‘Nigeria yet to benefit from $170b e-learning industry’

Despite the country’s fast-rising Internet usage, it is yet to benefit from the global e-learning market, estimated to worth over $170b.

The gap is blamed on the nation’s infrastructural challenges and huge technological knowledge gap that have made creation and sales of online contents difficult.

According to techpreneurs, people are foregoing traditional methods of learning due to the benefits of e-learning, including convenience and cost savings, hence, the country must be well-positioned to tap into the market.

Founder of TrainQuarters, Stephanie Obi, while speaking in Lagos, said it is worrisome that while other countries are gaining from the multi-billion dollar industry estimated to reach $331b by 2025, Nigeria is yet to benefit because of the country’s inability to monetise content.

She said apart from the financial gains, which could improve the standard of living of the people, online courses could bridge the country’s huge education gap through training from professionals.

“From creating courses to marketing and selling them to building a website, creating an email list, blogpost hosting and more, the platform has everything needed to launch an online course. It also grants users access to online courses at discounted rates, rather than paying for different platforms, along with a support team to enlighten and guide one through the process.”

However, an investment advisor, Tolu Dima-Okojie, opined that the need for speedy tutoring and realtime educational irrespective of location would make the industry thrive in Nigeria.

On challenges, she said: “Payment platforms have always been stumbling block as most times people’s money is stuck when they want to withdraw. Technology is another issue; I have paid developers who in the past only created problems. These are some of the things the platform solves.”