
<p><em>The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel, has relaxed restrictions on a wide range of e-Commerce goods following South Africa&#8217;s <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/coronavirus/2020/05/13/covid-19-most-of-sa-to-move-to-level3lockdown-by-end-of-may/">President Cyril Ramaphosa&#8217;s comments</a> last night that certain changes to level 4 regulations will be made to expand permitted business activities in the retail and e-commerce space.</em> For more details read Patel&#8217;s statement below&#8230;</p>



<p>Effective today, and subject to all applicable laws, all goods will be available for transaction through e-Commerce platforms with the exception of liquor and tobacco, which have been expressively prohibited for sale to the public during Alert Level 4. These products would be reconsidered in future when the Regulations permit their sale.</p>



<p>These <a href="http://www.thedtic.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/43321_14-5.pdf">gazetted directions</a> enable the sale of products through e-Commerce platforms and delivery-systems that are currently not available at retail outlets, including household appliances, electronic goods, furniture, books, music, gym products, the full range of clothing and footwear products, household utensils and others.</p>



<p>The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) has been working on a plan for e-Commerce to be safely rolled out since the Alert Level 4 regulations came into effect on 1 May. The key focus of the e-Commerce directions are on the health, safety and other protocols that need to be followed by retailers, delivery personnel and customers.</p>



<p>&#8220;We strongly believe in the value of e-Commerce as a critical enabler to opening the economy through contactless transactions. This can reduce the movement of consumers, and the density of shoppers in retail spaces. Further it can accelerate innovation, support local manufacturing and increase access by the informal market and poorer South Africans,” Minister Patel said today.</p>



<p>“We are in the middle of a global pandemic that has taken hundreds of thousands of lives across the world. Protecting the lives of workers and consumers is critical as we open up the economy. We have consulted with stakeholders to get the proper health and safety protocols in place which can allow the full e-Commerce supply chain to operate safely while mitigating the risk of it becoming a vector for transmission of the coronavirus,&#8221; said Minister Patel.</p>



<p>The directions outline the need for hygienic workplace conditions, social distancing, the wearing of masks, regular monitoring of workers’ health and the need for sanitisation, among other health protocols.</p>



<p>To limit the social and economic hardship caused by the pandemic on local industries and enable consumer choice to support local producers, the directions encourage retailers to give prominence to goods manufactured in South Africa.</p>



<p>The directions call on retailers to provide for as many payment options as possible for consumers, especially for low income earners, so that a greater number of South Africans can take advantage of online platforms.</p>



<p>The directions also recognise the opportunity for spaza shops and informal traders to leverage e-Commerce as a means of selling goods.</p>



<p>&#8220;e-Commerce has great potential as a safe retail platform during the pandemic. We need to work together with the sector to make digital platforms an avenue which can be used by a greater number of local manufacturers, retailers and consumers to transact. We have consulted with companies in e-Commerce who have committed to give prominence to South African-made goods on their sites. This is an important step in order to limit the social and economic hardship caused by the pandemic on local industries. We encourage all consumers to buy local and support the recovery of South African manufacturing during this global pandemic,” Minister Patel said.</p>



<p>“Beyond the pandemic, we are likely to see a shift from traditional retailing to e-Commerce platforms. We look forward to future engagement with the sector to address how to create more jobs in the sector and retrain workers displaced by the shift to e-Commerce and to ensure that there is space for local small businesses and youth-owned enterprises as suppliers of goods and providers of digital platforms and delivery services,” he said.</p>


COVID-19: Investing for Roubini’s Greater Depression

SA relaxes restrictions on all e-Commerce goods except liquor & tobacco, these are the details…


<p>Report by Catherine Clifford</p>



<p>The Covid-19 pandemic has nearly instantly and very dramatically pivoted the priorities of some makers, start-up founders, entrepreneurs, researchers and doers&nbsp;— the innovators — to solving problems related to the pandemic and preparing for any in the future.</p>



<p>“Every [tech] entrepreneur that I know is spending time on the pandemic response,”&nbsp;CEO of global start-up accelerator The Founder Institute Adeo Ressi tells CNBC Make It. “Many innovations will result from this global focus.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>That’s because a time of crisis is also a time of opportunity.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490066-1586971034326adeo_ressi_17.jpg2_.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-368172" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490066-1586971034326adeo_ressi_17.jpg2_.jpg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490066-1586971034326adeo_ressi_17.jpg2_-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490066-1586971034326adeo_ressi_17.jpg2_-696x391.jpg 696w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Adeo Ressi, CEO of the global start-up accelerator The Founder Institute, presenting at a Founder Institute showcase. Photo courtesy The Founder Institute</figcaption></figure>



