The Federal Government has stated that it wants to boost e-commerce trading from its present market worth of $13 billion to $75 billion by 2025.
Dr Evelyn Ngige, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja during the ministry’s second National E-commerce Roundtable, noting that e-commerce has increased from 14% in 2019 to 17% in 2020.
Ngige, who was represented by Suleiman Audu, Director, Commodities and Export Department, said the positive trend had enticed payment service providers to enter the e-commerce business.
She stated that e-commerce provides an alternative to sustain businesses and preserve millions of jobs in the face of the COVID-19 challenge.
“For instance, in China, e-commerce companies played a key role in the supply of food and other essential commodities to residents of Wuhan during the knockdown period in 2020″, she added.
READ ALSO: FG Raises N669bn From Capital Market Through Sukuk Bonds — Ahmed
“In addition, Amazon, a U.S. based company, as a leading e-commerce company in the world expanded and employed additional 175,000 new workers during the period due to increasing online demands for goods and services.”
According to her, the second edition of the e-commerce roundtable session will build on the first session’s accomplishments and connect conversations with current realities, particularly in light of COVID -19’s impact.
She posited that the outbreak of the pandemic had brought international attention to the importance of e-commerce in corporate operations around the world.
The event, according to Ngige, is scheduled to highlight crucial issues that demand the attention of relevant stakeholders in order to build a strategic framework that would improve Nigeria’s e-commerce sector’s performance.
E-commerce has a cross-cutting nature, so the ministry is open to any kind of collaboration that will strengthen Nigeria’s e-commerce ecosystem.
Mr Suleiman Audu, Director, Commodities and Export Department, FMITI, who was represented by Mr Kaura Irimiya, Deputy Director, Commodities and Export Department, Ministry, stated that the e-commerce business was one of the booming and promising markets internationally.
