Nigerians have lost hundreds of millions worth of business deals since the Twitter ban in the country.
According to Statista, Nigeria has about 33 million active social media users, with about 26 per cent on Twitter.
Early June, the Federal Government banned Twitter operations indefinitely.
The reason according to the ministry of information was the persistent use of the platform for activities that were capable of undermining the nation’s corporate existence.
The suspension came two days after the microblogging site deleted a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari’s account for violating its rules.
For many Nigerians, the ban has affected not only businesses but how they stay informed, build relationships and get opportunities.
Businesses on the other hand have experienced a decline in engagements and sales.
From an economic standpoint, most of the businesses affected by the Twitter ban represented Nigeria’s SMEs.
According to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s SMEs contribute about 50 per cent of the country’s GDP and account for over 80 per cent of employment in the country.
In the past four months, a ban on the platform that provides them access to a steady market has caused them lots of losses.
This is even as Netblocks.org said that since the ban, the country’s economy has lost over N474 billion.
The platform said it relied on booking institution method which uses development indicators, approximated digital economy extent of 0.05 and classic free app GDP impact technique to arrive at its conclusion. Being an artificial intelligence, AI-based study, Netblocks is popular and its statistics are reliable.
Speaking on the effect of the Twitter ban, particularly on influencers, Damilola Abodunrin, Business Lead, iProspect, expressed his anger over the suspension, adding that because he uses Twitter for a lot of things aside from influencing, the suspension is really affecting him.
“As regards the source of income, its really affecting me. I currently have two jobs I’m doing for NCDC and the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy/Microsoft. Due to the suspension, the two have been stopped. I have got gigs. I am working on for GOtv and Nigerian Idol. Both have also been stopped to avoid losing their licence. In turn, this ban is affecting me as brands can’t run campaigns at the moment, and earning via services I render on Twitter has ceased for now.”
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