The Roles of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and E-Commerce as Agents of Nigeria’s Economic Development: Review of Challenges and Prospects

Electronic commerce which denotes the process of electronic transaction via internet has led to a very significant improvement in the level of growth, development, efficiency and productivity of global economies. In order to benefit from the economic opportunities offered by electronic commerce, Nigerian government and business organizations needs to effectively integrate Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as the major component of e-commerce campaign initiatives. The discussion in the paper is centered on e-commerce and ICTs and their resultant effect on Nigeria’s economic growth and development. This paper has presented an in-depth discussion of the various types of e-commerce, the major contributions of e-commerce to the economic growth of Nigeria and finally the challenges that impede the growth of e-commerce in Nigeria were identified and the possible recommendations for solutions to those challenges were provided.


Introduction
The invention of computers gave birth to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) which in turn has immensely altered the mode of human interaction by providing portable and faster means of communication in recent times. The applications of ICT in business transactions today have changed the world into a global marketplace via the use of e-commerce technologies [1]. The rapid increase in the growth and applications of ICT in businesses today have caused a lot of enterprises in Nigeria to adopt e-commerce in their business operations so as to meet their customers' urgent need for modern technologies and innovations [2]. Previous studies by [3] disclosed that Nigeria has experienced considerable level of progress and development in the ICT sector within the first decade of the 21 st century; this is mainly due to the large number of ICT-related infrastructural development recorded in the country between the years 2000 and 2009. Despite the perceived level of progress in Nigeria's ICT sector, Nigeria is still lagging behind in terms of digital development when compared to its competing economy emerging countries of the world. In another study [4] emphasized that Information and communication technologies (ICTs) proved to be one of the factors that necessitated the speedy growth of e-Commerce transactions in today's global economy; it has influenced organizations, businesses and purchasers otherwise known as e-consumers positively in our society. Electronic commerce or e-Commerce is highly favored due to its global market accessibility as well as its compatible application in all types of businesses. The increasing global rate of online business transactions with the associated innovative attitude of the customers has forced organizations to adopt e-Commerce to become a vital component of their businesses.
Various researchers have shown that the history of electronic commerce dates back to the late twentieth century. According to [5] e-commerce was successfully employed for selling and buying products online for the first time in the year 1994, with the on-line sale of Ten Summoner's Tales, Sting's fourth album. After a period of twenty years from the time, it was first introduced, e-commerce has spread all over the world, and it has an estimated global value of $1500 billion in the year 2014. Despite all the contributions of e-commerce to the global economic development, the Middle East and African regions were reported to be in the marginal position of e-commerce development compared to other regions of the world. Previous studies by [6] defined e-commerce as the exchange of goods and services, usually conducted over computer networks by different methods and processes that were designed purposely for placing and accepting orders from customers. The products and services must be ordered online by those methods, but the options for payment and delivery of the goods and services are not necessarily conducted online. [7] in their research defines e-commerce as the buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet; based on their research, those who engage in the transaction of buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet are called "electronic consumers" or e-consumers for short. In another related research [1] argued that e-commerce encompasses the collections of online business transactions which has to do with the exchange of products and services between producers and consumers of such products and services mainly over Internet. It also involves the sharing of business information electronically and the digital processing of such business information by using the modern technology in order to enhance the satisfaction of both parties involved in the transaction; in e-commerce, the parties involved in the business The use of Internet to conduct online business transactions today has now been established as a strong marketing strategy that drives e-commerce which has been recognized worldwide as a mechanism that empower business organization to compete in the global markets based on the facts that marketers use the Internet to gather data for marketing survey and planning [8]. Similarly previous study by [9] exposed that Nigeria has the highest rate of Internet connectivity in

