A Review of Key Affordances of E-Business Technology and Related Constraints in Africa

The purpose of the paper is to discuss the key affordances of e-business technology and the related constraints in Africa. E-business technology is not only a main feature of today's e-business environment, the affordances it brings facilitates the smooth conducts of e-business in many ways. The role of information systems have expanded over time and e-business has been a beneficiary of this expansion and has seen a transformation from its use of information systems to support single work systems in an organisation to supporting several and sometimes overlapping work systems within organisations in national and international borders. Using a theory of affordance, the paper reviews the notion that e-business technologies have affordances that characterise today's e-business and how these affordances facilitate e-business. It argues that a clear articulation of these affordances would not only aid the understanding of e-business technologies but also how it can be used to facilitate as well as support e-business in Africa. The review portrays that e-business technology affords businesses the opportunity to reach over 1 billion users globally and connect them to millions of diverse products. It also provides rich and detailed product information on over 20 billion plus pages indexed by Google, whilst offering personalized messages for users. In the midst of diversity of several business across the globe, it also offers the chance for easy collaboration and communication through partnerships and affiliations. These affordances are better clarified through Gibson theory of affordance. Tapping the full benefits of the e-business technology affordance could easily be realised without any impediments. However, there are some constraints that may impede the smooth facilitation and effective utilisation of these affordances. These constraints do not only inhibit the facilitation of e-business, it also have implications for IS research, practice and policy