Technology:
Several years ago e-business was hampered by a lack of hardware, software and poor connectivity. But now African capitals have more than adequate connectivity and there is no shortage of capable ICT companies able to provide the hardware, software and hosting required. The entry level costs, however, remain high in terms of computer equipment, but not in trained and capable staff. It looks like the technical buildings blocks are in place but what is now needed are more entrepreneurs to exploit the possibilities.

Payment:
If you're entering the e-Commerce arena some kind of payment has to take place. If you're merely migrating existing business to the Internet, then you will most likely continue with the old payment mechanisms that you have been using offline. If, however, your business is going to rely on taking payments over the Internet, then you have some thinking to do. For the e-commerce amateur there are a variety of solutions such as PayPal or NoChex that allow for 'members' of the service to take and receive payments between each other.

Marketing:
Part of the expectations of e-Business is that the producers were going to be able to trade directly with customers, cutting out all the middle men and liberating huge amounts of money. So far things haven't quite turned out like that. One of the first things we have to do is to define what we mean by 'middle men'. Although they are often touted as exploiters, in fact 'middle-men' also offer valuable services such as ensuring quality or expediting sales in other locations. They are 'middle men' but they are also valuable links in the chain.