E-Commerce and Digital Industrialization:

Is there a Symbiosis?
Keynote Presented by
Evans Woherem, Ph. D
Chairman, Digital Africa Global Consult
Agenda
• Introduction

• E-Commerce and Digital Industrialization: Is there a Symbiosis?

• What is E-Commerce?

• Towards a Digital Nigeria

• Innovations in Nigeria

• The Rise of Internet and Mobile Banking in Nigeria

• Promoting Digital Economy – Government Efforts

• Why Nigeria needs to Think Digital Now

• Policy Implications for Nigeria

• Steps to Take

• Conclusion
2
INTRODUCTION:
NigeriaasthingsStand
“Nigeria is gradually emerging a hotbed of technology
innovations cutting across the financial services,
agriculture, hospitality, commerce, entertainment and
medical industries”

3
1.0. E-Commerce and Digital Industrialization
IS there a Symbiosis?

THE
ANSWER
IS
YES!!!

4
1.1. First of All: What if E-Commerce?

E-Commerce or Electronic Commerce:

“Describes the process of buying, selling, transferring, or exchanging products,

services and/or information via computer networks, including the Internet… and
although predominantly done over the Internet, it also involves other connections or
devices such as Mobile Phones or Automated Teller Machines (ATMS)”

- Turban, King and Viehland (2004, P3).

5
1.2. What Determines the Success of E-
Commerce?

 Internet Capacity
 Cost and Access
 Low Cost
 Telecommunication Infrastructure
 Services
 Regulatory Factors
 Operational Factors
 Technical Factors

6
1.3. GDP Contribution by Sector
• With a GDP of $568 billion, Nigeria is Africa’s biggest
economy. Home to over 190 million people, it is the most
populous nation in the African continent

• Information and Communication Technology(ICT) accounts

for 11.19% of the overall GDP of the country, with a
potential to increase to 25% by 2050.

• Nigeria is punching below its size and potential due to

under-development in Science and Technology (S&T) and
ICT

• It is in this view that we at Digital Africa, believe that

something needs to be done to bridge the gap. Not just in
Nigeria, but in Africa as a continent.
7
Towards a Digital Nigeria
TechnologyInnovation
Digital technology is essential for Nigeria’s
economic diversification. Access to internet and
mobile has improved markedly over the last
decade, helping drive non-oil GDP growth.

8
2.0. Digital Industrialization

• Like Many other African countries, Nigeria is a laggard in ICT, from

the point of view of usage, and even so, manufacturing.

• Digital technology is helping to drive the growth of Nigerian economy

in promising non-oil sectors, from media and entertainment to finance
and fast moving consumer goods.

• Now, more than ever, there’s an understanding that Nigeria can not
continue to rely on oil. Technology will play a key role in enhancing
human dignity and lifting people out of poverty.

• Moreover, Nigeria should b the hub of Digital Industrialization in

Africa

9
2.1. Technology Innovations
• Nigeria is gradually emerging a hotbed of technology innovations cutting
across the financial services, agriculture, entertainment, medical, transport,
and commercial industries.

• Nigeria hosts the second largest number of active innovation hubs in Africa
with 55 hubs, coming second after South Africa which has 59 active technology
innovation hubs.

• Lagos holds the ace in the top five IT ecosystems in Africa with 31 active
hubs. This attracted the attention of the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, to
Nigeria.

• Nigeria recorded 31 tech start-up deals, attracting $29.41 million of funding.

• Nigeria emerged among the top three countries in Africa that attracted $560
million in venture capital funding (VC) in 2017.

10
2.2. INNOVATIONS IN NIGERIA

• There are enormous technological innovations taking place in practically all

sector of the Nigerian economy. We will mention a few and dwell longer on
FinTech and eCommerce as it concerns this event
• In the Health Sector, a landmark $6 million series A investment round announced

by mPharma, a tech enabled pharmacy benefits manager with operations in Nigeria,

was a big news for the industry in 2017. with other stride in telemedicines and

eHealth innovations
• Technology is playing a large role in Agriculture and is a key enabling factor
for the growth of the sector. FarmCrowdy, Nigeria’s first digital agriculture
platform, allows Nigerians across the world to commit an agreed sum to own a
minimum farm space, start and complete a farming cycle.

11
2.2. INNOVATIONS IN NIGERIA

• The Education industry is one of the many enjoying technology solutions. Over the
years, EdTech has grown beyond making learning easy for students. It has
expanded to include many forms of technological innovation in the educational
sector such as assisting schools in their processes and connecting teachers with
job opportunities. Remarkable EdTech startups are springing up with unique
offerings aimed at transforming the quality of education in Nigeria.
• The transportation sector landscape is fast changing as technology becomes more
advanced and sophisticated.
• This is the case with the proliferation of mobile taxi apps, which now threaten the
existence of traditional cab operators in major cities where the apps currently work.
• Look at what companies like Uber, Taxify, OgaTaxi, SmartCab, Pickmeup,
AfroCab, are doing. With your smartphone, it got easy to book for a taxi through
an app, thereby saving costs and time.

