From Africa to Alibaba: top Rwandan Students' first semester in Hangzhou

2020-01-15 08:57:25 source: City Express

  

Twenty-two Rwandan students have finished the first semester of their studies at Alibaba Business School of Hangzhou Normal University recently. The undergraduate program, initiated by Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant Alibaba last September, as a crucial part of the agreement signed last year between the Rwandan government and Alibaba to build the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), is a great opportunity for the talented Rwandan to master the advanced technologies and tactics for e-commerce.


Group discussion in class


The students, most of who achieving full marks at Rwanda's college entrance examination, chose to spend four years in Hangzhou, the capital of e-commerce, studying subjects like the Internet, international trade, and cross-border e-commerce.

  

They shared their minds with Hangzhoufeel on Jan.14.

  

In the past three months, they have experienced a new business model and seen the enormous potential of e-commerce. They are determined to learn from China and then return to their country to create a better environment for the development of the digital economy and change people’s views of e-commerce and digital payments.

  

Huang Mingwei, vice president of Alibaba

  

During a live stream via Taobao last week, more than 1,000 kg of Rwandan coffee beans were sold out in ten minutes. By removing the intermediate steps and increasing the added-value, farmers in Rwanda earned an extra $4 for selling every kilogram of coffee beans through e-commerce platforms.


Theogene Tuyishimire was giving a presentation on Jan.14.

  

Theogene Tuyishimire, 21, is one of them who achieves a perfect score not only in his country but also at the Alibaba Business School. He has a longing to start an e-commerce company this year to help farmers in his hometown to sell their crops online at reasonable prices.

  

"I learned how e-commerce business models basically work in China, and now the challenge I need to think about and overcome is how I need to adjust such business models to the business environment in Rwanda," said Theogene Tuyishimire.

  

He added that around 30% of Rwandan use online payments for transfer while in China, everyone uses online payments. The merchants who use online payments see a 4% increase in their income.

  

"We saw a large potential on the online payment. However, in Rwanda people need to pay a service fee of about 10% of the transfer amount. As for the banks, the service fee is much lower. So in our country, I think the digital payment needs to be realized by banks for people to trust more in the new payment method," said Theogene Tuyishimire. In the future, he wants to complete the mindset shift in the digital economy in Rwanda.


Dianah Rutayisire Mahoro was sharing her views on the digital economy.


Dianah Rutayisire Mahoro, 19, considers opening an online shop for selling clothes made in Rwanda. "We do have e-commerce platforms in our country. However, due to the awful shopping experience, we still want Chinese platforms to come into our market," said Dianah.

  

"We don't want you to be job seekers but job creators in Rwanda," said Jason Xiao, product operation advisor at the office of the academic committee of the economy, Alibaba Group.

  

Rwanda aims to be a middle-income nation by embracing digitization and smart business transactions through the eWTP.

  

The eWTP (Electronic World Trade Platform) initiative was a private sector-led and multi-stakeholder proposed by Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba, in 2016 for public-private cooperation in incubating eTrade rules and fostering a more effective and efficient policy and business environment for cross border electronic trade (including both B2B and B2C) development. Rwanda, which aims to become a regional hub of information communication technology, is the first African country to launch the platform.

  

As this year’s Spring Festival travel rush begins, 16 of the Rwandan students will be volunteering at the city's transportation hubs to have a vivid experience of living in the top city of China’s digital economy.

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11576600 From Africa to Alibaba: top Rwandan Students' first semester in Hangzhou public html   

Twenty-two Rwandan students have finished the first semester of their studies at Alibaba Business School of Hangzhou Normal University recently. The undergraduate program, initiated by Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant Alibaba last September, as a crucial part of the agreement signed last year between the Rwandan government and Alibaba to build the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), is a great opportunity for the talented Rwandan to master the advanced technologies and tactics for e-commerce.


Group discussion in class


The students, most of who achieving full marks at Rwanda's college entrance examination, chose to spend four years in Hangzhou, the capital of e-commerce, studying subjects like the Internet, international trade, and cross-border e-commerce.

  

They shared their minds with Hangzhoufeel on Jan.14.

  

In the past three months, they have experienced a new business model and seen the enormous potential of e-commerce. They are determined to learn from China and then return to their country to create a better environment for the development of the digital economy and change people’s views of e-commerce and digital payments.

  

Huang Mingwei, vice president of Alibaba

  

During a live stream via Taobao last week, more than 1,000 kg of Rwandan coffee beans were sold out in ten minutes. By removing the intermediate steps and increasing the added-value, farmers in Rwanda earned an extra $4 for selling every kilogram of coffee beans through e-commerce platforms.


Theogene Tuyishimire was giving a presentation on Jan.14.

  

Theogene Tuyishimire, 21, is one of them who achieves a perfect score not only in his country but also at the Alibaba Business School. He has a longing to start an e-commerce company this year to help farmers in his hometown to sell their crops online at reasonable prices.

  

"I learned how e-commerce business models basically work in China, and now the challenge I need to think about and overcome is how I need to adjust such business models to the business environment in Rwanda," said Theogene Tuyishimire.

  

He added that around 30% of Rwandan use online payments for transfer while in China, everyone uses online payments. The merchants who use online payments see a 4% increase in their income.

  

"We saw a large potential on the online payment. However, in Rwanda people need to pay a service fee of about 10% of the transfer amount. As for the banks, the service fee is much lower. So in our country, I think the digital payment needs to be realized by banks for people to trust more in the new payment method," said Theogene Tuyishimire. In the future, he wants to complete the mindset shift in the digital economy in Rwanda.


Dianah Rutayisire Mahoro was sharing her views on the digital economy.


Dianah Rutayisire Mahoro, 19, considers opening an online shop for selling clothes made in Rwanda. "We do have e-commerce platforms in our country. However, due to the awful shopping experience, we still want Chinese platforms to come into our market," said Dianah.

  

"We don't want you to be job seekers but job creators in Rwanda," said Jason Xiao, product operation advisor at the office of the academic committee of the economy, Alibaba Group.

  

Rwanda aims to be a middle-income nation by embracing digitization and smart business transactions through the eWTP.

  

The eWTP (Electronic World Trade Platform) initiative was a private sector-led and multi-stakeholder proposed by Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba, in 2016 for public-private cooperation in incubating eTrade rules and fostering a more effective and efficient policy and business environment for cross border electronic trade (including both B2B and B2C) development. Rwanda, which aims to become a regional hub of information communication technology, is the first African country to launch the platform.

  

As this year’s Spring Festival travel rush begins, 16 of the Rwandan students will be volunteering at the city's transportation hubs to have a vivid experience of living in the top city of China’s digital economy.

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