INTERNET LAW - Africa wants to expand e-payments, e-commerce

Most African countries are unable to conduct business online because they do not have in place a reliable electronic payment system. United Nations officials and African academics want to change this situation. During a recent forum on ICT, trade and economic growth, held in Ethiopia and sponsored by the UN's Economic Commission for Africa and Addis Ababa University, they recognized it is going to be a difficult process.

Many African countries lack the telecommunication infrastructure, automated financial institutions, widespread use of credit cards, as well as the laws and regulations to enable e-payments and e-commerce. Telephones frequently do not work and Internet is unavailable, expensive or slow. Online banking services are unavailable, down due to power outages or closed. Cash - rather than credit cards - is used as a form of payment. The legal and regulatory framework governing e-payments and e-commerce is also inexistent.

Despite the enormous challenges, Addis Ababa University students have developed a prototype and are determined to implement "a secure, affordable and open" e-payment system. This system, a university official says, will reduce transaction costs and most importantly ensure that Africa is in a position to benefit from an increasingly global economy. South Africa, Tunisia and Egypt already have in place e-payment systems.

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