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Accepted Paper: F38-04. To panel F38.

Title of paper:

Authors:

Gbadebo Odularu (Bau Atlantic University);

Folasade Adegboye (Covenant University);

Christine Kajumba (University of Guelph).

Long abstract paper:
As digital technologies permeate every gene of the global economy, increasing number of economic actors (online retailers, wholesalers, financial firms, consumers, etc) adopt information and communication technologies (ICTs), including internet website, and mobile applications (apps)8 to maximize their respective opportunities(Einav, Liran, Jonathan Levin, Igor Popov and Neel Sundaresan. 2014). The rapid growth and adoption of mobile apps at national, continental and global levels could be partly explained by the explosive development of e-commerce or online marketplaces as well as the success of online companies, such as Ebay, Alibaba, Amazon, PayPal, Google, Apple, etc at the global level and Jumia, Konga, OPay, Farmcrowdy, ThriveAgric, etc at the national level in Nigeria.

Further, the design, development and improvisation of mobile apps and their contents or features for farmers, students, businesses, agriculture, commerce, tourism, education, academics, food supply, advisory services, etc as well as the emergence the sharing economy and companies such as Lyft, Uber, Airbnb, Remit, etc with great potential for enhancing macroeconomic outcomes and the realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More importantly, digital technology has reduced the cost of storage, computation and transmission of data, thereby examining whether and how digital technology reduces the following types of economic costs - search, replication, transportation, tracking and verification (Goldfarb, Avi and Catherine Tucker, 2019).

Based on this background, the aim of this research is to analyse the micro- as well as marco- economics of mobile apps in Nigeria. This study will explore the current scenario of Nigerian mobile apps landscape within the global mobile apps ecosystem as well as the specific mobile apps being adopted by Nigerian businesses and the Government.

Both qualitative and quantitative research methods will be adopted in this study. A strategically designed set of questionnaires will be administered among 5500 mobile apps users. This study will articulate a conceptual framework which will be used to understand the demand behaviour for mobile apps by the 5,500 Nigerian users.

This study will add to the relatively limited literature on mobile apps and economic empower nexus in Nigeria. This study will also offer some wide-ranging lessons and policy recommendations towards enhancing mobile apps policy coordination, regulation and implementation processes in Nigeria.

Keywords: Mobile Apps, Digitization, Entrepreneurship, Supply Chains, MSMEs, Industrial Policy, ICT Policies, Regulations, Competition, Nigeria, ICTs.