Online businesses have contributed to the growth of the Nigerian economy, this is a statement credited to the Managing Director of Africa’s largest online hotel booking platform Jovago, Marek Zmyslowski, at the ongoing 3rd EU-Nigeria Business Forum.
On a panel discussion about the private sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s growth at the EU – Nigeria Business Forum, Marek Zmyslowski stated that with the influx of online businesses in Nigeria, the economy has seen a significant boom. Zmyslowski was on the panel with the Polish Deputy Minister of Economy, Andrzej Dycha; UK Trade Envoy to Nigeria MP David Heath; Head of EU Delegation to Nigeria, Ambassador Michael Arrion; Regional Director of Peugeot Nigeria, Eric Maydieu; CEO of National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria (NCCN), Chika Mordi; World Bank Lead Economist, John Litwack; Director, Orleans Invest, Simone Volpi and Olusegun Aganga of the Hon. Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, all of whom held varying opinions on the position of the Nigerian economy and what it stands to gain from executing the proposed free trade agreement.
As Zmyslowski noted, “Oil and Agriculture used to be the leading sources of Nigerian economy, but with the rebased GDP it was shown that these two industries together only account for 37.9% of the overall Nigerian economy. While service and online businesses, such as Jovago.com, now total more than 51% of the Nigerian economy making it the greatest contributors, hence demonstrate a diversifying economy. Nigeria’s rebasing GDP merely reinforced the fact that it is the biggest economy in Africa, which has been long evident from Nigeria’s booming economy.”
The 3rd EU-Nigeria Business Forum, is an annual event, which is set to showcase European trade in Nigeria and discuss possible growth of businesses. The EU-Nigeria Business Forum is being organized by the EU delegation to Nigeria, a number of EU Member States and the Nigerian government. The forum is expected to bring together, policy makers and business representatives with the aim to boost trade relations between Europe and Nigeria.
