonetheless, there are indications that an emerging
African geography of e-commerce is in the making. South Africa leads the continent
in this regard (Cloete
2003
). For example, furniture producers in South Africa have
successfully used the internet to market their wares to a global client base (Moodley
2002a
,
b
,
2003a
), and the country's automobile parts producers have used the
internet to facilitate supply chain integration (Moodley
2002a
,
b
), although its
impacts on textiles exporters have been less evident (Moodley
2003b
; Moodley and
Morris
2004
). Similarly, small Ghanaian firms have used the internet to promote
exports (Hinson and Sorensen
2006
). Other possibilities are emerging, such as e-
tailing (e.g., kalahari.net), tourism promotion (Maswera et al.
2008
; Maswera et al.
2009
; Wynne et al.
2001
), and job-matching sites (e.g., CareerEgypt.com). PRIDE
Africa, an East African microfinance group, packages digital loans for resale to large
commercial banks (Hammond
2001
). The internet has enabled distance learning,
literacy training, and HIV education in remote areas, and forms the basis of entire
digital universities, such as the Francophone Virtual University in Cote d'Ivoire and
Guinea, the African Virtual University in Kenya and five West African countries
(
www.avu.org
), launched in 1997 by the World Bank, and SchoolNet in South
Africa (van Brakel and Chisenga
2003
). Kencall, a Kenyan call center service, has
demonstrated that eastern Africa can be competitive with India in this regard (Rice
2008
). Recent additions to the fiber network in Tanzania have spurred hopes of
similar ventures there (Kircher-Allen
2009
).
4.7.10 Central Asia
As more people have gained access to the internet in Central Asia, its implications
and effects have multiplied accordingly. One example is the ''electronic Silk