12
2.3. INNOVATIONS IN NIGERIA: FINTECH

• The Nigerian fintech landscape, has the capability to become one of the most
significant leaders in Africa’s innovation, if not globally.
• Nigeria’s start-ups have developed effective payment and lending models;
close to 37% of fintech startups in Nigeria fall into the categories of
payments and remittances and 32% offer lending and financing.
• The remaining 31% of startups fall under a new generation of products
and services that didn’t exist in the space before 2015. For
example, NairaEx and NairaSwitch are companies that allow users to buy and
sell Bitcoin, while KureCoin seeks to leverage Blockchain as an underlying
technology to proffer solutions to Nigeria’s challenging problems such as
corruption. Blockchain is the Next-Big-Thing in technology in Nigeria for
apps and systems development.
• Interswitch became Nigeria’s first fintech unicorn, a payment processing
company valued at over $1 billion.
13
2.3.1. NIGERIA: FINTECH LANDSCAPE

Plus over 20 more in the fintech space 14

2.4. INNOVATIONS IN NIGERIA: E-COMMERCE
• Nigeria is the biggest e-commerce market in Africa presently. The advent of e-
commerce giants Jumia and Konga in the Nigerian e-commerce space has also led to
a dramatic opening in the industry calculated to be worth around US$13 billion in
2018, according to a report by London based Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU).
• Online platforms such as Jumia, Konga, Dealdey, Yudala, Payporte, Vconnect,
Kara, Fashpa, Gloo.ng, OLX, Wakanow, among others, have pushed the frontiers
for Internet businesses in the country, getting about 400,000 online orders every
24 hours in Nigeria.
• Global retail sales, of which eCommerce makes up a major part, is projected to
rise further to an estimated $27t by 2020.
• Nigerians of all shades are active on the social media. Social media is now an
acceptable platform for interaction, entertainment, marketing, customer service
delivery and communicating at the speed of light. Platforms such as Instagram,
Facebook, and Twitter are now medium through which e-commerce thrive.

15
2.4.1. INNOVATIONS IN NIGERIA: E-COMMERCE (TYPES)
There are five possible types of e-commerce, namely:
• Business-to-Business (B2B): defined as e-commerce between companies,
deals with relationships between and among businesses
• Business-to-Consumer (B2C): commerce between companies and
consumers, involves customers gathering information, purchasing physical
or information goods, and for information goods, receiving products over an
electronic network.
• Business-to-Government/Administration (B2G or B2A): generally
defined as commerce between companies and the public sector. It refers to
the use of the Internet for public procurement, licensing procedures, and
other government-related operations.
• Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C): simply commerce between private
individuals or consumers. This type of e-commerce is characterized by the
growth of electronic marketplaces
• Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce): aka mobile commerce is the buying
and selling of goods and services through wireless technology-i.e., handheld
devices such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants (PDAs)
16
2.4.2. SOME eCOMMERCE OUTLETS IN NIGERIA:
Name of Brief Details
Starups
Jumia Nigeria Founded in May 2012, Jumia Nigeria is one of the most popular e-commerce websites in Nigeria. The popularity of Jumia Nigeria has gone far
beyond the shores of this continent and was rated by Amazon’s Alexa as the most visited e-commerce website in Nigeria. You can sell virtually any
products on Jumia. Jumia Nigeria offers businesses and individuals’ opportunity to sell both new and used products.
Jiji.ng Founded in 2014, Jiji.ng is a fast-growing Nigerian free online classifieds with an advanced security system. Jiji provides a simple hassle-free
solution to sell and buy almost anything. As a Seller or business owner, you can post free classified ads of your products and services for free on
the website and get maximum efficiency in terms of reach and profit.
Konga Konga owns large warehouses stocked up with goods and strategically located in Key cities such as Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt to ensure
swift and efficient delivery. Konga also allows small businesses with varieties of products to sell and showcase on their website.
PayPorte Launched in September 2014, PayPorte has since thrived to ensure it caters to a wide demographic that ranges from the youths and to the young
urban professionals. The online e-commerce giant has tagged itself as Nigeria’s preferred online retail store. PayPorte also partners with local
businesses by showcasing their goods on its platform to a wider audience, these businesses access to customers, great logistics coverage and the
opportunity to excel in business.
DealDey Launched in March 2011, DealDey features a daily deal on the best things to do, see, eat, and buy in Nigeria. DealDey is an easy and fun way to
get fantastic deals on great experiences. DealDey supports local businesses and in return, they support consumers with good savings!

