By Emmanuel Elebeke

Nigeria and other developing countries require only quality policies to harness e-commerce for sustainable development, the United Nations Conference on the Trade and Development, UNCTAD, has said.

In its 2015 Information Economy Report  entitled:  Unlocking the potential of e-Commerce for Developing Countries, the UNCTAD said with the expansion of digital economy and more business activities affected, it is important for developing countries to consider policies that can help them harness e-commerce for sustainable development.

In this light, the world body reasoned that a national ecommerce strategy should be developed by all nations in collaboration with relevant stakeholders for a productive results.

It noted that special attention should be devoted to measure and facilitate the effective involvement of micro and small enterprises.

The Secretary General, of the body Mukhisa Khituyi, said, assessing e-commerce readiness forms the first step towards formulating an affective national e-commerce strategy and to set priorities.

According to him, this involves developing understanding of national needs, characteristics, strengths and weakness using relevant tools.

Khituyi said, any assessment should include a comprehensive review of the evolution of e-commerce the particular environment, including e-commerce related initiatives, a stocking of the resources and capabilities that could contribute to the development of e-commerce. For UNCTAD, proper identification of the main challenges and barriers and uncovering the dynamics underpinning them will help in ensuring that policy measures adopted are effective.