The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has noted constraints limiting the growth of the e-commerce sector in Nigeria including regulatory issues.
This was stated during the inauguration of its e-commerce group to support private businesses across the various industries.
The disclosure was made by the Deputy President, Michael Olawale-Cole, who served as a proxy for LCCI’s President Toki Mabogunje.
Olawale-Cole said that for success to be recorded in the sector, things such as “weak digital infrastructure, intellectual property rights, and high-cost conditions and regulatory constraints must be addressed.
“We acknowledge the appreciable efforts of the Federal Government to support the development of the sector.
“This was demonstrated by enactment of Cybercrime Bill 2015 as a legal framework for prohibiting and preventing fraud in electronic commerce.
“The overarching goal of the law is to protect e-business transactions, company copyrights, domain names, and other electronic signatures in relation to electronic transactions in Nigeria.
“Though the law has given some level of comfort to consumers, businesses and investors need to do more to ensure the protection of transactions and contracts.
“The purpose of establishing this group is to give the investors in the sector a more prominent recognition in our evidenced-based advocacy to canvass for an enabling environment for the e-commerce sector.”
Speaking on the matter, the Vice President of LCCI, Mojisola Bakare, identified e-commerce as “one of the four key areas in Africa to best advance social and economic development.
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“This assertion underscores the need to deepen the development of the e-commerce ecosystem for better outcomes in terms of Business-to-Business integration, Business-to-Consumer facilitation, E-commerce Intellectual Property Rights among others.
“This platform has been created for cross-fertilization of ideas among the E-commerce actors/industry players to aggregate issues that the LCCI will advocate for market-oriented reforms, policies, and interventions.
“In addition, it will provide networking opportunities and linkages for growth across the value chain.”
