The government of Lagos State has urged company owners in the agricultural and agribusiness value chains to adopt e-commerce in order to take advantage of the possibilities provided by electronic platforms to reach sizable markets and record more sales.
The inaugural meeting of the three-day E-COMAGBUS 2022 management capacity building program for MSME operators on agribusiness and e-commerce for improved productivity and patronage, with the theme “The Relevance of E-Commerce As Catalyst to Agribusiness Value Chain In A 21st Century Economy,” was presided over by the Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives (MCIC), Mrs. Lola Akande.
Akande, who was represented by Mrs. Adetutu Oluremi Ososanya, Permanent Secretary, MCIC, claimed that the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration is investing heavily in empowering agribusiness entrepreneurs to explore e-commerce because it has emerged as a substitute model for formalizing informal value chains by enabling the buying and selling of goods online.
She said that doing so would enable farmers to sell directly to several client groups that would otherwise be inaccessible by avoiding middlemen.
“The fast expansion of e-commerce has the potential to solve endemic weaknesses in the Nigerian agriculture sector and alter agribusinesses, which now provide the majority of Nigerian families with their main source of income,” she said. With benefits like reduced costs, simple accessibility, cross-border selling, and other advantages that provide many benefits, e-commerce will guarantee delivery simplicity.
Under the capable leadership of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the current administration has actively promoted agricultural development by initiating and putting into practice policies that enhance agribusinesses’ technical and non-technical entrepreneurial skills and increase their access to networks and financial services.
She added: “Agribusinesses in the State will be able to participate in the global e-commerce of which Nigeria now accounts for roughly US$6.9 billion in 2021 with the state-wide 3,000-kilometer fiber optic backbone being completed by Governor Sanwo-administration.” Olu’s
Akande affirmed that if agriculture, youth, and technology are combined through appropriate government policies that encourage more entrepreneurs to enter the sector, it will speed up economic development while urging investors to tap into huge investment opportunities such as the provision of e-trading platforms, internet services, storage technology, and facilities.
“Farmers and technology must interact on farms. I believe that’s where we should start, she added.
While praising Lagos State for setting up the program, Dr. Joshua Odewale, the guest lecturer, argued that e-commerce in agriculture can increase output, efficiency, and rural development while facilitating better access to information that can assist agricultural stakeholders in making the best choices with the resources at their disposal to increase productivity.
In order to maximize the returns on agricultural investments, e-commerce will change how stakeholders gather, analyze, store, and exchange information.
The effective implementation of the e-commerce plan depends on the combined efforts of the ICT, agricultural, and e-commerce sectors. Through deliberate effort, there ought to be opportunity for development, he stated.
Akindele Faleye, CEO of WUFAS Empowerment, praised Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the capacity-building initiative, calling it laudable and beneficial for agribusinesses.
The Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO), Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Association of Food and Agro-processing of Nigeria (AFAP), National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), National Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (NASME), Origin Automobile Nigeria Limited, and Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) were among the stakeholder organizations represented by representatives who praised the administration for putting on the ground-breaking initiative.