E-Business
E-commerce Staking Big on the Future of Africa’s Economy
The reaction that trailed the entry of e-commerce into the African market is still fresh in memory for those conversant with events in the industry. The negativity was strong enough to put off timid investors.
The naysayers had all available indexes to be right: a continent with over a billion people, majority of whom live in rural settlements with low internet connectivity. The infrastructure needed for such a digital-based venture isn’t commonplace on the continent.
Ten years down the line, the sturdy investors are still in business. E-commerce has since proven its viability on the continent, with a customer base that keeps growing every year.
The activities are also spreading into rural communities as investors swarm the continent. From the humble beginning of B2C, the culture is fast spreading into the informal retail market. According to Per data from research consultancy, Briter, B2B ecommerce ventures in Africa secured more than $256 million in disclosed funding in 2021.
Statista Digital Market Outlook said e-commerce penetration rate in Africa will continue to increase, and by 2025 reach around 40%. The overall African market is projected to reach $180 billion by 2025.
“E-commerce brands have always staked big on the future of Africa since their first entry about a decade ago. The odds were there but they saw the potential. The exploit of e-commerce forerunners has encouraged several other investors to venture into Africa. Now the B2Bs are taking it further,” said industry expert and analyst, Samuel Elegba.
One of the innovative B2B platforms leading the impact on the Nigerian retail market is Alerzo. “We empower retailers in the informal sector through our ecosystem of digital products, so they are equipped to run profitable and sustainable businesses.
“We’re focused on supplying much-needed products to informal retailers without the usual stress and dangers involved. With our services, we have improved the profitability of over 80,000 retail owners,” said Chief Executive Officer of Alerzo Limited, Adewale Opaleye.
Speaking further, Elegba explained that the impact e-commerce brands have on businesses in Africa is conspicuous and will play a crucial role in the future of Africa’s economy.
“They are providing a platform for SMEs to thrive. And given the crucial roles of the SMEs to the global economy, investment of e-commerce firms in this sector makes them a critical part of every digital conversation and projections across Africa.
“Some will still want to talk about whether they are profitable or not. But don’t forget that the investors had made a standpoint from inception: their aim was to drive acceptance based on impact, and the rest will fall in line. And as we can see, every region in Nigeria and Africa is feeling the impact of e-commerce.”
The growing rate of investment in e-commerce across Africa is good for the future, especially for SMEs. With partnerships, collaboration and continuous innovation, e-commerce firms are not only improving business activities and productivity, but are staking big on the digital future of Africa’s economy.
Visa, global payment services giant, has announced plans to establish a data centre infrastructure in Nigeria.
Andrew Torre, Visa’s regional president for central and eastern Europe and Vice-President Kashim Shettima
According to a statement by Stanley Nkwocha, senior special assistant to the president on media and communications (office of the vice-president) on Friday, Andrew Torre, Visa’s regional president for central and eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, spoke during a courtesy visit to Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the presidential villa in Abuja.
“This is in addition to its investments of over $1 billion in the country, including a substantial technological partnership with @moniepoint to foster digital payment solutions, a $200 million investment in Interswitch, and a partnership with @thriveagric to empower smallholder farmers and enhance food security in Nigeria,” the statement reads.
During the meeting, Torre said the plan to establish the data centre infrastructure aims to bring new technologies into the Nigerian market that would bolster the nation’s growing digital economy.
“Visa has been making investments and will continue to make these investments in Nigeria,” he said.
Responding, Shettima welcomed Visa’s expansion efforts, assuring the delegation that the partnership between Visa and the Nigerian government would continue to flourish.
The vice-president commended the company for investing in ThriveAgric, noting that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is deeply committed to repositioning the agriculture sector, which remains a top priority in its 8-point agenda.
“Nigeria is where the action is. Of the 10 fintechs in Africa, about eight are in Nigeria, with moniepoint as the newest addition,” Shettima said.
“Agriculture is key to the 8-point agenda of the present administration. President @officialABAT is really keen on repositioning the agriculture industry here, and we have to invest in technology, we have to invest in modernisation.”
On January 23, Moniepoint, a Nigerian fintech company, announced it secured investment from Visa to support the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Andrew Torre, Visa’s regional president for central and eastern Europe and Vice-President Kashim Shettima
Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has approved N242.8m for the procurement of a Microsoft 365 licence for its Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) as part of efforts to digitise the service’s operations.
Mr Michael Ango, acting executive chairman of FCT-IRS, disclosed this after the FCT Executive Committee meeting chaired by Mr Nyesom Wike, the minister of FCTA, in Abuja on Wednesday.
Ango said that the FCTA was making significant investments in technology to enhance revenue generation and collection.
“So, this is also one of those investments in technology that the FCT is undertaking.
“The licence, if procured, will enhance our ability to move most of our manual processes into automated processes.
“It will enhance our ability to communicate within our offices,” he said.
The executive chairman added that the move would also reduce the use of paper and ensure better record-keeping through the storage of information and documents in the cloud.
According to him, “The licence will essentially enhance our operations and assist us in generating revenue for the development of the FCT under Wike’s leadership.”
Rack Centre, West Africa’s Tier III Carrier and Cloud neutral data centre, has welcomed Olla Cloud Service, a new private cloud service by Olla Systems Limited, a leading provider of innovative technology solutions, to its facility.
Hosting at Rack Centre, Olla Cloud Service runs on a state-of-the-art, cloud-enabled infrastructure for enterprise applications across diverse platforms, including mission critical application, web applications as well as containerised applications using Kubernetes.
Lars Johannisson, CEO, Rack Centre, welcoming Olla Systems, noted that the partnership with Olla Systems Limited would reflect the company’s commitment to providing African businesses with high- quality cloud computing services.
He noted that Olla Systems would enjoy Rack Centre’s 13.5MW data centre campus facility, designed to meet the highest international standards and offering scalable solutions to Hyperscalers, Enterprises, and Cloud service providers.
As part of its commitment to sustainability, the facility is equipped with energy-efficient systems, advanced cooling technologies to mitigate environmental impact and an optimally-designed feature to handle high-density workloads with precision.
According to Johannisson, “With Olla Cloud Service hosting at Rack Centre, clients will experience fast performance and low latency, enabling businesses in Africa to access world-class cloud computing services within a secure and compliant local infrastructure.”
Also speaking, Olusola Adenuga, chief executive officer, Olla Systems Limited, expressed enthusiasm about hosting at Rack Centre, noting that Olla Cloud remains a groundbreaking private cloud solution for businesses.
While highlighting the benefits of the partnership between Rack Centre and Olla Systems, Adenuga disclosed that “subscribing to Olla Cloud Service is cost-effective to customers because of its local currency payment advantage.”
She also noted that the partnership between the duo, provides businesses the opportunity to meet regulatory requirements of data residency, while enjoying world-class infrastructure as a service (IaaS) locally.
“Other benefits of hosting with Olla Cloud include: 24/7 support, unparalleled performance, scalability and agility.” she added.
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