<p>Alibaba, for instance, was transformed by the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic in China. The company launched its first consumer market place just as people around the country were self-quarantining, so they turned to shopping online, setting the company on its path to becoming a $500 billion e-commerce giant.&nbsp;</p>



<p>And there has already been an impressive amount of collaboration, says&nbsp;Sam Altman, the former president of top Silicon Valley start-up accelerator Y Combinator and current CEO of artificial intelligence research lab&nbsp;Open AI.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“This will be a before moment and an after moment for the world,” Altman tells CNBC Make It, and “there’s incredible innovation coming,” he says.</p>



<p>Here’s a look at the areas of innovation which have become freshly important as the coronavirus pandemic takes center stage.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Innovation to fight the pandemic</h2>



<p>The coronavirus pandemic has exposed numerous weak spots in how the government, businesses and citizens prepare for and respond to such events. But these weak spots are opportunities for entrepreneurs to innovate solutions, and many “are working to address the problems that we are facing right now, like a lack of testing and ventilators,” Ressi tells CNBC Make It.</p>



<p>There are many start-ups developing tools to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.</p>



<p>That includes things like artificial intelligence spread modeling, symptom-tracking solutions, chatbots for diagnoses and people-tracking with nearby infection notification, Ressi says.</p>



<p>For exmaple, Y Combinator-backed start-up&nbsp;Inokyo, which builds and installs autonomous checking for retail stores, has used its technical knowledge to build a product, Act, specifically to help companies deploy contact-tracing technology to their workplaces and warehouses, Y-Combinator partner Jared Friedman tells CNBC Make It.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>“It uses cameras and computer vision technology to see visually which employees have been in proximity to each other,” Friedman tells CNBC Make It. “Inokyo&nbsp;originally developed this advanced technology for grocery shopping (similar to Amazon Go), and has rapidly adapted it to this new use case.”</p>



<p>And 500 Startups portfolio company OhmniLabs is facilitating virtual visits in the time of coronavirus with its “telepresence robot,” Christine Tsai, CEO and founding partner of the early-stage venture fund and seed accelerator, tells CNBC Make It.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490305-1586980501033hero-1080p.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-368175" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490305-1586980501033hero-1080p.jpg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490305-1586980501033hero-1080p-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490305-1586980501033hero-1080p-696x391.jpg 696w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>The “telepresence robot,” made by Ohmni Labs. Photo courtesy Ohmni Labs</figcaption></figure>



<p>“They’re essentially high-tech mobile sticks fitted with high resolution cameras,” Tsai says. “Ohmni is now deploying these robots in hospitals to connect quarantined Covid-19 patients with their families, and donating them to care organizations to enable virtual visits with seniors who are isolated at home.”</p>



<p>Medical software company&nbsp;Qventus&nbsp;is helping hospitals manage patient flow and help hospitals streamline resources, Friedman tells CNBC Make It. The Y Combinator-backed start-up’s product specifically for the Covid-19 pandemic is being used by&nbsp;New York-Presbyterian hospital in New York City, Friedman says. (New York-Presbyterian is also an investor in Qventus, according to the public investor database Crunchbase.)</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Innovation for quarantine life</h2>



<p>Then there are&nbsp;start-ups working to address problems of the quarantined population trying to adapt. This space includes things like digital teleworking tools, home-schooling solutions, safe food delivery solutions, therapy and stress coping mechanisms, as well as symptom tracking innovation, Ressi tells CNBC Make It.&nbsp;</p>



<p>One example of such a start-up is a Y-Combinator backed start-up called&nbsp;Outschool, which produces online video chat classes taught by independent teachers.</p>



<p>“Their demand has exploded as parents adjust to the widespread school closures across the US,” Friedman tells CNBC Make It. “To help families who need financial assistance to access these classes, they are&nbsp;giving away $1M worth&nbsp;of free classes.”</p>



<p>Techstars portfolio company&nbsp;Banjo Robinson, a London-based ed tech company which engages young children in an interactive penpal experience, has seen rapid growth in the time of the coronavirus pandemic.</p>



