The federal governmental is poised develop a policy regime that will regulate and support e-commerce in the country.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Mr. Edet Sunday Akpan made this known while receiving a delegation by the Nigerian Alliance of Private Sector in his office in Abuja.
The delegation presented the report on public private dialogue on e-Commerce and e-industrialization to the Permanent Secretary.
In a press release by Deputy Director Umar Maryam Yusuf Mr. Akpan who expressed appreciation to the group for cooperating with the Ministry to move the sector forward, gave the assurance that the outcome of the report would be seriously looked into and appropriate recommendations will be made to the Federal Government on the actions to be taken.
The Permanent Secretary promised that all necessary steps would be taken to ensure that the sector is a prominent part of the activities driving the Africa Free Trade Agreement, adding that Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind others in the global economy.
“We are in a global economy, if we don’t move as fast as others we might be left behind, there is the need to encourage people to look beyond the normal ways of doing things, we have to ensure that ICT is part and parcel of our daily life otherwise we won’t be able to catch up with the rest of the world” he said.
Speaking earlier, leader of the delegation and Vice President of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Professor Adesoji Adesugba said the purpose of the visit was to formerly present the report of the public private dialogue held in Abuja on the 20th on June, 2019 to the Ministry and discuss further on how the electronic economy in the country could be advanced.
Prof Adesugba said, “Nigeria currently has about thirteen billion dollars in terms of e-commerce transactions and has the prospect of about fifty billion dollars in the next ten years according to the London based economic intelligence unit”.
He expressed concern that Nigeria is yet to have a policy on the sector.
He advised that with the high rate of unemployment and constant rise in population, Nigeria must take advantage of the opportunity in the sector and begin to plan for the future.
A member of the delegation, Barrister Nwiabu Legbosi Nuka who presented the document to the Permanent Secretary said if the recommendations are adopted it will strengthen the economy especially the small and medium enterprises.
He said e-commerce provides easy access for business to cross into other countries especially with the Africa Free Trade Agreement.
He urged government to deal with the problems of electricity, town planning and e-payment platforms so that when people order for goods, they get them on time.
