A fantastic view about the issues about Ecommerce in SSA and possible solutions. But I have quite a few contrary ideas.

Most of the ecommerce companies, especially those in Nigeria, destroyed their market when they didn’t live up to the trust consumers had in them.

Let me explain further. At the time ecommerce started in Nigeria, digital payments were at its infancy, so the failure of card transactions was rampant. Ecommerce companies were forced to introduced payment on delivery (POD). Of course, there was a massive boost that at one time POD was 93%. Then they got cocky, customer service went down the drain; deliveries got massively delayed, and to top the evil icing on the cake when you ordered A, they delivered Z.

So think about this; while ecommerce companies are floundering, over digital payments has been growing at a massive rate; interbank and POS payments are clocking in at about 100% CAGR over the last 4 years. ATM transactions are having a decent show at about 30% per year. Mobile and internet banking users have doubled in the previous 3 years. Netflix, Apple Music, Deezer, etc. are all growing their users at a healthy clip. Shipments from Asos and Aliexpress into Africa continues to grow, YoY.

The ecommerce guys killed the trust that would sustain their business, they should live with the consequences.