Literature Review
The e-commerce remains the most prominent application of information technology (IT) that has revolutionized the global economies in recent years; it is clearly associated with all the processes that directly or indirectly involves the buying, selling and exchange of goods and services by means of computer networks and the Internet [9]. Electronic commerce has found much application in the banking industry most especially in the area of e-banking in recent times.
Another study by [10] disclosed that e-banking denote the process of carrying out banking transactions such as payment of bills, fund transfer and withdrawal of cash using Automated Teller Machine (ATM) as some of the prominent contribution of e-commerce in the global economy most especially in Nigeria. In line with the disclosure made above, [11] emphasized that e-banking encompasses the different types of banking operations, transactions and activities conducted over the Internet through the help of electronic network of computers; it stands as the major delivery platform of all the banking services that is widely applied in both the Business-to Business and Business-to-Consumer e-commerce transactions in recent times.
The results of a research conducted by [12] suggested that bankers in Nigeria regard electronic banking as a necessary mechanism that helps to reduce the level of inconveniences encountered during banking transactions; it also minimizes transaction costs as well as enhancing customers banking experience by reducing the amount of time needed for customers to carry out transaction in Nigerian banks. Electronic banking was also reported by [13] as another opportunity for economic growth and development offered by the adoption of e-commerce in the banking industry in Nigeria; because the quality of financial service delivery in Nigerian banking sector was very poor before the introduction of electronic banking in the country in the 1990s which was primarily driven by the new generation. This was a deliberate attempt to address the challenges associated with the manual processing of transactions that forced customers to spend many According to [14]  tance of e-commerce cannot be overemphasized because it has affected the ways and manners through which business transactions were carried out today. Recent studies by [17] revealed that after many years of investigation on electronic commerce, it was found to have affected virtually every business in a positive way for example, the online booksellers and music stores and other online businesses like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and e-Bay just to mention few were connected to a significant consumer segment due to their online presence in an e-commerce market place.

Types of E-Commerce
There are four major types of e-commerce to be discussed in this paper and all its associated e-commerce models were adapted from [18]. The following are the four types of e-commerce discussed in this paper:  [20]. The Business to Business model of e-commerce is shown in Figure 1 below.
2) Business-to-Consumer (B2C): this type of e-Commerce involves a transactions between a business organization and its target consumer thereby creating an electronic medium that allows instant transfer of messages and information, it also enables the sharing of goods and services between business organizations and final consumers in a retailing transaction; it can be regarded as an e-commerce model that involves the selling and buying of goods and services between businesses and consumers over the Internet. It also involves direct selling of products from businesses to their substantive consumers [21] [22]. A typical example of Business-to-Consumer e-commerce model in Nigeria is Jumia.
The Business to Consumer model of e-commerce is shown in Figure 2 below. The Consumer to Business model of e-commerce is shown in Figure 3 below.    consumers in a virtual market place known as cyberspace [24]. The Consumer to Consumer model of e-commerce is shown in Figure 4.

Contributions of e-Commerce in Nigeria's Economic Growth
The 2) Serves as a link that Connects Customers, Workers, Suppliers, Distrib-

utors and Competitors in a Business Environment
Previous study by [26] stressed that the adoption of e-Commerce helps in networking the various business organizations together there by enabling small business organizations to depend on other business organizations otherwise known as "partners" for supplies, product distribution and to meet customer demands for products and services more effectively through the implementation of a very functional e-commerce supply chain management solution.

4) Promotes the Development of Local Online stores in Nigeria
Many Nigerian companies and business ventures were engaged in active global market competition through the development of universal business portals and online stores which they used to advertise their products and services to their target consumers and buyers [28]. Typical examples of indigenous Nigerian business organizations that have achieved a remarkable success in online business transactions include Jumia, Konga and Jiji; these Nigerian owned business ventures were engaged in active global economic competition through their universal accessibility and online presence.

5) Creation of jobs and Employment opportunities
According to [29] in their study on "Roles of E-Service in Nigeria's Economic Development" The creation of jobs through ICT driven platforms which is the backbone of e-commerce in Nigeria has experienced a significant improvement whose Capacity building in recent times has generated huge revenue for the government each year.

