GR Diary

Tackling Nigeria’s Unemployment Challenges With E-commerce

Published

6 years ago

September 26, 2018

grassroots

By Adeniyi Ogunfowoke

Different data have confirmed that Nigeria has a huge unemployment challenge. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) pegs the unemployment rate at 14.2% to 18.8% in 2017.

Although 18.8% may be small in terms of percentage, the raw numbers are staggering. The indices of the NBS revealed that the number of people within the labour force that were unemployed or underemployed increased drastically from 13.6 million and 17.7 million in the second quarter of 2017 to 18.8 million in the third quarter of 2017.

Meanwhile, a 2017 report of the International Labour Organisation estimated that youth unemployment rate in Nigeria was at 13.41 per cent.

You can easily deduce from the aforementioned data that Nigeria is in an unemployment crisis and something drastic needs to be done to tackle this challenge. This is because economic growth and development can never be guaranteed if a large number of the population especially the youth is unemployed.

In the march to find a solution to unemployment, the private sector is playing a major role in tackling the problem. A key sector that has made arguably one of the biggest contributions is e-commerce.

Today, a company like Jumia leads the e-commerce landscape. Interestingly, a large chunk of their employees are young adults between 22 and 30 years; a positive employment metric. Beyond this, Jumia has empowered millions of Nigerians directly or indirectly. Thus, supporting the government in easing the unemployment problems.

E-commerce can tackle Nigeria’s unemployment problem

It is possible for eCommerce to compete in agriculture when it comes to job creation. Despite the dire unemployment quagmire, e-commerce has made a monumental contribution when it comes to the provision of jobs for Nigerians. Thanks to Jumia that pioneered and powered e-commerce to new heights, many persons and businesses have benefited in one way or the other.

Currently worth around $13billion (about N4.01 trillion), experts in the Nigerian financial service sector have estimated that Nigeria’s e-commerce market value could rise to $50billion (N15.45 trillion) over the next decade. This is the bright prospects that e-commerce have and if properly and effectively exploited, there is no doubt that it will overshoot the reported estimate. And of course, Nigerians will be gainfully employed because e-commerce startups are springing up daily and are attracting the attention of investors.

Reasons why e-commerce can answer Nigeria’s unemployment woes

*Low operating costs

The undeniable fact is that running a physical store costs a lot of money. By running your own e-commerce operation, one of the main benefits is that the overheads are much lower. For example, an online store requires less personnel to manage it thanks to automation and inventory management. You can also benefit from cheap online marketing channels such as social media to spread the word about your business.

*A wider audience

Since many people are now online, you have an audience who are ready to patronise you. However, due to competition in the e-commerce space, you need to get your marketing right so that your messages will reach the right target market. Therefore, you have a wider audience for your products or services than if you decided to open a physical store in a shopping mall. Additionally, your business is always open – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

How e-commerce is solving unemployment

If you want to make money and want to exit the unemployment market, all you need is a computer and a very good internet connection. It doesn’t matter if you have a white collar job, you are into business or you are unemployed, you can make some money. Also, if you can muster the financial power, you can float your own e-commerce store.

*You can become an independent sales consultant

To be a sales consultant with Jumia, you will be required to register, create your own team (a network of other sales consultants) and then start selling Jumia products and make money doing so. You can make up to ₦1,000,000 monthly doing this.

*Become an affiliate partner

Affiliate partners can promote the products on Jumia and can get up to 11% commission on every successful order made a click via your affiliate link. You can make easy money online if you own a website, blog or just any useful social media account (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc). But first, you need to sign up for the affiliate program, find products you know people really want or the products you know your website/blog readers want or the product your social media networks need. Promote the products, get people to go through your link, track your sales and earn commissions. How easy can money making get!

*Become a vendor

If you have your own products and services to sell, you can easily sell them. Jumia will allow you to list your products for sale as long as you want to sell your genuine products online. To get started, you will be required to go to the Jumia Seller registration page and sign up. After signing up, you will be able to upload your own products to sell on Jumia Nigeria. Presently, Jumia has millions of vendors that are currently selling and earning money on the platform. They are smiling to the bank.

