‘E-Commerce To Upstage Mainstream Shopping’

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Minister of Communication Technology has predicted the demise of standard shops as more Nigerians embraced e-commerce.

Speaking at the first anniversary of Nigeria’s premier online retail shop, Jumia, in Lagos, Omobola Johnson said government was putting measures in place to ensure citizens embraced e-commerce.

Such measures according to her current broadband expansion plans to remote areas in the country and the enactment of relevant cyber laws to tackle legal issues associated with internet trade.

Omobola said once these measures were put in place, the traditional shopping malls will face tough competition from online stores.

She argued Nigerians preferred to shop online and have their items delivered to them due to traffic logjams and other factors that hinder mobility in the country.

“Government sees huge prospects for e-commerce in this country. It is a billion-dollar industry and we are yet to tap from it.

“President Goodluck Jonathan is aware of this and we are working hard to ensure that the enabling infrastructure and legal structures that the sector require to grow is put in place,” Johnson said.

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“He said Nigeria was currently expanding broadband penetration across the entire country to boost communication.

“Once this is put in place, more people will be able to access the internet. The issue of trust in online transactions is yet another factor that government working with stakeholders to build. We hope that when all these issues are taken care of, we will see the boom in e-commerce in this country,” Omobola said.

She hailed Jumia saying it highlighted the potential of e-commerce to create jobs.

“Jumia has done prettily well in the past one year, growing from nothing to something amazingly. The industry, we know now can generate millions of jobs.

“And as a government it is our hope that the multi-million dollar potentials of this industry will be tapped into soon,” Omobola said.

—Henry Ojelu

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