Why is e-gold popular in Nigeria?

I had never seen public posters, banners, handbills, billboards, newspaper/magazine ads all used in promoting the use of e-gold – specifically advertising for e-gold users in Nigeria to fund their account. Not until I visited Ibadan (in Nigeria) again, recently. Dr Douglas Jackson founder and CEO of e-gold Ltd must be proud. Too bad I forgot to take my camera along, on that trip.

Not a few Nigerians take part in global commerce via the World Wide Web. According to Internet World Stats, there are about 5 million Internet users in Nigeria. This is only 3.57% of Nigeria’s 140 million people (2007 official census).

These people need to make payment online to facilitate their participation in e-commerce. Aside buying and selling online, others invest in foreign stock markets, foreign currency market (Forex), High Yield Investment Programs (HYIPs), Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) schemes etc.

Until 2006, Nigerian banks did not issue international credit/debit cards though local debit cards were issued much earlier. Thus many were those who were unable to join the e-commerce bandwagon due to the major online payment obstacle.

E-gold to the rescue
A few ones however, could buy/sell online as way back as the early 2000’s – thanks to e-gold. (yours truly included). These few could trade their Naira for e-gold with other e-gold users, or fund their e-gold accounts using independent e-currency exchangers (this is much less common).

Several online activities increased the patronage of e-gold in Nigeria:

  1. MLMs – Many were those who wanted to participate in multi-level marketing schemes as a means of generating regular income. In all these, CashCards comes to mind as a company promoting its branded Visa ATM using MLM. CashCards members could deposit funds into V-cash and GoldLynks (both run by CashCards) using e-gold.
  2. Forex tradingForeign currency market trading has been gaining popularity in Nigeria in recent times. With a belief of making huge returns from the highly volatile forex trading market, many Nigerians having been hoping in and funding their e-gold accounts to deposit into forex trading platforms that accept e-gold deposits.
  3. HYIPs – These ponzi schemes promise high returns on investments and e-gold is the most popular means by which they accept deposits and pay returns. Many Nigerians attracted by the promise of huge returns joined [and still join] them, using e-gold as a means of payment.
  4. Web hosting & domain name registration – To actively participate in e-business/e-commerce you would need a web presence of your own – especially if you are a merchant want to sell to the international market. Many were those who had to use e-gold as a means of paying for web hosting and domain name registration services. This is specifically what attracted me to e-gold. The only downside here is that they are limited to only web hosts that accept e-gold as a means of payment.

With the recent IP blocking palaver by e-gold however, one is left to wonder what the future of e-gold will be in Africa’s most populous nation. Moreso, many HYIPs are switching from e-gold to other offshore digital currencies following the recent clash between e-gold Ltd and the US Department of Justice. e-gold Ltd was indicted for money laundering & illegal money transmitting and e-gold in return clamped down on suspected scammers within its e-payment system.

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Oluniyi D. Ajao
Oluniyi D. Ajao is an Internet Entrepreneur and Tech Enthusiast based in South Africa. Follow him on twitter @niyyie for more tech updates.

22 Comments

  1. Well i do think its becoming a problem using e-gold but i have solved that problem by switching over to liberty reserve which offers a better alternative than e-bullion.

    Then i use an exchanger usually ‘autocambist’ to convert from my e-gold account to my libertyreserve account. It would defintely affect millions of naija users should e-gold fail to solve their current issues

  2. thumbs up to u all who av been feeding me with lots of info i hail in de 9ja style. pls i heard about stablereturn nd am about geting involved pls somebody should tell me how legit it is.

  3. can someone please share his/her testimony with me on egold? someone who have actually earned real cash from them.

  4. whatzzzzzzzzzzzz up please how do i sell my e-gold? more from you to be a customer. and do you need money making web-site ,confirmed and tested OK.

  5. Mr David Ajao, Sir, could you be so kind as to furnish me with information on how to invest geniunely in Forex?….. you’ll be helping alot of interested guys here in Jos.

  6. Emmanuel,

    Forex is an area that i believe i can give you a couple of tips on, at least to prevent you from becoming game to the many fraudsters and imposters who have almost hijacked such a dynamic and profitable business opportunity.
    Apparently ure internet literate , that menas you can browse the web to get information on virtually any topic you need to explore.
    why not start by using search engines like google to get info. they have and are always usefull media for geting update forex info. start with sites like babypips, forex for beginers etc, . DO NOT GIVE MONEY TO ANYBODY WHO CLAIMS TO BE AN EXPERT UNLESS YOU HAVE PROVEN EVIDENCE FROM SOMEBODY RELIABLE TO ASCERTAIN THE LEVEL OF COMPETENCE OF THE TRAINER OR IN SOME CASES THE PROFESSIONAL TRADER. There are too many charlatans posing as gurus in this area.I must remind you that forex trading is very progressive and needs regular update on the skills and techniques required. So start by visiting the cafe , if y

  7. Thank God o!!!!!!!! I was searching for e-gold on google. i was trying to open an account with them, but it has proved difficult. i now realised that they had problems with the US ministry of justice. now which other e-currency should i deal in. this is because i believe in online investing with e-currency and i want to try out some. thanks . thumbs up!!!!!!!1

  8. In forex, its happening, but many guys cant just be patient enough to learn how it works, and the required techniques needed to be succesful in the field. Everybody is in a hurry, thats bad”””’ Its adviced you practice for at least three 3 months before “thinking,” I repeat before even thinking of starting up with real money, else you might just be shouting scam scam scam;

  9. pls i want to sell my e-gold in exchange for naira.can someone tell me where to go or abt any exchange company plsssssssssssse.

  10. i did a transaction with e-gold nigeria valued at $19000 on 18th june 2009. till now they havent credited my account. i even checked their so called ibadan office which was non existent. can u pls give me a clue how i can get my money back?

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