Events

Stakeholders Head to Enugu for first Southeast Educators Conference

Published

2 months ago

March 29, 2024

grassroots

Stakeholders in the education circle are warming up for the maiden edition of Southeast Educators’ Conference 2024(SEEC’24).

The two-day SEEC’24 scheduled to hold 18th & 19th, April 2024 at Nike Lake Resort, Enugu under theme: Future-‘Focused Learning – Igniting the Competitive Edge’ promises to host key players in the education sector with a potential attendance of over 500 delegates.

The conference will feature a diverse lineup of speakers, covering topics ranging from holistic learning approaches to cutting-edge technology integration.

Speaking ahead of the conference, Mrs Doris Chinedu-Okoro, CEO, Evergreen Group, said SEEC’24 is the first of its kind in the Southeast region, presenting a historic opportunity for stakeholders to pioneer positive change in the local education sector.

“It brings together diverse perspectives and innovative ideas,fostering collaboration and networking among educators and stakeholders.

Hundreds of delegates will be in attendance.

“SEEC’24 is dedicated to exploring transformative practices, emphasising holistic learning, technology integration, global citizenship, life-long learning, and community engagement”, she said.

Mr. Osita Chidioka, the former Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, who recently launched an online mentorship and leadership programme for Nigerian youths named Mekaria Mentorship Programme (MMP) Foundation Course, will deliver the keynote at SEEC’24.

Prof. Pieter Verdegem; Dr. Joy Isa, Mrs. Bukola Adewuiyi, Lady Uju Dike, Fr. John Njorteah, Alex Onyia, Rotimi Eyitayo, Rhoda Odigboh, Elfrida Diete-Spiff Omole, Dr. ChibuezeLawrence Ofobuike, Ify Obidi-Essien, Dr. Abimbola Ogundere, Angelina Ikeako, Odetola Ebenezer Israel and OgochukwuOnyia, are some of the speakers lined up for the event.

The Evergreen Group CEO added that the conference thrives on a vision to create a dynamic platform that equips educators with the tools and knowledge needed to make a lasting impact on the educational landscape of South-Eastern Nigeria.

SEEC’24 is open to School Owners, Heads of Schools (Public and Private), Educational Stakeholders, Counselors, Teachers, Parents, Investors, Startups, and others in the education ecosystem.

“Participants will have the opportunity to engage in two full days of conference sessions, diving deep into the future of Education.

“There will be ample networking opportunities with school leaders from across the geopolitical zone and beyond.

“The evening Gala Night promises a delightful atmosphere for dancing, dining, wining, and fostering deeper connections in a relaxed setting”, she further explained.

Registration is N100,000 via: https://bit.ly/3uTcv9e

GR Diary

PAFON: Digital Encode, Cybervergent, Payble Sign Up for Payments Forum Nigeria 1.0

Published

2 months ago

March 12, 2024

grassroots

· Experts to Discuss Trust, Security and Privacy in AI Era

Payments Forum Nigeria (PAFON), the cross-industry platform focused on addressing issues that require broad cooperation and coordination across many constituents in the payments industry, has attracted sponsorships from Digital Encode Limited, Cybervergent and Payble.

Financial industry experts are warming up for the first edition of PAFON, scheduled to take place at Oriental Hotel, Lekki Road, Lagos on Thursday March 21, 2024, by 9am.

The Forum aims at providing an inside-look at the industry, offering perspectives from key stakeholders, including payment networks, technology innovators, leading merchants, issuers, acquirers and payment processors.

Throughout the years, the finance world has shifted into something much more than just banking and big corporations.

Speaking ahead of the star-studded PAFON 1.0, with the theme: “Payments: Trust, Security and Privacy in AI Era”, Dr. Adewale Peter Obadare, the Chief Visionary Officer [CVO], Digital Encode Limited, said that customers want to be assured that their sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and personal details, is treated with utmost care hence security has become paramount in the payments industry.

“Secure payment processing ensures that data breaches are minimized, instilling confidence in customers to keep coming back. Nigerian financial institutions reported ₦159 billion ($201.5 million) lost to fraud cases since 2020, according to the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC). This is what the experts must tackle and customer awareness is key too”, he said.

