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:
- 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.
- Forex trading - Foreign 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.
- 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.
- 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.
12 responses so far ↓
1 Lanre Olatunde // Oct 28, 2007 at 1:58 pm
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 Oluniyi David Ajao // Oct 28, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Lanre, can you share the problem you’re having with e-gold with my readers?
Thanks.
3 Emmanuel // Nov 15, 2007 at 12:49 pm
i love this forum,can anyone tell me a legit website to make money online … i dont want to be scammed anymore by fake website …
4 Benson // Dec 31, 2007 at 11:40 pm
It would seem the next in line digital currency to replace e-Gold in terms of strength would be Liberty Reserve. Good article here! *thumbs up*
5 KELVIN OKOGUN // Jan 26, 2008 at 9:39 am
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.
6 Kehinde // Jan 30, 2008 at 3:24 pm
this is cool
7 ogunsola samson // Apr 10, 2008 at 9:12 am
can someone please share his/her testimony with me on egold? someone who have actually earned real cash from them.
8 ADENIYI // May 13, 2008 at 4:35 pm
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.
9 joshua // Jun 14, 2008 at 4:55 pm
i want to know more about e-gold. please detailed on it. thanks
10 Emmanuel // Jul 3, 2008 at 10:43 am
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.
11 Oluniyi David Ajao // Jul 3, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Unfortunately Emmanuel, I am not into forex and thus cannot give any instructions about that. I hope you understand. Thanks.
12 Tito Akpo Akpeti // Jul 4, 2008 at 12:27 pm
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
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