The Federal Government is working towards removing all glitches against seamless digital payments and e-commerce, the Presidency has said. The effort spearheaded by the Office of the Vice President, through the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, and development partners, aims to ensure that citizens can seamlessly transfer money using their mobile phones and other devices.

Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President) Ibrahim Hadejia said this during a stakeholders’ roundtable in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to him, the Bola Tinubu government is determined to reach the financially excluded through improved digital infrastructure. He said: “Our target is financial inclusion for all Nigerians. It doesn’t happen anywhere in the world, and by the time we begin to address these issues, we can use that reach to enter into the e-commerce stage.

“And like I said, from our own perspective, we are also worried about the exclusion that is inherent, so that eligible Nigerians, no matter where they are, can have access to quality, simple financial services that are beyond educational and poverty levels.

“From the Office of the Vice President’s perspective, we look at digital payment and identity as really the last stumbling block in opening up e-commerce in Nigeria.

“Yes, there is e-commerce going on, but I think the biggest impediments surround the ease of payment, the identity issue and several things we are pushing, which are all interlinked.

“We are driving financial inclusion in the Office of the Vice President, which has to do with the strategy for different digital payment infrastructure that would essentially reach the last mile and serve the financially excluded.

“So, resolving these will amount to killing several birds with one stone. We have been to India and seen what robust PPI can do to e-commerce, and not just e-commerce but trade generally.”

According to the presidential aide, by the time gthe overnment can make payment seamless, cell phone users would be able to receive and make payments easily. Hadejia said: “You have a situation where, in a few years, the amount or volume of transactions from digital platforms is in excess of the traditional credit card.

So, you have the likes of Wizard and Master card taking an interest, jumping into this space. “And, of course, to also identify why the African Free Continental Trade Agreement has simply refused to gain the traction that it should have several years after it was established.

“We can also point to the fact that the issues have to do potentially with the cross-border payment and the identity issue. We are hoping that discussions like this will offer solutions.”