E-Commerce Development in Nigeria
The use of Internet to operate business transactions has gain more impetus in the country and it is practiced widely within the more commercially concen-  Table 1 below.
According to the 2018 report on business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce index by [35] about 151 countries were ranked globally, including 44 African nations by measuring their readiness for online shopping. The index is based on four key indicators: 1) bank or mobile money account penetration; 2) internet usage; 3) availability of internet servers and 4) the reliability of postal services.
Out of the 44 African countries, Mauritius occupies the first position being the highest ranked while Nigeria the Africa's largest e-commerce market by number of shoppers and revenue is the second ranked African nation closely followed by South Africa. Table 2 below presents the top ten African countries based on their e-commerce readiness index with their associated global e-commerce ranking.

Factors Challenging the Growth of e-Commerce in Nigeria
There are numerous factors that challenge the growth of e-commerce in Nigeria thereby adversely affecting Nigeria's economic growth; these barriers include: 1) High Cost of Acquiring Relevant ICT Facilities and Skills Recent research by some scholars has found that the high cost of acquiring the computer systems, ICT equipment, Internet access cost, cost of personnel training, network installation and maintenance cost and the cost of implementing new technologies such as e-commerce site and its security have thwarted the growth of e-commerce in Nigeria's economy. The low level of broadband penetration and lack of Internet access among the rural dwellers in Nigeria as a result  of the high cost involved in acquiring such facilities has impeded the growth of e-commerce in Nigeria. Additionally, Internet access is not readily accessible to most users in the developing countries because of its high cost [2] [20] [36].

2) Socio-cultural barriers
The situation of socio-cultural barriers to e-commerce in the developing countries enunciated by McKinsey op cit [16] holds true in Nigeria that the preference for personal face-to-face communications rather than the electronic versions of communication like e-mails followed by a strong affinity for established physical business relationships instead of the inter-personal Internet enabled business relationship proves to be a strong enemy of the growth and development of e-commerce in the economies of third world countries. [20] opined that it may not be acceptable to deliver physical goods to women when they are alone at home in some parts of the country particularly Northern Nigeria; even if such goods were ordered from an e-commerce online store, the e-commerce delivery agent must have to wait for the presence of another person before such delivery can be made and this factor is believed to have crippled the growth of e-commerce in Nigeria.

3) Security and legal Issues
The low level of ICT and computer literacy as well as general lack of understanding regarding the operations of the Internet was clearly spelt out by [37] as another factor that exposes consumers in e-commerce to different risks; this factor tends to deter e-consumers from active participation in e-commerce transactions thereby crippling the growth of e-commerce in Nigeria. According to [38]

5) Logistic and Delivery Barriers
The concept of logistic and delivery in e-commerce involves the transportation and delivery of the ordered goods to their consumers. The authors [39] argued that logistics and courier services needed a lot of improvement in India, owing to the fact that an effective logistic service is ideal for the success of all online retailers. India was reported to be lagging behind in this sector; this problem of lack of effective logistic and delivery services is also peculiar to Nigeria, other problems of logistic and delivery that negatively affect e-commerce in Nigeria are the delay in delivering the products, loss of product during delivery and delivery of products to wrong individuals.

6) Poor electricity supply
Poor electricity supply is also one of the factors that inhibit the growth of electronic commerce in Nigeria. Previous study by [2] indicated that 97% of Nigerian firms and business organizations experience power outages of one form or the other. [40] in their research opined that the nature of electricity supply in Nigeria is very epileptic and it proves to be one of the greatest challenges that confronts the Nigeria's business sector; E-marketing, E-commerce or E-business can never be practiced effectively without regular power supply therefore many business set ups were forced out of the E-commerce market place as a result of poor electricity supply.

Recommendations
In order to harness the power of the innovations in ICT and implement an effective, reliable and responsive e-commerce system in Nigeria, this paper wish to recommend the following measures which Nigerian government and business

Conclusion
Today, e-commerce has affected the global economy in numerous ways primarily due to its vast possibility for strengthening economic growth and business expansion worldwide. It can be concluded that both the existing business set ups

Conflicts of Interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.