By Our Correspondent
The book “Ecommerce Revolution: A Global Expert’s View on How Wealth Can Be Created from The African Frontier” written by Nyce Ayuk, has been reviewed by Yange Ikyaa.
Reviewing the 144 pages book that was published by Huntaman Media and Tech, Lagos, Nigeria, the reviewer wrote:
If you are interested in harnessing the transformative capacity of the unfolding ecommerce revolution as a budding millennial entrepreneur especially from Africa, then you should definitely read the book by Nyce Ayuk. Building on years of experience as a Mentor, Coach and
Digital Thought Leader, Nyce Ayuk throws penetrating shafts of light into the evolving ecommerce revolution in this groundbreaking book underscoring his consuming passion for budding millennial entrepreneurs and over 400 million internet users in Africa to harness
the opportunities presented by this revolution.
The first chapter of the book mirrors the current state of global ecommerce phenomenon, its resurgent and bullish role in world trade with projections into a promising future. The book examines the current trends in the United States and North America, China and Asia,
United Kingdom, France, Germany, South America, Japan etc.
Chapter 2 of the book reflects on the state of ecommerce in Africa, With a population of over 1.2 billion spread across 54 countries.
McKinsey Global Institute projects that by 2025, ecommerce will be worth $75 billion in Africa. Nyce Ayuk identifies the growing African middleclass with more money to spend as strategic partners in creating millennial entrepreneurs who will inherit the arrival of this new
dawn.
According to him, the Nairobi Manifesto on Digital Economy issued at the close of the first African ecommerce week in Kenya in 2018 underscores the positive outlook thus, “The Digital Economy including ecommerce is proliferating in Africa, creating new opportunitiesf for entrepreneurs and businesses to expand their market access and join value chains”. The average ecommerce consumer in Africa is young, tech savvy with eyes on quality services. And with the surge in internet penetration in Africa, the shopping habits of the growing middleclass have changed forever. It is this habit that is
driving the emergence of many ecommerce start-ups ready to offer their professional services.
Already, ecommerce giants such as Jumia, Takealot, Konga, Kilimall, Mall for Africa, Zando etc., are very dominant players driving the ecommerce revolution in Africa. The book relives the ecommerce experience in Africa in Chapter 3, identifying in the process, the
challenges and obstacles to wealth creation. It identifies these challenges as the problem of internet connectivity, fragmented markets, illiteracy, mistrust issues and logistics. In spite of these, the author strikes an optimistic note based on the empirical evidence he shares with his readers. According to him, his optimism is buoyed by economic forecasts in positive territory. The research firm Statista reveals that ecommerce in Africa generated $16.5 billion in 2017, a figure it projected will rise to $29 billion by 2022. In chapter 5 of the book, the author begins to tighten the screw on the subject matter by narrowing it down on what the African millennial should do to inherit the gains of the unfolding ecommerce revolution
in Africa. Nyce Ayuk exposes in poignant details what the African millennial should do to become champions of the unfolding revolution.
The budding millennial is tech savvy which means that he can easily adapt to new technology. He demonstrates strong passion for business very early in life and wants to be his own boss.
But by far the most consequential and important part of the book is Chapter 6 which deals with the skill sets needed by the millennial entrepreneur to become champions of the urban jungle. In this Chapter, Nyce Ayuk hits a home run. He argues that the ecommerce revolution has created so many opportunities for the millennial entrepreneur who is creative, imaginative, tech savvy and bold to flourish. And with the decline of Brick and Mortar businesses worsened by the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for the skills of digital markets have
never been higher than now. With Brick and Mortar businesses
witnessing a downturn, tech savvy companies such as Amazon, Zoom and others are flourishing. Data tracker App., Annie revealed recently that Walmart’s US retail sales jumped by 20 per cent in March 2020, boosted by a 190 per cent downloads of its online grocery App. Global ecommerce leader, Amazon recently employed more than 100,000 new
warehouse and delivery workers to help contain the surge in ordersn with a further plan to hire about 75,000 more workers.
To tap into the vast opportunities unfolding at a frenetic pace, Nyce Ayuk argues forcefully that the millennial entrepreneur should as a necessity, equip himself with new and valuable skills to fit into a fiercely competitive globalized world. For the millennial entrepreneur, financial independence is at the core of his career motivation. The author argues that such motivation must be anchored on value addition. In simple terms, we make money only when we solve
problems and add value. The comprehensive Skill Set proposed by Nyce Ayuk is indeed a holy grail and passport to financial independence and wealth creation. These include skills in Digital Marketing, Copywriting, Mobile App Development, Web Development, Programming (Basic to Advanced Coding), Podcasting and Alternative Media, Digital Content Marketing/Creation, Graphics Design, Consultant/Public Speaking, etc.
Nyce Ayuk recommends these skills to the budding millennial entrepreneur as the gateway to harness the opportunities of the unfolding ecommerce revolution.