<p>“They have experienced a five-fold increase in daily sales since schools closed. Parents are telling the Banjo team that juggling work with homeschooling is hard but Banjo activities have been a huge help in occupying their young children in educational ways,” Techstars founder and CEO David Brown tells CNBC Make It.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Microgreen kit producer Hamama is helping people grow green produce at home, Tsai says.</p>



<p>“Given that communities are sheltering in place or quarantined at home, access to fresh produce is much harder to come by,” she tells CNBC Make It of the 500 Startups portfolio company.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Then there’s artificial-intelligence stock trading platfrom, Pynk, a Founder Institute portfolio company, which Ressi says is doing well as investors digest the economic changes coronavirus has wrought.</p>



<p>“As a result of the market volatility, their returns have been 79% up over the last few weeks,” Ressi tells CNBC Make It.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490039-1586970266080pynk.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-368177" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490039-1586970266080pynk.jpg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490039-1586970266080pynk-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490039-1586970266080pynk-696x391.jpg 696w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Pynk co-founders Seth Ward and Rupert Barksfield on the stage of the 10th Wolves Summit, winning their startup pitch competition. Photo Credit: Wolves Summit</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Innovation for life after the coronavirus</h2>



<p>Then there are innovations accelerated by the pandemic that will live beyond its end.</p>



<p>For example, Tsai says remote care and telemedicine broadly will emerge from the coronavirus pandemic more attractive than they were prior.</p>



<p>So far it “has been held back by regulations and a general lack of awareness,” Tsai tells CNBC Make It. But it “has already begun to take more prominence and this behavior will likely persist past Covid-19 as healthcare providers see the benefits and efficiency in treating patients.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Ressi cites&nbsp;Second Medic, a telemedicine company for second opinions in India in which his accelerator owns a minority stake, as an example. “India just legalized telemedicine for primary care because of the Coronavirus,” Ressi tells CNBC Make It. “This businesses is exploding and plans to close a large pre-seed right any moment now.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Innovation to reinvent hard-hit industries</h2>



<p>&nbsp;As the coronavirus pandemic has swept the country, it has changed consumer behavior drastically. And entrepreneurs in a hard-hit industries are being stressed.</p>



<p>“For start-ups working in negatively affected industries, this is an unprecedented time to innovate or face extinction,” Ressi tells CNBC Make It.</p>



<p>And according to Ressi, many start-ups have been able to adapt since they are “small and nimble,” he says.</p>



<p>For example, Smart Health Clubs (a Founder Institute portfolio company) is moving its business online in this time.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“Physical exertion and the related heavy breathing is known to spread the virus widely,” Ressi tells CNBC Make It. So Smart Health Clubs “is pivoting to provide online engagement solutions to retain members through the pandemic. One options that they are examining is helping gyms sell idle equipment to members and create online courses for the equipment.”</p>



<p>And&nbsp;Gusto, a small-business payroll provider, “has been working around the clock to help small businesses get loans via the&nbsp;Paycheck Protection Program,” Friedman says of the Y-Combinator backed start-up. (On Feb. 22, Gusto was one of 11 companies added to the Small Business Administration’s&nbsp;Small Business Technology Coalition, a public-private partnership which aims to help small businesses use technology more effectively to grow their businesses.)</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490073-1586971341385pier70-gusto3.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-368179" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490073-1586971341385pier70-gusto3.jpg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490073-1586971341385pier70-gusto3-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/106490073-1586971341385pier70-gusto3-696x391.jpg 696w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>The Gusto headquarters in San Francisco at Pier 70. Photo credit: Jenna Carando</figcaption></figure>



<p>Social care networking start-up&nbsp;Aunt Bertha&nbsp;is now helping people locate social services, Brown says of the Techstars portfolio company.</p>



<p>“There are so many people who need support and specific services and they are lost about where to look — at the same time, those offering these resources are overwhelmed by the exponential increase in need. Aunt Bertha is providing a critical connection between these two and they were ready at scale before the Covid-19 crisis hit,” says Brown.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The bottom line is, says Ressi, change can be scary, but it can also be inspiring.</p>



<p>“If anything, I am encouraged by the fact that necessary changeis coming. I am excited about her prospects of new entrants to disrupt,” he says.</p>



<p>This article was first published on CNBC Make It <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/15/hot-spots-of-innovation-as-a-result-of-coronavirus-pandemic.html?__source=newsletter%7Cmakeit">https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/15/hot-spots-of-innovation-as-a-result-of-coronavirus-pandemic.html?__source=newsletter%7Cmakeit</a> and is republished with its permission.</p>



