The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted Fidelity Bank Plc final license to operate electronic commerce services in Nigeria.
This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Ejike Ndiulo, the Fidelity Bank’s Head of Corporate Communications and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.
According to the statement, the bank has been positioned to empower Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in line with its strategic business objectives through provision of advanced electronic commerce platform.
The platform, tagged the “Fidelity GreenMall”, is an online marketplace with fully integrated e-commerce capabilities for online payments, delivery logistics, advertising, and business networking opportunities.
The statement quoted Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo, the bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, as saying that the approval would further open new markets for MSME.
“We have always seen access to markets as critical success factor in our quest to deepen the MSME service offering.
“With this approval, and given the increasing internet penetration, we see an exciting opportunity to further open up new markets for MSMEs, using technology,” Okonkwo said.
He explained that the CBN decision to grant the bank full license, to roll-out electronic commerce services, was driven specifically by the its unique approach to financial inclusion.
Okonkwo said that many MSMEs lack requisite expertise and capacity to manage online store, thereby making it difficult for them to make sales.
He, however, listed the factors hampering MSME’s growth to include funding constraints, poor record keeping, lack of requisite technological tools and epileptic power supply.
Okonkwo advised small businesses to take advantage of the online platform to boost their revenues by trading on local and international arenas.
“We want to raise the level of competitiveness of Nigerian MSMEs in a global market”, Okonkwo was quoted as saying.
He said that e-commerce had gained recognition in national and international trade, noting that the bank would strengthen the level of participation of Nigerian SMEs in global e-commerce sales.
According to him, the online platform fosters linkages to multilateral agencies and organisations to enable MSMEs explore export markets or franchising opportunities. (NAN)