A Rwandan student studying cross-border e-commerce in Hangzhou, capital city of east China’s Zhejiang province, said that she hopes to sell specialties of her country through live-streaming e-commerce when she returns home.

Photo shows Emelyne on the campus of Hangzhou Normal University in Hangzhou, capital city of east China’s Zhejiang province. (Photo courtesy of Emelyne)

Emelyne is a sophomore at the Alibaba Business School with Hangzhou Normal University, where she learns professional knowledge and how to start a business.

She believes that what she learns in China will be conducive to her career in the future. Although e-commerce is far from a fully-fledged industry in Rwanda, she hopes to engage in e-commerce and live-stream marketing, or start her own business to promote the products of her hometown.

During the shopping season of Black Friday 2020, Emelyne sat in front of the camera to promote products of foreign trade companies in China. She said that a host’s unique style plays an important role in boosting sales of commodities in a live-streaming sessions. Her favorite host is Li Jiaqi, one of the top-tier influencers in China, who describes the products in a unique way and deeply impresses viewers, garnering a staggering sales volume so far.

The students studying e-commerce in China have a birthday party. (Photo courtesy of Emelyne)

In 2018, Alibaba and the Rwandan government launched the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) partnership, making Rwanda the first African country to launch this type of platform. Under the partnership, Emelyne and another 21 students were selected to study e-commerce in China.

The eWTP has facilitated Rwanda’s exports, especially during the COVID-19 epidemic. Last year, James Kimonyo, Rwandan ambassador to China, participated in several live-streaming sessions in China to advertise Rwandan products. During one session, 3,000 packets of coffee were sold out in one second.

 Emelyne chats with her father over the phone. (Photo courtesy of Emelyne)