<p>For more coverage on COVID-19 visit: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/">https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/</a></p>


Op-Ed: Supporting the ICT sector in Africa as a cure for the economic crisis

These are the new hot spots of innovation in the time of coronavirus

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<p>Online shopping has evolved rapidly on the continent and it has become critically important during this on-going COVID-19 crisis. In Kenya, E-commerce platform Gobeba has recorded a tripling of orders as more Kenyans shift to online shopping rather than visiting stores. Gobeba CEO, Peter Ndang&#8217;ui joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Kenya sees increased demand for E-commerce amid COVID-19

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<p>Pan-African e-commerce platform, Jumia has announced a number of measures to support different African governments in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak. Juliet Anammah, Chairwoman of Jumia Nigeria and Head Institutional Affairs at Jumia Group joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Jumia Chair Juliet Anammah discusses impact of COVID-19 on Africa’s e-commerce space

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The shift from traditional services to digital is sweeping across the continent and the growth of e-commerce is undeniable. Rodrigo Alier, Regional General Manager of Glovo joins CNBC Africa for more on their expansion into East Africa.</p>


Kenya going digital as online overtakes traditional services

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Across most Sub-Saharan African (SSA) markets the main elements that make up a successful e-commerce environment is still lacking &#8211; things like internet penetration, digital payment options and third party logistics delivery options aren&#8217;t yet as developed here as they are globally, but these things haven&#8217;t stopped the next guest from getting into the space in a big way. CNBC Africa spoke to CEO of Cars45, Etop Ikpe for more.</p>


Is Africa’s automotive industry ready for e-commerce?

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<p>Last month it was announced that Jumia was suspending their food delivery services here in Rwanda, the news came amidst reports that the Pan-African e-commerce company had already shut down operations in several other African countries, including Cameroon and Tanzania, but to customers here in Kigali, the news was still quite surprising. The service had become a mainstay in many city dwellers&#8217; lunch and dinner plans and the outcry was heard on Twitter. Enter, Vuba Vuba – a new company by former Jumia Rwanda Managing Director, Albert Munyabugingo, plans to pick up where Jumia Food left off. He joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Exit Jumia Food

Exit Jumia Food, enter Vuba Vuba – MD Albert Munyabugingo on how new food delivery service plans to cater to Rwandan market

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<p>News arrived this week that Pan-African e-commerce company, Jumia – best known here in Kigali for its restaurant delivery service, is suspending operations in Rwanda. This comes after the company already shut down in Cameroon and Tanzania. Back in April the company, which many compared to Amazon, showed immense promise with a very high valuation and a New York listing, now with the new setbacks, what does this mean for them and the generation of African start-ups behind them that were looking to follow in their footsteps? Kenneth Agutamba, Analyst and Chief Strategist at Impact Communication Strategies joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


How does Jumia’s setbacks impact other African start-ups?


<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Online retailer Jumia Technologies, often called “the Amazon of Africa,” has closed its e-commerce business in Tanzania, it said in a statement on Thursday, less than two weeks after shutting down in Cameroon.</p>



<p>“As part of our ongoing portfolio optimisation effort, Jumia has come to the difficult decision to cease our operations in Tanzania effective on November 27,” the company said in a statement.</p>



<p>Reporting by Joe Bavier; editing by Jason Neely</p>


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Jumia closes e-commerce business in Tanzania two weeks after shutting down in Cameroon

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<p>Pan-African e-commerce giant Jumia has suspended its Marketplace business in Cameroon. Jumia did not publicly announce its imminent closure in the country and the move took many customers and local staff by surprise – CNBC Africa&#8217;s Arnold Kwizera spoke to Tech entrepreneur, Rebecca Enonchong on the latest move by Jumia.</p>


Jumia troubles continue

Jumia troubles continue, shuts down some offices in Africa


<p>By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/karen-gilchrist/">Karen Gilchrist</a></p>



<p>Billionaire entrepreneur <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/jack-ma/">Jack Ma</a> founded <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=BABA">Alibaba</a> — one of <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/china/">China’s</a> most successful technology companies.</p>



<p>But even he would have a tough time securing a job there today, he said.</p>



<p>And it’s not just Alibaba. The e-commerce visionary said he and most of the other founders would struggle to pass the initial screening for many of the world’s most desirable companies.</p>



