The Executive Director/CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Nonye Ayeni, has advised Nigerian exporters to embrace digital marketing to sell their products, saying e-commerce and digital innovations have the propensity to open unprecedented opportunities for Nigerian businesses to gain visibility, expand their market share, and establish a meaningful presence in the global marketplace.
The NEPC boss, who stated this at the 5th NEPC Re-energised Webinar Series held at the Council’s headquarters on Friday in Abuja, said the webinar serves as a veritable platform to ignite conversations among stakeholders, exchange ideas, proffer real-time solutions, and explore abundant opportunities in digital trading.
Speaking on the theme “E-commerce as a Catalyst for Trade Facilitation”, Ayeni said while digital platforms are revolutionising engagement with the global marketplace, they equally present Nigeria with an opportunity to break traditional barriers, empower Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and position made-in-Nigeria products as the preferred brand in the international market.
“E-commerce as a Catalyst for Trade Facilitation speaks to everything. The way to go is digital, and digital is transformative. You need to move away from the traditional setting of simply putting your goods or products in normal stock. We need to be able to get them exponentially to the world. And that is the best way to go.
“It may interest you to know that in 2024, global e-commerce was estimated to be $6.09 trillion. This represents an 8.4% increase from the previous year. The growth of e-commerce is expected to continue, with projections rising to $6.56 trillion in 2025 and $7.06 trillion in 2026.
“Globally, e-commerce has emerged as a powerful platform for driving economic growth, fostering entrepreneurship, and bridging geographical divides. For Nigerian exporters, harnessing the power of digital platforms offers a pathway to showcase our rich products—from agricultural produce to manufactured goods—directly to consumers and buyers worldwide. This not only enhances our competitiveness but also accelerates our integration into the global supply chain.
“By leveraging major online marketplaces, Nigerian businesses can transcend traditional barriers of distance, cost, and information asymmetry, thereby positioning themselves competitively in the global economy. However, operators should bear in mind that a key factor driving e-commerce is artificial intelligence. AI has the power to influence e-commerce transactions, as retailers can now leverage customer data to provide tailored experiences and be better positioned to succeed in persuading shoppers to buy their products,” the NEPC CEO told Tribune Online.
Ayeni revealed that for women-led businesses, Nigeria has been selected alongside three other countries for the Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund, which was launched in February 2024 by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and ITC.
The $50 million fund, she said, is aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses through digitisation, as well as unlocking opportunities in digital trade for women entrepreneurs by improving their access to export markets and connecting more women to digital market platforms.
“The takeaway here for the participants is that digital trade is highly transformative and is the way to go—the game changer. Because it gives you access to create visibility for your products across the world,” she added.
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