Firm Signs Customers In Nigerian Launch

PayPal has signed up
“tens of thousands” 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 of America (USA) via its online platform.
The head of the business development for Sub-Saharan Africa, Malvina Goldfeld, who disclosed this in Lagos  last Tuesday said a e-commerce is still in its infancy in most of Africa but is growing gradually 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  was quoted as saying, adding that PayPal entered Nigeria and 10 other nations only last month, providing online payment alternatives for consumers via mobile phones or PCs in markets often blighted by financial fraud. The new markets according to the company’s head, 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.