Yuan Li (second from left), founder of JMSA-MALL, poses with his team. (Xinhua/Zhang Gaiping)

LOME, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Aspiring to build the "Alibaba in West Africa," a Chinese businessman has launched Togo's first e-commerce platform for direct trade of Chinese product, JMSA-MALL.

"We want to be the pioneer of e-commerce in Togo and to capitalize on the strong multifaceted cooperation between China and Togo, a premier trade hub country in West Africa", Yuan Li, founder of JMSA-MALL, told Xinhua Friday in Lome.

"We are promoting a direct trade of genuine Chinese products with fair price between the African customers and the sellers in China," he explained.

From electronic devices to farm machines, the platform offers a wide range of Chinese products, which are sold in Togo as well as other countries like Benin, Niger, Ghana and Burkina Faso in the region.

The screenshot of the JMSA-MALL website (Xinhua)

The orders have also seen a drastic increase, up from less than 10 orders a day during the first days when it was launched in May to over 200 per day currently.

The products are expected to be delivered to the buyer in about seven days if available in stock, or in about two weeks to a month depending on air freight or sea freight.

Yuan has been living in Togo over the last ten years. He said the initiative is promising, and they plan to partner with regional auto dealers to sell second-hand vehicles in the future.

"It is an innovative project and we intend to exploit the existing potential to take off regionally," said Ahamed Gamabari, e-commerce chief at JMSA-MALL.