The Federal Government has said it is expecting a $62 billion rise to e-Commerce spending, which is currently at $13 billion, by the year 2025.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, stated this at the weekend in Abuja at a stakeholder dialogue on e-commerce and digital trade policy for Nigeria.

The minister who was represented by the Director, Commodities and Export Department, of the ministry, Mr. Suleman Audu, said the nation is also expecting an increase in it’s number of online shoppers from 76.7 million in 2021 to 122.5 million by 2025.

“The figures from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), also shows that Nigeria’s e-payment transactions increased by 85.5 per cent year-on-year to N171.99 trillion in August 2021,” he further stated.

The Minister further spoke on the drawbacks to Nigeria maximising her full potential, saying efforts are in top gear to harness the opportunities inherent in the e-Commerce sub-sector.

“Nigeria is yet to fully harness the inherent opportunities in the e-commerce value chain, largely due to inadequate investment, coupled with inadequate information on the opportunities in the sector and the inability of Government to provide the required enabling environment.

“As such, 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.

“The Federal Government is also committed to developing an e-commerce strategy in line with the Federal Government’s Post COVID-19 recovery plan, to encourage investment in e-commerce value chain,” he said.

He added that the Ministry is passionate about the growing investment opportunities in the e-commerce value chain which are capable of contributing significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP).

Adebayo added that the Federal Government will continue to strengthen collaboration with the State Governments and continue to build synergy among relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies(MDAs) through harmonisation and coordination of e-commerce activities under the National Advisory Committee on Electronic Commerce and Digital economy (NACEDE) platform.

He tasked stakeholders on appropriate recommendations to the development of e-commerce and digital trade policy in Nigeria which will stimulate trade across borders.