By Chijioke Ohuocha
LAGOS (Reuters) - PayPal has signed up "tens of thousand" of Nigerians in its first week of operating in Africa's biggest economy, with consumers already purchasing items from Britain, China and the United States via its online platform, a company official said.

E-commerce remains in its infancy in most of Africa but is growing exponentially with the advent of online retailers such as Jumia, partly owned by South African phone operator MTN, and a growing middle class with money to spend.

Citizens of Africa's most populous nation could not buy goods directly from foreign merchants before the launch by PayPal, the payments unit of online auctioneer eBay Inc.

"We have seen great uptake by Nigerians ... in terms of coverage," Malvina Goldfeld, PayPal's head of business development for sub-Saharan Africa, said in Lagos on Tuesday.

PayPal entered Nigeria and 10 other nations last month, providing online payment alternatives for consumers via mobile phones or PCs in markets often blighted by financial fraud. The new markets bring the number of countries PayPal serves to 203.

Goldfeld said that Paypal secured a few deals with electronics suppliers in China and Dubai ahead of its launch and that it had partnered with Nigerian lender First Bank, which has more than 10.5 million customers.

ELECTRONICS AND FASHION

PayPal launched its platform in South Africa four years ago, Kenya last year and now Nigeria, Goldfeld said, giving the company access to shoppers across 40 sub-saharan African countries.

Goldfeld said the biggest interest has been in products from the United States, Britain and China, adding: "People are buying everything ... (but) there's definitely a concentration in electronics and fashion."

Online retailer Jumia told Reuters in April it had 100,000 Nigerian customer accounts and sales were increasing by 15 percent a month

However, worries over internet security and online fraud have held back e-commerce growth in Nigeria, where 63 million people have active internet data subscriptions but only 1 percent of them make online transactions, First Bank said, noting that online purchases are expected to reach $1 billion this year.

Though challenges remain - including abysmal infrastructure, port delays, other supply chain woes and the task of persuading shoppers to trust websites with their bank details - Goldfeld says PayPal's reach will help to speed improvements.

"A lot of the merchants that we work with ... already ship to Nigeria. I think that the growth of e-commerce will push the logistics customers to up their game," she said



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-paypal-signs-ten-of-thousands-customers-in-nigerian-launch-2014-22#ixzz38OV2lxaC

Paypal, Please tell your "trusted partner" Jumia to return our nairalander's =N=69k.

inteli: Paypal, Please tell your "trusted partner" Jumai to return our nairalander's =N=69k.

jumia or jumai . you sure sey your head correct ?

uihebom: jumia or jumai . you sure sey your head correct ?

The insult was not necessary, but thanks though for the correction.

inteli:

The insult was not necessary, but thanks though for the correction.

sorry , my bad.

Good

Nigeria is too big for any serious global cooperation or institution to ignore . Even paypal has started receiving money option for nigerians

texaco1: Nigeria is too big for any serious global cooperation or institution to ignore . Even paypal has started receiving money option for nigerians

Kai which kind lie be dis na

gboss4sure:

Kai which kind lie be dis na

bros ,no need to argue . Have a nice day

gboss4sure:

Kai which kind lie be dis na

Lolz . . . . . . . .

texaco1: bros ,no need to argue . Have a nice day

Abeg give us more update on this. Thanks a lot . . .

jmaine:

Abeg give us more update on this. Thanks a lot . . .

I think for now the option will only be available to customers of first bank , who has been chosen to be the offical partner of paypal in nigeria. check with first bank,although they may have some restrictions or maybe some laws .

texaco1: I think for now the option will only be available to customers of first bank , who has been chosen to be the offical partner of paypal in nigeria. check with first bank,although they may have some restrictions or maybe some laws .

Alright thanks a lot. Cheers. . . .

texaco1: bros ,no need to argue . Have a nice day

There is nothing like argument here bro, You cant use a Nigerian PayPal account to receive funds regardless of which bank card you used to verify it. You can call paypal to find out for yourself.. Even if you use firstbank card to verify your paypal account you can't use it to recieve payment as some people are claiming. Check the firstbank FAQ page on paypal here

http://www.firstbanknigeria.com/paypal/faqs/

The below is where people are getting it wrong

Question: What can I do with my PayPal account?

Answer:

You can use your PayPal account to make or receive payments for goods and services online.
Shop online at millions of merchants around the world.
Use your PayPal account to receive money from friends and family living abroad (PayPal has not enabled this service for Nigeria).
Receive online payments into your PayPal account from customers across the globe (PayPal has not enabled this service for Nigeria).
Perform cross border transactions safely and securely anywhere at any time.
Pay for things and send money without sharing your financial information.
Receive payments from buyers when enabled as a Merchant (PayPal has not enabled this service for Nigeria)
Checkout quickly at hundreds of your favourite online stores (not just eBay!).

Nigerian Paypal Account Can't Receive Payments for now regardless of the bank that issued you the card you used in verifying it, doubt it ring up paypal and ask them yourself