By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja
A group of young men, comprising three engineers and another graduate all from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, have established a website:halal.ng to help youths, particularly the unemployed engage and other segments of the engage in e-economic ventutes to boost economic development of the 19 states of Nigeria.
The Director of technical services of the site, Engr. I B Mukhtar, who mentioned other graduates as Dr Al-Amin D.Bello, Ibrahim H.Suleiman and Engr.Kabiru Shuaibu, disclosed this in a statement he made available to the Reporters, a publication platform on Wednesday in Lokoja.
Murkhar said the group created the platform based on a survey and research they conducted in the North West, Nigeria(in some parts of Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Kano States).
He said: “We found out that many small scale businesses have huge decrease of sales as result of insecurity, COVID-19 and related social and/or economic norms. There is also huge increase in number of startup businesses, using WhatsApp status as marketing avenue.
“This is more common among the women in the region who are mostly house wives with limited opportunities to venture into physical markets for commercial activities.
“The trend is also common among many aspiring small businesses with limited opportunities to showcase their products to larger markets beyond their local communities.
“Looking at these problems facing the northern entrepreneurs, we felt it is utmost important to create a platform that will provide equal opportunities to everyone across the region and beyond, without having any presence in the physical Market Places. So, we came up with halal.ng.
“Similarly, over 150 million sales of products and services occur online according to the National
Bureau of Statistics(NBS) with increase in population, especially in the north and increase in acceptance of technology, this number is going to increase.”
According to technical director,Northern Nigeria with its richness in trade and commerce has not fully taken its pride of place in the Nigerian online market,hence the creation of the platform, halal.ng, to provide simple avenue for wholesale and retail businesses in Northern Nigeria.
Murthar said the move was also to take advantage of the unique growth in the online market place to sell unique products and services to Nigerians and beyond the shores of the country.
“Our mission is to provide wider avenue for many existing and startup businesses in Nigeria to reach out to a larger audience nationwide and beyond.
“We are determined to showcase the unique fashion, culture, and lifestyle of Northern Nigeria through e-commerce, to promotes the identity of the region as a region with huge commercial prowess rather than a region of backwardness and illiteracy.
“To promote healthy competition in the online market place, by showcasing unique products and services for Nigeria and beyond,” he added.
He further stated that the platform was registered with CAC as ‘Halal Business District‘, adding that with mobile application awaiting approval by Google Play Store.the App download link would be made available on the website (halal.ng) as soon as it is approved by Google.
According to him, in addition to the e-commerce store, the young developers also include a business blog ‘Halal Business Blog‘ to the platform, to showcase the stories of hidden entrepreneurs and inspiring business stories to motivate aspiring entrepreneurs in the region.
