When you’re one of the two biggest e-commerce ventures in Africa’s most populous nation, it is only a matter of time before international press start knocking your door. Or it could just be that international media is temporarily bored with rehashing the wonders of mobile money, BlackBerry babes and Nollywood.
Whichever it was, what’s important is that Konga has finally gotten their day in the sun, thanks to this interview with CNN’s Vladimir Duthiers. If anyone who follows African commerce and technology on international media didn’t know what Konga was, or who its very canny CEO is, they do now.
While talking to Vladimir, Konga founder and CEO, Sim Shagaya spoke of massive opportunity in Nigeria, as well as the all too familiar potholes, real and metaphorical, that dot the road leading to it.
And like anyone who’s confronted with a camera, he doesn’t fail to make a couple of priceless statements.
For instance, he is quoted as saying that “starting e-commerce business in Nigeria is a no-brainer”.
Can’t argue with the man there, save to point out that it is the kind of no-brainer where it never hurts to have lots of financial runway — millions of dollars in funding. Sim himself acknowledges that Nigerian e-commerce eldorado is still a many year trek, and if I might add, on a path littered by the bones of others who have attempted the journey in the past.
Also, when asked if he ever regrets coming back to Nigeria to start his business, Sim says Nigeria is “an amazing environment to do business in”. That there is precisely the reason why I love adjectives.
He also observes how ridiculous the printing press and the steam engine are now, compared to the internet. Not random, I promise. All these and more you’ll find in the four minute CNN feature.
Since its launch in July 2012, the barely 7 month-old company has scaled its operations progressively, iterating at every opportunity. Its range of inventory is constantly expanding — word on the street is that a fashion category will launch soon. They achieved nationwide delivery last December. Konga currently employs about 70 staff. And while their impact won’t be apparent for a while, they and their e-commerce counterparts might have begun to give brick and mortar stores something to think about.
Watch Sim Shagaya talk to CNN about Konga right after the break —
