The Nigerian government is currently working to establish a strategy on e- commerce that will boost the growth of the sector.
The Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Mr Adeniyi Adebayo revealed this over the weekend in Abuja at a stakeholders dialogue on e-commerce and digital trade policy for Nigeria.
The minister stated that there is no better time than now to diversify the Nigerian economy away from the oil sector by building a dynamic, profitable and efficient non-oil sector to reposition the economy on a sustainable growth path.
The minister represented by the Director, Commodities and Export Department, of the ministry, Mr. Suleman Audu said Nigeria is actively participating in the on-going negotiation at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), in order to boost e-commerce.
According to him, “Nigeria is yet to fully harness the inherent opportunities in the e-commerce value chain, largely due to inadequate investment, coupled with inadequate information on the opportunities in the sector and the inability of Government to provide the required enabling environment.”
“As such, government has identified e-commerce as a major priority programme that will play a critical role in the promotion of commodity trade, especially with the realities of the unprecedented Covid-19 global pandemic,” he explained.
“The Federal Government is also committed to developing an e-commerce strategy in line with the Federal Government’s Post COVID-19 recovery plan, to encourage investment in e-commerce value chain,” he said.
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The Minister pointed out that the Ministry was passionate about the growing investment opportunities in the e-commerce value chain which are capable of contributing significantly to the country’s GDP noting that recently, the sector has grown from 14% in 2019 to 17% in 2020.
“The current e-commerce spending in Nigeria is estimated at about $13 billion per annum, and is projected to rise to about $75 billion in revenues per annum by 2025.
“The market outlook for Nigeria’s e-commerce shows that the number of online shoppers in the country, which was at 76.7 million in 2021, is expected to hit 122.5 million by 2025. The figures from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), also shows that Nigeria’s e-payment transactions increased by 85.5 per cent year-on-year to N171.99 trillion in August 2021,” he further stated.
In addition, Mr Adebayo stated that the Federal Government will continue to strengthen collaboration with the State Governments and continue to build synergy amongst relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies through harmonisation and coordination of e-commerce activities under the National Advisory Committee on Electronic Commerce and Digital economy platform.
Also, he said stakeholders are expected to brainstorm and come up with appropriate recommendations and ways forward for the development of e-commerce and digital trade policy in Nigeria which will stimulate trade across borders.
Hauwa Abu
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