Online retail is becoming Africa's cash cow. Investment Bank, Goldman Sachs, recently named Jumia -- Africa's largest online retailer -- a winner in the continent's e-commerce market. The online retailer, which launched in 2012 in Nigeria, has raised more than 700 Million dollars from investors, including global telecoms operators. However, Jumia is not the only online platform seeking a slice of the pie. CGTN's Terry Wangari explains.

Africa's online retail space is getting competitive with investors and consumers alike capitalizing on its emergence. The rise of retail in Africa has been largely attributed to a high adoption of smartphones and more affordable internet. Kenya is among the leaders in share of internet traffic coming from Mobile, overtaking Nigeria in 2017, at 83 percent.

According to a report released in 2016, just 0.5% of all retail in Africa takes place online compared to China's 15% and India's 5% But Jeremy Hodara - who is the co-founder of Africa's biggest e-commerce platform - says online retail in Africa is well on its way to uncovering its true potential.

JEREMY HODARA CO-CEO, JUMIA "Africa is probably what China was a few years ago in terms of development, in terms of challenges. We are building a business in an environment that is probably close to what China was when Alibaba started. It's a lot of challenges, it's not organized. It's very different from the Western World and from the U.S. Africa is going to be China in a few years so in that respect, it is very similar". 

Jumia launched in 2012 in Nigeria with the backing of German startup fund Rocket Internet It was valued at $1.2 billion in 2016 and is now in 14 African countries.

Jumia's competitors are not too far behind Kilimall.com, a Kenyan online retail start-up, began in 2014 with an aim to penetrate the online retail market Now, Kilimall has one of the largest warehouses in Eastern Africa, shipping orders countrywide.

TERRY WANGARI NAIROBI, KENYA "At its peak, this warehouse can process nearly 10,000 orders every single day through a system that is purely digitized. And all this takes place through this huge space."

NORAH AKELLO DIRECTOR, KENYA BUSINESS, KILLIMALL INTERNATIONAL "We realized our manual picking was not helping us cause the pickers would collide here, moving here, moving there. Today our warehouse management system or WMS enables my picker to do it systematically."

Kilimall allows customers to choose from a wide assortment of products. Their orders are then delivered to them anywhere in the country, through a synchronized system that operates under one roof. This warehouse can be operated by less than 15 people on a daily basis, reducing the human to human interaction.

NORAH AKELLO DIRECTOR, KENYA BUSINESS, KILLIMALL INTERNATIONAL "Today, I do not need to be here to operate I can operate wherever I am. Whether in Uganda, whether in Nigeria, whether I am in my house. As a local business director, I can have all these things at my fingertips by just the click of a button."

Competitors like Kilimall are steadily closing the gap when it comes to e-commerce in Africa through innovation and improved infrastructure. Analysts say they expect e-commerce in Africa to boom at a fast rate, and become a strong contributor to the continent's economy. TW CGTN, N, K.