Nigeria: Tech Startups Hopeful As Govt Plans U.S.$75 Billion Investment in E-Commerce

Tech startups in Nigeria are hopeful for expansion following the federal government’s plan to increase investments in the e-commerce sector to $75 billion by 2025.

The minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, at a recent stakeholders’ meeting on E-commerce and Digital Trade Policy for Nigeria, stated that the inherent opportunities in the e-commerce value chain are yet to be fully harnessed, largely due to inadequate investment, and information on the opportunities in the sector and the inability of the government to provide the enabling environment.

Corroborating the minister’s statement, the group CEO of Alerzo, one of the business-to-business e-commerce platforms, Adewale Opalaye, while talking with Daily Trust yesterday, noted that the COVID pandemic had shown how relevant e-commerce was to the communities it served.

“Alerzo will continue to engage with the governments and regulatory authorities to find the best solutions “to the challenges in the environments we operate to ensure that, collectively, we create an environment that supports e-commerce and innovation,” he added.

“We are confident that the collective success of Alerzo and many other start-ups within the country will continue to attract new entrepreneurs, other industry players and investors to these markets,” he concluded.