<p>“People like me, today, if I tried to apply (for a) job in Alibaba, it’s almost impossible,” Ma said at the Forbes Global CEO Conference in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/singapore/" class="">Singapore</a>.</p>



<p>That’s because of a flaw in the international employment system, which places too much emphasis on academic results and unfairly pits out-of-box thinkers against traditional ones, he said.</p>



<p>“People judge you by your diploma,” said Ma. “They would think ’hey, we’re got a group of people from <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/search/?query=Harvard%20University">Harvard</a>, we’ve got people from <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/search/?query=Stanford%20University">Stanford</a>, and you are from nowhere.”</p>



<p>Ma — who struggled through school and was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/09/lesson-alibabas-jack-ma-learned-after-being-rejected-for-a-job-at-kfc.html" class="">famously rejected from 30 jobs</a>&nbsp;before he started Alibaba in 1999 — said he’d encountered numerous highly capable people who were rebuffed from good jobs simply because they failed to perform academically.</p>



<p>“I’ve found a lot of entrepreneurs like me,” said Ma, noting two former colleagues, now founders of Alipay and Taobao, who failed to get into MBA courses because they did not pass the math exams.</p>



<p>Such academic checklists are becoming increasingly irrelevant in the fast-evolving digital age, he said.</p>



<p>“In the industrial (era), you had to remember faster, you have to remember more, you have to calculate faster. These are the things machines can now do much better than you,” said Ma.</p>



<p>“That is something I worry about. 20, 30 years on, our kids will never be able to survive because of the education we teach,” said Ma.</p>



<p>The 55-year-old, who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/10/jack-ma-steps-down-as-alibaba-baba-chairman-history-of-the-company.html" class="">retired as Alibaba’s executive chairman</a>&nbsp;last month, said he now plans do philanthropic work in the education sector to better prepare the next generation for the shifting landscape by encouraging greater independent thinking.</p>



<p>“We (have to) teach our kids how to be innovative, constructive and creative so they can survive in the AI (artificial intelligence) period. I want to do more things about that,” said Ma, <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/20/working-as-a-teacher-taught-alibabas-jack-ma-this-business-skill.html">a former English teacher.</a> </p>



<p>This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/21/why-jack-ma-says-hed-never-get-a-job-at-alibaba-today.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/21/why-jack-ma-says-hed-never-get-a-job-at-alibaba-today.html</a> and is republished with its permission.</p>


Why Billionaire Jack Ma says he’d never get a job at Alibaba today

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<p>Over thirty courier firms have entered the Kenyan market over the past year with the sector deliveries growing by 22.2 per cent as online purchasing picked up according to data from the Communication Authority of Kenya – for more on this and latest business news headlines from Kenya,  Analyst and SME Consultant Victor Otieno joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


How Kenya’s e-commerce industry is revolutionising courier service, public transport sector

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<p>The South African digital customer experience report has revealed that brands leave almost R34 billion in lost revenue on the table. This is thanks to 71 per cent of consumers abandoning their shopping carts at the digital tillpoint. Michael Walker, Marketing Manager at Gumtree SA joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


The secret to enhancing customer experience on e-commerce platforms


<p>By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/arjun-kharpal/">Arjun Kharpal </a></p>



<p>2019 is a big year for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=BABA" class="">Alibaba</a>. The Chinese e-commerce giant is celebrating its twentieth anniversary and its high-profile founder Jack Ma,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/10/alibaba-jack-ma-succession-plan-daniel-zhang-to-take-over-as-chairman.html" class="">is stepping down as chairman on Tuesday</a>.</p>



<p>Since its founding in 1999, Alibaba has gone from being a traditional e-commerce company to a conglomerate that has businesses from logistics to food delivery and cloud computing. It is now a company valued over $460 billion.</p>



<p>Here are some of key moments in Alibaba’s history.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">April 1999: The journey begins</h2>



<p>Alibaba was established by a group of 18 founders led by<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/jack-ma/" class=""><strong>Jack Ma</strong></a><strong>.</strong>&nbsp;The group worked out of Ma’s apartment in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, where Alibaba is now headquartered.</p>



<p>Its first website was Alibaba.com, an English-language wholesale marketplace. That same year, Alibaba launched a domestic wholesale market place.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">January 2000: SoftBank invests</h2>



<p>Alibaba got a $20 million investment from a group of investors led by SoftBank.</p>



