Amazon, an American multinational technology firm that specializes in e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and A.I will be expanding its e-commerce platform to five new countries in Africa, Europe, and South America while retaining its headquarters in the United States.
According to a report by Business Insider, the five countries are as follows: Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Nigeria, and South Africa.
“Amazon plans to launch its online marketplace in 5 new countries by early next year, even as it dials back parts of its retail business in the US”
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What Does This Mean?
This year, the company has made a series of moves toward overtaking the e-commerce space, and this move its expansion to those countries will be a threat to local e-commerce platforms,
“The moves will likely mean more competition for local e-commerce companies, including Jumia, which operates across Africa, and Mercado Libre, a leading online marketplace in Latin America.”
Amazon Expansion Details
According to the report, the rollouts will occur between the years 2022 and 2023, per a detailed timeline.
- Belgium’s marketplace, called Project Red Devil, is slated for late September.
- The one in Colombia, dubbed Project Salsa, is scheduled for February 2023.
- South Africa, codenamed Project Fela, is also expected in February 2023.
- The marketplace in Nigeria is due to launch in April 2023. That project shares the codename Project Fela with South Africa.
- Chile is planned for April 2023, too. That shares the Project Salsa name with Colombia.
What To Face In Nigeria
In Jan 2022, the federal government ordered non-resident companies (NRC) to give 6 percent of their revenue from digital services they provided to Nigerian customers.
Amazon and other businesses that offer services through apps, trading platforms, online advertisements, etc. are required to charge customers for value-added tax (VAT) and remit the funds to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
“All they need is that arrangement with FIRS where they collect VAT on behalf of FIRS and remit to FIRS.
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“And also, to clarify, that FIRS may appoint persons including non-resident companies for the purpose of VAT collection and to clarify again that appointed persons may collect and remit taxes to FIRS, pursuant to the relevant tax laws.
“The core rationale for this is to modernize the taxation of ICT and digital economy in line with the National Development Plan 2021-2025, to enhance administrative modalities for the taxation of non-resident taxpayers and also to reduce incompliance by non-resident payers to reduce the compliance burden.”
Observation
NIPC reported that In the past few years, the American company has been expanding into more countries around the world.
“According to a report sighted by NIPC Intelligence, Amazon has singled Nigeria and South Africa, believing them to be places they can easily hit the market running. Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, and Egypt are Africa’s top five largest economies. Online retail is booming in these markets thanks to companies like Jumia, Konga, Takealot, and more.”
They grew up in Poland and Egypt last year. They had grown in Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, and Sweden the year before. They have been in India for a few years, and reports say they have invested more than $7 billion there.
Moreover, all countries plan to open their marketplaces and give people access to Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon service.
According to that document, Amazon’s Prime membership program should be available at launch in Belgium. It should also be available soon after launch in other countries.
The report added that “Belgian shoppers, who are already able to sign up for Prime through some of Amazon’s other European sites, will get their own dedicated Prime service for a more consistent pricing and shopping experience”