A lack of addressing systems is holding back the take-off of e-commerce in Africa.

This is according to Byron Moorgas, the new media manager at South African headquartered technology mapping firm mapIT, which is a division of TomTom Africa.

But Moorgas, speaking at the Aitec East Africa ICT Summit in Nairobi, has said that mapIT has developed a solution to this problem that could help Africans have their own virtual addresses.

At the summit, Moorgas on Wednesday explained that mapIT has developed a code that consists of four digits, mixed with two numbers and letters, that are used to map locations on a grid across the globe.

Users of the system can then obtain these unique addresses, which can then be used by delivery companies to pinpoint their locations.

“Everyone can get a ‘MapCode’ for their location,” Moorgas said during the ongoing Aitec ICT Summit in Nairobi.

MapCode is open source software that can be integrated with other solutions such as GIS. The company is looking to have the solutions ISO certified in the near future.

The navigation to selected locations can be accessed using mapIT gadgets or even a mobile phone, Moorgas said.

According to Moorgas, the system is already in place and can be used by anyone across the globe.

During the presentation, Moorgas also hinted that his company could setup a traffic management system in Kenya.

The system is planned to help manage traffic by streaming information on where delays are experienced. This system is currently only available in South Africa.

“The next market we would come to is Kenya,” Moorgas commented.

But he also highlighted that infrastructure in the country could hamper the company from introducing its traffic management solutions.

“In Kenya we have already mapped out 50,000 kilometres of road,” Moorgas revealed.

“Managing traffic could still impact on e-commerce as deliveries would not take so much time due to jams,” he added.