According to recent research by best accounting, Uganda has been ranked the 3rd worst country to start an online business. The e-commerce market is currently dominated by Jumia, but we have seen several big businesses close in Uganda like HelloFood.
E-commerce continues to grow year-on-year, with eMarketer forecasting global sales worth $6.542 trillion by 2023, accounting for 22 percent of all retail sales (up from 14.1 percent in 2019). This means 2021 could be the year to start your online business.
Haiti and Venezuela were the worst-ranked countries followed by Uganda. Uganda ranked lowest for social media users (6% of the population), internet users (24% of the population), and GNI per capita ($780). It’s also severely lacking when it comes to secure internet servers (22 per one million people) and has poor internet speeds. However, it does appear mid-table for 59.2% of its population having finance accounts and its reasonable economic freedom, and it features in the top half of our countries for the days it takes to start a business (24) and the cost (40.5% of GNI).
But where’s the ideal place to start your business from? The researchers looked at 20 different categories across 99 countries. From GNI per capita and corporate tax rates to the number of social media, internet users, and co-worker spaces by each individual country, we analyzed a plethora of key areas so you don’t have to.
The data suggested that the majority of countries most suited to starting an online business are located in Europe. Joined by the US, Canada, and Singapore, these countries provide an all-around great starting point for your next business venture – but, the “perks” of these locations tend to be met with a higher corporate tax rate.
Switzerland ranked the best for GNI per capita with a value of $85,500 in 2019, $3,000 more than second-place Norway and almost $85,000 more than bottom-placed Uganda.