<p>“We didn’t talk about revenues, we didn’t even talk about a business model,” said Ma about SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal at the time. “We just talked about a shared vision. Both of us make quick decisions.”</p>



<p>That investment helped Alibaba to grow.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">May 2003: Taobao is born</h2>



<p>Taobao is an online shopping platformin China run by Alibaba, where third-party sellers can push their products.</p>



<p>In Alibaba’s 2015 fiscal year, Taobao’s gross merchandise volume reached1.59 trillion yuan ($223.9 billion). That has grown to 3.11 trillion yuan in the 2019 fiscal year.</p>



<p>Revenue from Taobao is a crucial part of Alibaba’s core commerce business.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">December 2004: Alipay launch</h2>



<p>Alipay is one of China’s two big payments platforms, along with rival WeChat Pay which is owned by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=700-HK" class="">Tencent</a>. It’s a system based on QR codes, a kind of bar code, that’s found at merchants’ payment counters. Buyers in stores can scan the code to make payments. But Alipay can also be used in online stores.</p>



<p>However, Alipay has proved to be a controversial asset throughout Alibaba’s history, causing the company and its founder Ma, to clash with key shareholders Yahoo and SoftBank.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">August 2005: Yahoo becomes biggest shareholder</h2>



<p>Yahoo poured $1 billion into Alibaba for a 40% stake in the company, making it the e-commerce firm’s largest shareholder.</p>



<p>As part of the deal, Alibaba took control of Yahoo’s China business.</p>



<p>“Together, we will create one of the largest Internet companies in China, and our combined assets will make us the only company that has a leading position in all the key sectors that are driving explosive Internet growth in China such as search, commerce and communications,” Terry Semel, Yahoo’s CEO at the time said in a press release.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">November 2007: Hong Kong IPO</h2>



<p>Before Alibaba’s debut in the U.S. in 2014, it carried out an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong in 2007.</p>



<p>The public listing raised $13.1 billion Hong Kong dollars in gross proceeds. On its opening day, Alibaba shares surged from the offer price of $13.50 Hong Kong dollars to as high as $39.50 Hong Kong dollars.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">April 2008: The birth of Tmall</h2>



<p>Alibaba launched a product called Taobao Mall which was spun off years later and became Tmall. Along with Taobao, Tmall is now one of Alibaba’s most important e-commerce properties in terms of revenue.</p>



<p>Tmall has positioned itself as a place where foreign brands can set up an online store and sell to Chinese consumers.</p>



<p>Luxury fashion brands, electronics makers and even&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=SBUX" class="">Starbucks</a>&nbsp;are on Tmall.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">September 2009: Cloud business launched</h2>



<p>Alibaba launched its cloud business in 2009 and it is now one of the biggest in China.</p>



<p>Cloud computing is the second-largest revenue source for the company, and its fastest-growing businesses.</p>



<p>Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/09/alibaba-ceo-says-cloud-computing-will-be-its-main-business-in-future.html" class="">told CNBC</a>&nbsp;last year that cloud will be the firm’s “main business” in the future.</p>



<p>“Cloud computing is our long-term strategy. We strongly believe that every business in the future will be powered by cloud,” he said.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">November 2009: Singles Day extravaganza</h2>



<p>Singles Day — also known as the Double 11 festival — is China’s largest shopping event of the year. It was pioneered by current Alibaba CEO Zhang.</p>



<p>Retailers offer huge discounts on that day, and it’s turned into a multibillion dollar festival.</p>



<p>Alibaba saw gross merchandising value — the value of goods sold via its platforms —&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/09/alibaba-singles-day-how-the-giant-shopping-event-began.html" class="">hit $7.8 million in the 2009 edition</a>&nbsp;of Singles Day. That figure stood at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/09/cnbc-transcript-daniel-zhang-group-ceo-alibaba.html" class="">$30.8 billion for the 2018 event</a>, according to the exchange rate at the time.</p>



<p>“I never expected that we could actually transform this day into a commercial day &#8230; for the whole society,” Zhang told CNBC in an interview last year.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">May 2011: Alipay controversy</h2>



<p>Alibaba sold control of Alipay to a group controlled by Jack Ma. At the time, the company said it was because of new rules issued by the country’s central bank — the People’s Bank of China. The regulations for third-party online payment required them to get specific licenses.</p>



<p>However Yahoo, Alibaba’s biggest shareholder at the time, said the sale of Alipay happened without its knowledge, a statement that the Chinese e-commerce giant denied.</p>



