As Nigeria grapples with unemployment, poverty and other challenges, it is cheering that e-commerce platforms are opening up opportunities for youths in the country to explore their talents and thrive as a recent report points to job creation as the largest benefit of Africa’s growing digital economy.
Nigeria as a very highly populated country in the African continent,has been severely challenged by the level of poverty and unemployment suffered by it's citizens.
This has been a major set back on its economy.
The Nigerian youth have now in our era been
continually encouraged and empowered to create jobs for both themselves and others even before the end of their tertiary Educations,so as not to join the high population of unemployment graduates seeking daily for jobs in the labour market and then constituting nuisance in the society due to the unavailability of jobs, idleness and frustration.
Many youths and Advanced persons now exploit the benefits of E-commerce as it requires little or no capital at all.So many business person's also now exploit this opportunity to expand the reach of their businesses thereby bringing it to the E-market.this has really been of great impact to the Nigerians and also the economy, because E-commerce has helped get a lot of Nigerian youth busy ,there by also reducing the crime rate and also insecurity level due to theft and arm robbery.
So many youth in Nigerian now make lots of money at the comfort of their homes,schools and even work places,and supply commodities all around the nation and the world at large with only little or no need for knowledge on how these commodities are produced or the finance needed to get them available and sellable .
The impact of E-commerce on the level of unemployment can not be over emphasized,though this doesn't imply that there is no longer the challenge of unemployment in Nigeria,but that it has greatly helped reduce the level of unemployment and it's rapidly increasing rate.
E-Commerce, which remains, in my opinion, a futuristic sector that has the capacity to bring Nigeria shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the advanced world. However, a deep understanding of the immense economic power of e-Commerce, lacking as it is, on the part of political office holders in Nigeria, is one of the major leadership deficits we endure here.
For instance,Alerzo, a business to business e-commerce firm which commenced operations less than three years ago is truly making impacts especially in this regard as it directly employs more than 3,000 youths in its operational chain.
With its presence in different parts of the country including rural areas, the tech firm which allows local retailers to improve their businesses and become profitable and thus encourages them to hire more staff to support their production and/or distribution activities, assured of its continuous impacts on local businesses and support of government’s job creation efforts by employing young talented youths.
In Kano for example where it also operates, the company is helping many youths including retailers, as they have testified of the emergence of Alerzo bringing them good tidings.
Notably, Kano state is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the northern region of the country. In 2016, the National Bureau of Statistics reconfirmed Kano as the largest state in Nigeria by population. Nearly half of the population are between the ages of 15 and 54 years.
With its diverse economy and having established itself as a center for industry, agriculture, and islamic banking, Kano is the second-largest industrial centre after Lagos state and the largest in Northern Nigeria.
Despite its industrial ranking the state’s unemployment rate was at 31.2 percent as of Q4 2020, according to statistics. Through its N-Power programme, the Federal Government was reported to have employed over 16,000 youths in the state in the first quarter of 2022.
A youth in the state, Nura Muhammad who is part of Alerzo business development team, did say: “We thank God that the arrival of Alerzo in Kano has brought many opportunities. In addition to the joyful expressions of the customers, the young people of Kano are benefitting from the presence of Alerzo as a result of the employment opportunities it has created.
“Several Kano youths are now working because of Alerzo. We are happy that Alerzo has come, everyone here is happy; not only the customers, even the retailers and wholesalers. The youths of Kano are entirely happy with Alerzo; it is our hope that the company will continue to thrive.”
e-Commerce can create jobs directly or through logistics services and other aspects of the wider e-Commerce ecosystem. e-Commerce could improve household consumption, boost rural economies and reduce inequality especially among people in rural communities.
Conclusively,more businesses and individuals are urged to take advantage of the futuristic potentials of e-commerce.
Government can also help increase it's citizens standard of living and economic development through e-commerce,thereby creating empowerment programs to empower, students,youth and many business person's on how they can expand their businesses further through e-commerce.