E-Commerce Readiness in Ethiopia: A Macro-Level Assessment

Abstract

AbstractThis study is a work in progress that intends to measure the readiness for e-commerce of an aggressively developing economy in East Africa – Ethiopia – a nation that has a significant historical and geo-political status at the horn and is competing in the global information economy. The paper initially embarks on explaining the distinction among the fundamental concepts of e-commerce, e-readiness and e-commerce readiness. It then reviews some of the major e-commerce readiness studies conducted and models developed both at the regional and international level. From among such models, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) self-assessment tool is selected as an appropriate instrument for adoption and development of a measure for e-commerce readiness in Ethiopia. Apart from identifying the nation’s standing regarding its e-commerce readiness, customizing existing instruments and developing a new version, is believed to add value to the contemporary knowledge capital in the specific domain.KeywordsE-commerceE-readinessInformation Communication Technology E-commerce readinessglobal economy