<p>The episode raised concerns about Alibaba’s governance structure.</p>



<p>Yahoo, SoftBank and Alibaba eventually came to a deal that same year: Alibaba would be paid at least $2 billion but no more than $6 billion if Alipay went public; Alipay was also required to pay licensing fees and continue serving Taobao.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">June 2012: Hong Kong delisting</h2>



<p>Just five years after its debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange, Alibaba took the company private through a de-listing.</p>



<p>The company paid $2.45 billion to buy the 27% of Alibaba.com held by the public. This equated to $13.50 Hong Kong dollars a share, the same offering price for the IPO back in 2007.</p>



<p>“Taking Alibaba.com private will allow our company to make long-term decisions that are in the best interest of our customers and that are also free from the pressures that come from having a publicly listed company,” Ma said in comments at the time.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">September 2012: Alibaba’s Yahoo buyback</h2>



<p>Alibaba bought back half of Yahoo’s 40% stake for $7.6 billion. Yahoo received approximately $6.3 billion in cash and $800 million in preference shares in Alibaba.</p>



<p>This was a big return for Yahoo after its initial $1 billion investment in 2005.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">September 2014: New York IPO</h2>



<p>Alibaba went public on the New York Stock exchange in what was the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2014/09/22/alibaba-the-biggest-ever-ipo-after-more-shares-sold.html" class="">biggest IPO in history</a>.</p>



<p>The e-commerce giant raised around $25 billion in its New York IPO. It’s now one of Asia’s largest technology firms by valuation.</p>



<p>Alibaba’s stock is up over 150% from its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2014/09/18/alibaba-prices-shares-at-68-a-share-dj.html" class="">$68 per share listing price</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">October 2014: Ant Financial is created</h2>



<p>After the controversial spin-off of Alipay, Ant Financial was created to encompass not just the payment system but other financial services.</p>



<p>The creation of this affiliate company signaled Alibaba’s intentions to push into financial technology or fintech.</p>



<p>Ant Financial,now China’s largest fintech firm<strong>,&nbsp;</strong>is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/29/chinas-ant-financial-raises-10-billion-at-150-billion-valuation.html" class="">reportedly valued at around $150 billion</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">August 2015: $4.6 billion Suning deal</h2>



<p>Alibaba invested 28.3 billion yuan, which was around $4.56 billion, into Chinese bricks-and-mortar electronics retailer Suning. This followed an investment the year before into department store chain, Intime.</p>



<p>It signaled Alibaba’s intent to push on with its so-called “new retail” strategy where it looks to merge its online business with offline stores. The aim is to bring together payments, e-commerce, food delivery and other parts of its business into one big ecosystem.</p>



<p>It’s a strategy that the company continues to push on with today.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">April 2016: International push</h2>



<p>Since it’s founding 20 years ago, Alibaba’s focus has very much been on its domestic market: helping foreign and local brands sell to Chinese consumers.</p>



<p>But in April 2016, the company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/12/alibaba-group-invests-1-billion-dollars-in-lazada-group-and-eyes-southeast-asia.html" class="">took a controlling stake in Singapore-based Lazada</a>, an e-commerce company that serves several markets in Southeast Asia.</p>



<p>That marked Alibaba’s first major international push in the e-commerce space.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">February 2018: Alibaba buys Ant stake</h2>



<p>Alibaba bought a 33% stake in Ant Financial. It was able to do so because of a clause in a contract between the two companies from 2014 when Ant was created.</p>



<p>There have been reports that Ant Financial is gearing up for an IPO, though the company has not made any official announcements.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">September 2019: Jack Ma steps down as chairman</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/10/alibaba-jack-ma-succession-plan-daniel-zhang-to-take-over-as-chairman.html" class="">In September 2018</a>, Alibaba said Jack Ma will step down as chairman of the board one year later — on September 10, 2019.</p>



<p>Current CEO Zhang takes Ma’s place as chairman.</p>



<p>Ma intends to stay on the Alibaba board of directors until the 2020 annual shareholders meeting. </p>



<p><em>This article first appeared on CNBC </em><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/10/jack-ma-steps-down-as-alibaba-baba-chairman-history-of-the-company.html"><em>https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/10/jack-ma-steps-down-as-alibaba-baba-chairman-history-of-the-company.html</em></a><em> and is republished with its permission.</em></p>


Billionaire Jack Ma steps down as Alibaba’s chairman. Here are key moments in the company’s history

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