The firms that were purchasing using the public Internet were reported to be buying between 5% and 80%
of their inputs in this way. The types of inputs acquired included spare parts, rubber, yarn and fabrics and
were acquired from Japan, Malaysia, Germany, the UK, Dubai,
Hong Kong, India and China. A respondent from the uniform
Box 1: e-sokoni
products using the public Internet estimated that between 5% and
e-sokoni is a business-to-business
trading hub in Eastern Africa that
hosts approximately 200 suppliers.
The hub provides a facility for
businesses to order their nonproduction supplies, e.g., fuel,
stationeries, vehicle spares, etc.,
through an electronic system
securely accessible over the Internet.
Several of Kenya’s large firms such
as Homegrown and British American
Tobacco are using e-sokoni for their
procurement.
100% of their sales were being supported using this form of B2B e-
Source: www.e-sokoni.com
manufacturing firm indicated that there was extensive use of the
public Internet in securing fabrics from Europe and Asia. One T-shirt
maker was buying specialised inks and dyes using the Internet and
other was using the public Internet to identify sources of raw
materials. Once the sources had been identified the firm was using
non-electronic means of communication to place an order.
The respondents who reported that their firms were selling their
commerce. The two respondents who reported that their firms were
using the Internet for 100% represented an EPZ firm that was selling into the North American market and
a firm whose main market was in the African region. The types of products involved were socks,
sweaters, uniforms, tents, plastics, and other types of garments and had been sold to buyers in Tanzania,
Rwanda, Uganda, the US, the UK, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Table 7: Firms Using E-Commerce, By Activity
E-commerce Activity
No. of Firms
Purchase inputs only
2
Sell products only
1
Both purchase and sell
4
Neither purchase nor sell
5
Source: Enterprise Level Interviews 2002; N=12
Several firms were reported to be browsing the Internet to search for business contacts. The firms
reported to be using the public Internet to purchase or sell products were active in local, regional and
international markets.
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