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By Uzo Ugwunze

In its bid to better the trading welfare of traders in Anambra State, their umbrella body, the Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders' Association (ASMATA), yesterday introduced the ASMATA E-commerce Plus platform, an online business transaction initiative, at the popular Onitsha Main Market.

The ASMATA E-commerce Plus platform, meant to help traders keep up with the current digital world, will ease business transactions within minutes, as it is done through online applications.

Unveiling the initiative, the ASMATA E-commerce Plus platform application developer (APP), Engr. Mike Nnebo, said that the ASMATA E-commerce Plus platform will help Anambra markets go online for fast sales and product delivery.

"This online business platform provides an opportunity that will help the growth of businesses of every shop owner in Anambra markets.

"The ASMATA E-commerce Plus platform will help you upload your products and showcase them to the public and the outside world for purchase, especially now that some parts of Onitsha Main Market have been demolished for reconstruction. While the reconstruction is ongoing, the traders will be selling on this ASMATA E-commerce Plus platform pending when it is completed.

"This will help Onitsha Main Market to remain functional until the completion of the structure, to avoid what happened to Yaba Market, Lagos, when a past governor of Lagos State restructured the market without a platform like ASMATA E-commerce Plus, which affected the Yaba Market negatively. The market was not able to completely restore its lost glory till date.

"ASMATA management will inform the heads of each market on how to navigate the ASMATA E-commerce Plus platform, and all shops should participate on this platform for healthy competitive sales and purchases.

"The ASMATA E-commerce Plus platform operates offline and online, and we have standby agents that check the goods or items before sending them to their destinations (owners)," Nnebo assured.

In his speech, the ASMATA President General (PG), Chief Humphrey Anuna, described Onitsha Main Market as the largest in West Africa and, as such, said it needs such an online business initiative.

"I am surprised at the large turnout of traders to witness the introduction of the ASMATA E-commerce Plus platform because it was less than 24 hours after I informed the market leadership of the event that would take place this Friday.

"Also, I am happy that Governor Chukwuma Soludo has restored the lost glory of Onitsha Main Market by restructuring it with its original master plan. We, the traders, are happy with him," Anuna said.

Contributing, the ASMATA Onitsha zonal chairman, Chief Eric Uwaoma, said, "It is a welcome development, but the organizers should teach us how to use the platform because it is something new. I am the first to procure the form and register, and I know others will follow suit. Good things are coming to traders in Anambra, and I commend ASMATA leadership for the initiative."

Chairman of Sokoto Road Market, Hon. Emeka Mbachu, expressed satisfaction with the introduction of the online business transaction and urged traders to key into it for their own good.

Moreover, the host, Onitsha Main Market chairman, Chief Chijioke Okpalaugo, also expressed satisfaction with the benefits traders will derive from the project and commended ASMATA leadership for its efforts toward the welfare of traders.