Business & Economy
Nigerian Entrepreneurs Deserve More Value From e-Commerce Firms – Koloxo Founder
Entrepreneurs in Nigeria deserve more value than what they currently get from e-Commerce firms in the country and Africa at large.
This was disclosed by the Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Koloxo, Hadriel Radovitzky, in an exclusive interview with Nairametrics.
While some e-commerce in Nigeria blame their failures on the difficulties of doing business in Nigeria, Radovitzky disagrees and explained that the challenge is not Nigeria but the concept adopted by the firms.
He said, “We realized that the current market of cross border multi-store e-Commerce needed to be upgraded to a more friendly and transparent system, where the shoppers can see and feel the merchant, where shoppers can see the product origin, where the manufacturer can be part of a worldwide platform with zero cost, and reach out to every corner of the globe, no matter the size of the company, or budget.
Where shoppers can receive their orders in one shipment regardless of the country they buy from, where the shoppers know their final price to destination, door to door.”
On the gap he observed in Nigeria’s e-commerce space, he explained that there are more foreign products being sold on the e-commerce platforms in the country, while some local producers are left out of the space.
He said, “Africa has more of foreign products compared to their counterparts in America or UK, where more local goods are featured.
“What I see here is that there is massive production without channels to cross the border. It is quite complicated. For example, this is a soap that all its ingredients are African but was manufactured and bought in New York.
“The question is why are the supermarkets not selling locally produced items. There are no channels that can promote Made in Nigeria goods in Nigeria and abroad without bleeding the producers. Nobody promotes the manufacturers here but just the product. It is important that the manufacturers need to be highlighted too.
“About 70% of products you will see in a supermarket in UAE are manufactured locally and that is what each country needs to do to promote their producers. What Koloxo is doing is to take what is being manufactured in Nigeria to New York, vice versa but as Fresh stock.
“Through Koloxo.com you have access to those small factories and products that can only be seen when you physically visit the country.”
He added that Koloxo is set to launch in Nigeria and had already discussed with the Nigeria Customs Service and other agencies and agreed on the processes and transactions.
“Nigeria will serve as a hub for Africa. As goods Made in Africa are ordered from other parts of the world, they come to Nigerian port where taxes are paid before they get shipped to their destinations across the globe,” he added.
What you should know about Koloxo
Koloxo.com is a platform linking the factories and the final user. Each order goes from the manufacturer to Koloxo and then packaged and delivered with less damage to the final user.