The Federal Government has revealed its plans to increase investment in e-commerce to achieve its revenue projection of $75billion by 2025.
According to the minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, the target is as a way of cutting down on dependence on oil as major foreign earner.
Adebayo said that as Nigeria eyes a shift from oil as a major foreign exchange earner, e-commerce and its associated trade services will be a viable alternative.
He disclosed that Nigeria is actively participating in the on-going negotiation at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a bid to boost the e-commerce industry.
His words, “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.
“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.”
Adebayo added that the Ministry is keen on growing investment opportunities in the e-commerce value chain which could contribute significantly to the country’s GDP.
Recently, the sector has grown from 14 percent in 2019 to 17 percent 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 stated.