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A NEW MODEL OF B2B E-COMMERCE FOR SMES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: THE NIGERIAN RURAL PERSPECTIVE. Dili Ojukwu School of Computing Science Middlesex University White Hart Lane Tottenham London N17 8HR d.ojukwu@mdx.ac.uk Nigerian Contact No: 0803-603-8604. Matters Arising.
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A NEW MODEL OF B2B E-COMMERCE FOR SMES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: THE NIGERIAN RURAL PERSPECTIVE Dili Ojukwu School of Computing Science Middlesex University White Hart Lane Tottenham London N17 8HR d.ojukwu@mdx.ac.uk Nigerian Contact No: 0803-603-8604 Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
Matters Arising • Background and Current Literature • Why The New Model? • Components of the Proposed Model • Features of the Proposed Model • Architectural Overview of the New Model • Envisaged Problems of the New Model • Envisaged Benefits of the New Model • Conclusion and Future Directions Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
Background • More than half of the world population live in rural areas • So, what are the choices before us today? • We can either shy away and indulge in ostrich-hiding • By not investing in our rural areas; • By treating rural dwellers as poor and untalented; • By allowing the age-long rural-urban migration to continue; • By allowing young people to threaten our individual and corporate survival and security through armed robberies, bribery and corruption, 419 and risking of their lives while attempting to cross to Europe and America through all sorts of dangerous means in their quest for survival. • Or we can empower the rural populace by giving them modern tools of communication, among others. It is as simple as that. • Electronic commerce, particularly business to business (B2B) holds a powerful key to unlocking the latent potential of our rural communities thereby empowering them to achieve economic self-sustainability that leads ultimately to real poverty reduction. • It has been established that there is a direct link between communication access and poverty reduction (Khalil, 2003). Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
Background • Khalil is not alone. My experience in the course of my field study shows that rural Nigerians have taken up the challenge provided by the advent of GSM mobile phones in the country. • People now use mobile phones as business tools; • You no longer need a furnished, exortic office in order to make money; you can do so under an umbrella on any road side. Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
Background • Of course, we recognise that modern wireless telecommunications equipment is not as cheap as owning a mobile phone. That is why we propose a form of collaborative arrangement or clustering. • We also know that the small and medium sizes enterprises (SMEs), especially those in rural areas do not have very deep pockets. Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
Background and Current Literature • Historical Perspective There is a culture of collaboration as evidenced by the practice of what is variously called - ‘ISUSO’ (Anglophone) Eg Nigeria; - ‘TONTINE’ (Francophone) Eg Cameroon; - ‘STOKVEL’ in South Africa. This practice is known in the West as ROSCA or ASCRA - ROSCA – Rotating Savings and Credit Association - ASCRA – Accumulating Savings and Credit Association (Bourman, 1994) Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
Why The New Model? • The Need for Proposed Model - Existing Models of B2B in SSA - Drawbacks of the existing Models (Rao, 2003; Shemi & Magembe, 2003; UNCTAD, 2001 & 2002) - Deployment and Implementation Problems in SSA, especially in the rural communities (Avgerou, 2002;Fleenor and Raven, 2003) - The issues of Trust and Security Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
Components of the Proposed Model • We propose here that the marriage of wireless telecommunications and a cluster of smes is a match made in Heaven for rural dwellers • Why wireless telecommunications? • The need for wireless, broadband telecommunications (Best, 2002; UNCTAD, 2001 & 2002) • PSTN (Public Switched Telephony Network) – unaffordable to most SMEs in SSA (Liddell, 2003) – ITU statistics show that mobile telephones have overtaken land lines in most dev countries • Pentland et al (2004) - DakNet • Accessibility, affordability, cost, ease of installation and maintenance. Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
DakNet - Features Fig 1: DatNet Features (Pentland et al, 2004) Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
Features of the Proposed Model LEGACY SYSTEMS Fig 2: Levels of the Proposed Model ERP INTRANET SECURITY EXTRANET HRM SCM CRM External IAS BPI EPI SECURITY & TRUST Collaborative ( Integrational ) Internal SECURITY EFT EDI E-MARKETING INTERNET Enterprise ( Integrational ) External Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
Architectural Overview of the New Model Fig 3: Architectural Overview of the Model BUSINESS C BUSINESS D BANK CONSULTANT INTRANET INTRANET * LEGACY * LEGACY SYSTEMS SYSTEMS * ERP * ERP EXTRANET SECURITY BUSINESS A BUSINESS B & TRUST INTRANET INTRANET * LEGACY * LEGACY INTEGRATED SYSTEMS SYSTEMS SYSTEMS * ERP * ERP DEALER LOCAL FURNITURE ( CRAFTS ) MAKER DATABASE CATALOGUE Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
Where there’s a will… • Other countries are doing it, so what are we waiting for? Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
Envisaged Problems of the New Model Problems • Trust amongst Cluster Members • Business Process Integration • Security of the Transactions • Avoiding Bureaucracy • Reducing the over-dependence on technology • Policing or monitoring the activities of members (with government participation, this would not be a big issue) Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
Envisaged Benefits of the New Model Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005
Thanks for Listening Your Comments, Questions and Suggestions Welcome! Dili Ojukwu - e-Nigeria Conference - Abuja, Nigeria - June 30, 2005