Kara Kara.com.ng is one of the top online stores in Nigeria, visited by thousands of people on a daily basis, Kara.com.ng offers a massive collection of
everything from Mobile Phones to Electrical and Power Supplies products at some of the best prices.
Gloo NG Gloo.ng started life in 2012 as BuyCommonThings.com, but rebranded the next year, and specializes in delivering affordable supermarket goods to
the doorsteps of clients on a same-day basis. Gloo.ng is more like an online supermarket for groceries. Gloo also partners with other small business
to sell on the platform.
Printivo Store Printivo Store is an online marketplace that allows designers and print providers to make money online by selling their prints and designs to
customers all across the country. Unlike other e-commerce websites, Printivo store is a marketplace for print designs online.

Plus many others in the eCommerce Sector 17

Towards a Digital Economy
DemocratisingDigital
“We are living through an era of spectacular technological
change. Digital technologies are becoming faster, more
powerful and cheaper, and converging with one another in
ever more innovative ways to amplify their potential”

18
3.0. NIGERIA DIGITAL STATISTICS

19
3.1.

20
3.2. The Rise of Internet and Mobile Banking in Nigeria

• There is an enormous increase in mobile penetration across Nigeria and Africa as a whole as this is the
predominant means of accessing the internet in Nigeria, West Africa and I dare to say Africa and the World at
large.
• West Africa’s mobile ecosystem generated more than $50billion in economic value chain in 2018, and
equivalent of approximately 8.7% of the region’s GDP, according to the 2019 West Africa edition of the
GSMA’s Mobile Economic Report..
• Rapid increase in smartphone penetration and ongoing migration to mobile broadband networks and
services across Africa, especially in Nigeria, will see the continuous increase in the technology ecosystem
contribution to the economy.
• The Rise of Mobile Money is contributing to economic growth, social development and job creation.
• At the end of 2018, there were around 100 million mobile internet users in the region (West Africa), up almost
20 million year-on-year.

21
3.2.1 The Rise of Internet and Mobile Banking in Nigeria (Internet /GSM Users)

22
3.2.1 The Rise of Internet and Mobile Banking in Nigeria (Internet /GSM Users)

23
3.3. Mobile Banking Proliferation: M-Pesa (Kenya, South Africa, and Southern Asia)

• M’PESA is a Mobile Banking phenomena that began in Kenya in 2007. Mobile Banking evolution in Africa kicked
into life few years ago, with the launch of Safaricom’s M-Pesa – a telecommunication-led service which allows
users to store money on their mobiles and then use it to pay their utility bill or to send money to their friends via
text.
• Primary purpose of promoting financial inclusion to the unbanked using mobile phone
• Brings Mobile payments and banking to more than 40 million customers in 10 different countries.
• Initial use case was for transfer of money across long distances through Mobile Phones
• Indian government uses M’Pesa to pay pensions to retirees in rural areas.
• M’Pesa customers use M’Pesa agents to make and withdraw money, even without ATMs or bank branches
• It facilitated Foreign Investment, i.e. the subsequent acquisition of Safaricom by Vodafone. The latter owns 40
percent stake.
• Safaricom became a dominant player in telecoms sector after ending the Government owned monopoly with 73%
market shares at the launch of M-Pesa and 90% Mobile telecoms revenue at present
24
3.4. M-Pesa: Success as a Driver of Digital Industrialization

• M-Pesa has created additional value and digitization as a full suite of products are now being offered through
mobile channels.
• It has stirred strategic partnerships, as PayPal, Safaricom and TransferTo, came together to enable M-Pesa
users in Kenya to securely transfer funds between PayPal and M-Pesa accounts.
• In same vein, Safaricom and Western Union partnered to enable the transfer of money between the users of M-
Pesa in over 200 countries. SimbaPay now enables money transfer services for M-Pesa users across global
markets.

25
4.0. PROMOTING DIGITAL ECONOMY – GOVERNMENT EFFORTS
• A new S&T Innovation Roadmap 2012-2030 for Nigeria has been approved.
• National Strategy for Competitiveness in raw materials and product development in Nigeria is being pushed by the RMRDC.
• Execution of the administration’s 5th Executive Order; By the order, no one is allowed to source or supply any science and engineering
products from abroad unless such cannot be produced in the country.
• Setting up technology hubs in universities in the six geopolitical zones.
• Government support for the development of new innovation hubs in partnership with the private sectors.
• The Federal Government of Nigeria is developing an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) to automate entire governance
processes.
• Implementation of the eGovernment master plan 2020 to begin once stakeholders’ inputs are incorporated into the policy documents.
• Plan to increase Information and Communications Technology (ICT) investment in the country by over $50 billion (about N15.9
trillion), in the coming years.
• Federal Government is embarking on a Smart City project (Eco Atlantic City) to leverage on technology solutions to improve efficiency of
cities across the country.
• Unified database of citizens’ information through its National Identity Card provisioning project by NIMC.
• Establish and develop a National Information Infrastructure (NII) ‘backbone’ as the gateway to the Global Information Infrastructure
(GII) interconnecting it with State Information Infrastructure (SII) and the Local Information Infrastructure (LII) – through NITDA
• Nigerian e-Government Interoperability Framework (Ne-GIF) is one of the critical steps taken by NITDA to achieve the Government
Digital Transformation.
• Approved the establishment of a new Agency for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
26
• NOTAP is fighting to ensure that Nigeria takes the issue of product development in ICT ecosystem seriously and to International
4.1 WHERE IS NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT ON THE DIGITAL ADOPTION SPECTRUM?