Based on a report by Gartner, by 2024, 40% of privacy compliance technology will rely on AI, up from 5% in 2019, and by 2025, 60% of large organizations will use at least one privacy-enhancing computation technique in analytics, business intelligence, or cloud computing, and financial services industry is no exempted.

On the other hand, Roosevelt Elias, the co-founder of Payble, described PAFON as a ‘must-attend’ Forum due to the ‘issues listed to be discussed are germane and require critical attention. For instance, building financial inclusive products requires a mix of technology and illiteracy. The industry can’t achieve this by working in silos; we just have to unite to achieve the set target on financial inclusion, particularly for the rural dwellers.

Digital Encode (a leading consulting and integration that specializes in the design, management, and security of business-critical architecture); Cybervergent (a company dedicated to helping protect business sensitive data from cyber-attacks, including customer information, financial records and intellectual property); Payble (a fintech startup that modernises local government payments such as creating citizen-centric payment experiences, delivering flexible billing and simplified rate collection, will be joined at PAFON 1.0 by Inlaks, an IT company that offers core banking, fraud management, cybersecurity, cloud, data center, enterprise risk management, amongst other industry players.

“Our goal is to enable information exchange and knowledge sharing on key industry insights issues amongst key stakeholders, with the objective of ensuring a collaborative and proactive approach to push for policies that enable growth, tackling/mitigating fraud and limiting occurrences and losses”, said Mr. Chike Onwuegbuchi, the co-founder of TechCastle Foundation, organisers of Payment Forum Nigeria (PAFON).

He said that the Forum is driven by the reasons to; “educate and inform financial service players and other stakeholders on various issues and trends (both locally and globally); proactively share data/information amongst banks, Fintechs and other service providers, to enable prompt responses to prevent and/or limit (customer-related) losses; and discuss key Payments security trends”.

“Speakers will be drawn among industry players such as banks, Fintechs, mobile money operators, blockchain experts, Cybersecurity, etc., as we expect attendees from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); e-Banking Heads; Chief Compliance Officers of banks in Nigeria; Chief Internal Auditors of banks in Nigeria; Office of The National Security Adviser; Switching companies; the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; Licensed Mobile Payment Operators; Electronic Payments Providers; Information Security Experts; Consumer Protection; Financial Policy and Regulation; Information Technology; Legal Services; Banking Supervision; Corporate Communication; Shared Services Office; Blockchain Security Experts, etc”, he added.

Participation:

Participation is free; however, you are required to pre-register using the link here: https://bit.ly/4c4N19H

For sponsorship, please contact: Mr. Chike Onwuegbuchi via: 08123355522 or Peter Oluka: 08184346261 or email: [email protected].

GR Diary

Digital Landscape Harmonization: Anambra’s ISPs, HEIs Invited to AFRINIC One-Day Training

By; SANDRA ANI

Published

6 months ago

December 1, 2023

grassroots

The Anambra State ICT Agency, in a strategic collaboration with the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), recently, successfully organized a one-day interactive session that brought together Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), to discuss the imperativeness for interconnectivity and to lay the foundation for establishing an Internet Exchange Point in the State.

The collaborative session saw vibrant discussions and resolutions aimed at creating a more livable state and a robust economy through increased internet access and connectivity.

In furtherance of the milestone recorded with the interactive session, and in recognition of the pivotal role of ISPs and HEIs in expediting actions towards this interconnectivity, a one-day AFRINIC virtual training program has been scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 5th December by 12.00pm.

The follow-up virtual training will not only provide participants with invaluable insights, technical expertise, and practical knowledge to optimize their network infrastructures but will further yield answers to key questions posed by ISPs and HEIs.

AFRINIC, the Regional Internet Registry for Africa, is renowned for its commitment to advancing internet development across the continent. The AFRINIC virtual training therefore represents a significant stride towards realizing the goals outlined during the interactive session.

This initiative aligns perfectly with the vision of Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, of building a technologically advanced state, while the collaborative efforts of the Anambra State ICT Agency and the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) underscores practical commitment to positioning Anambra as a digital hub, driving innovation, economic growth, and improved quality of life for its residents.

Participants can expect an interactive and immersive learning experience, equipping them with the skills necessary to navigate the dynamic landscape of internet services in the State.