Mall for Africa, the e-commerce application that enables African shoppers to source and pay for goods online is expanding into 11 countries on the continent, buoyed by rising online shopping trends.

The application has until now only been operational in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda.

New markets include Angola, Chad, Guinea, Botswana and Tanzania. It will also be accessible and live in Uganda, Malawi, Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone as well as Senegal.

"Current customers in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and Rwanda love our platform which is why we are rolling out in 11 additional countries and will continue to expand our platform to meet the needs of customers worldwide," said CEO Chris Folayan.

The company, which claims to offer various items from over 250 US and UK retailers, says it has expanded to these new markets because of "increased demand" for the platform.

"By managing every aspect of the order and return cycle, the app offers its customers a simple, secure and convenient solution to online shopping directly" from numerous brands, it adds.

Data from Statista shows that revenue within Africa's e-commerce market will amount to US$18,8 million this year. It is expected that revenue for the continent in this category will show an annual growth rate of 11.3 % resulting in a market volume of US$28,942 million in 2022.

On a global basis, e-commerce in the retail sector will reach US$4.5 trillion by 2021, representing a 246.15% increase from 2014.

Modern day shoppers are now looking beyond borders when shopping online, with experts saying more than 50% of online shoppers have made purchases from overseas retailers in the last six months.