Nigerian online retailer Konga.com has pledged continued support to the growth of e-commerce in country, as it  marks its first year anniversary.

CEO of Konga.com, Sim Shagaya, said the business remains committed in supporting Nigeria’s online business of buying and selling.

According to him, “The country is blessed with oil, mineral and human resources, and with population of people, which is a pointer for huge e-commerce business in Nigeria.”

He pointed out that the 1980s and 1990s were periods where Nigeria experienced steady growth in national income and a gradual change in economic structure that saw the first attempt to structure retail business in the country.

Shagaya also noted that there are over 160 million [Nigeria’s population is estimated at 170 million] potential buyers and sellers of different items on every street, and Nigerians love to shop, but the absence of well-structured retail chains, few shopping malls and poor transportation network makes it difficult to access products.

According to a research, internet access has helped spur e-commerce in Africa’s most populous country and the continent’s second-biggest economy.

Online sales in Nigeria have multiplied between 2011 and 2012 from $10.5 million to about $3 billion, Euromoney International says.

Recently, the country recently held its first e-commerce conference, hosted by JUMIA,  a fierce competitor to Konga in Nigeria’s ecommerce sector.

According to Konga’s CEO: “A key strength of Konga’s operation lay in its understanding of the Nigerian people and its focus on customer centricity, understanding that Nigerians have a voice and wants to be heard.”

The online retailer grew from a team of 7 to 200 with investments from Kinnevik of Sweden and South African media company, Naspers.