• Digital Africa (DA) has developed a Digital Maturity Model used in measuring the

Digital maturity of Countries, States and Organizations, based on pertinent indices

• In the DA Digital Maturity Model, organizations and countries are grouped into five

categories: “Beginners,” “Basic,” “Operational”, “Strategic”, and “Exponential”.

Nigeria is between the “Basic” to “Operational” Stage of the journey to digital

transformation.

• Bandwidth is a challenge to mobility which is a key factor in the digital economy.

• Nigeria is ranked 156th in 2018 world broadband speed report with an average

broadband speed of 1.86mb; a sharp decline from 3.15mb recorded in 2017

• Nigeria’s performance is poor compared to other African countries such as Kenya,

27
South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda, who occupied the 68th, 80th, 124th,
4.2. WHY NIGERIA NEEDS TO THINK DIGITAL NOW

• Enabled by the pervasive use of smartphones, tablets, laptops, consumer

devices, among Nigerians, digital technology is receiving increased attention in
all areas, as it is moving beyond internet capabilities to a lifestyle.
• Mobile, social, cloud, analytics, among others, are changing the way citizens
interact socially and also the way they want to interact with the government.
• Citizens are more willing to interact with the public sector online but the
government also needs to build trust if the citizens are to embrace a digital
government and offer online services that work so people can use them.
• These technologies are the main drivers in the digital transformation in conjunction
with Cloud, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and Big Data
innovations.
• The Nigerian government can build trust by developing a strategy that keeps
digital at the core of its execution conversation.
28
4.3. POLICY IMPLICATIONS FOR NIGERIA

Digital Industrialization continues to play a key role in the transformation of all

sector of the Nigerian Economy, as such There is need for public policy to regulate
the industry to stimulate innovation and investment.

• Create a conducive environment to achieve strong performance of the

technology sector
• Sustaining efforts at generating and promoting local materials for startups and
enforce the campaign of local content initiative
• Appropriate encouragement should be given to startups to undertake profitable
innovative projects that will further enhance the growth of the sector
• Increase mobile broadband penetration to the rural areas of the country
• Adopt a strong security stance to check cyber crime in Nigeria
• Development of strong institutional structures to support the growth and
development of innovation. (restructure our educational curriculum) 29
5. STEPS THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT SHOULD TAKE TO HASTEN THE
DIGITAL JOURNEY?
• Re-orient the thinking and focus on incorporating digital in their core
business model.
• Develop a clear digital strategy that focuses on people and processes while
maintaining a citizen-centric view.
• The Nigerian government can then tap into utilizing the various digital
technologies to achieve its digital strategy.
• They need to re-imagine their services to the citizens and continually innovate
the way they engage.
• Nigeria should take advantage of all that digital transformation can offer,
thrive and become the giant of Africa in leading innovative digital
transformative initiatives.
• The country also needs to massively Improve on its infrastructure, as they are
the backbone of a true digital economy.
30
6. CONCLUSION
• Nigeria is still largely a Digital Laggard.
• However, the country is making enormous strides to digitalize the country. Yet, a
lot still needs to be done.
• There are impressive new digital innovations in the country, in the areas of
Fintech, Agrictech, eHealth, Edutech, eTransport and eCommerce. There is
commensurate growths in entrepreneurship and venture capital funding of
projects in the domain, even though we still need to do more.
• Nigeria is between the “Basic” to “Operational” stage of the Digital Maturity
Model. However, Nigeria’s digital statistics is improving thanks to many government
and private sector efforts.
• There are numerous investment opportunities in Nigeria’s ICT ecosystem, e.g, in
software, hardware, manufacturing, training, certifications and the use of ICT in
all sectors of the economy, especially entertainment, education, health,
31
manufacturing, commerce, and agriculture.
A NEW HIGH TECH NIGERIAN CITY IN THE MAKING : EKO
ATLANTIC CITY

32
ThankYou
Evans Woherem Ph.D
CEO – Digital Africa Global
Consult
+234-805-500-2045
eewoherem@gmail.com
eewoherem@yahoo.com
ewoherem@digitalafrica.com
www.digitalafrica.com