Nigeria’s population was estimated at 206.1 million in 2020 with one of the largest youth populations in the world. The average highest online spending is from the 25-years-to-34-years age group at 35.6 percent last year. B2C ecommerce is making 23.5 percent year-on-year growth and is expected to increase to 64.7 million users in 2020.
Internet penetration rose to 42 percent in January - up 2.6 percent from 2019. Nigeria’s economic growth is still constrained by a weak macroeconomic framework with high persistent inflation. Despite this there is steady growth of B2C ecommerce with average user transactions at US$131.8 per user and total transactions up to US$8.53 billion expected by the end of 2020.
Recently, Nigeria witnessed a rise in digital banking. According to data from the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System in January digital payment adoption increased to 29 percent compared with the same month last year. But cash is the most preferred payment option for 70 percent of Nigerians.
Before the pandemic many citizens withdrew money at ATMs for buying necessities. It resulted in queues and some machines shutting down. Now, the pandemic is forcing Nigerians to use cashless payments.
