Tech startups hopeful as FG assures investment in e-commerce  

Tech startups in Nigeria are hopeful for expansion following the government’s plan to increase investments to $75 billion revenue target by 2025.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Otunba Niyi Adebayo at the 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, inadequate information on the opportunities in the sector and the inability of government to provide the required enabling environment.

Meanwhile, corroborating the minister‘s statement, the group CEO of Alerzo, Nigeria‘s leading business to business e-commerce platform, Adewale Opalaye noted that the pandemic showed 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.

Adebayo added: “the 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 expressed the ministry’s passion to grow investment opportunities in the e-commerce value chain which is  capable of contributing significantly to the GDP.”