The Jumia team
Raphael Afaedor, former managing director of Jumia Nigeria, has said he is proud of what he, Gbolahan Fagbure and Tunde Kehinde built at Jumia.
HumanIPO reported earlier this month Afaedor and Fagbure had launched online grocery delivery service Supermartng.com, which Afaedor says has logistics in place to deliver to its customers within three hours.
Reminiscing on how they were able to impact Nigeria’s e-commerce sector, Afaedor told HumanIPO they created about 1,000 jobs and trained many people in job roles that were previously unheard of in Nigeria.
“Gbolahan, Tunde and I sat down in May 2012 to start building and two years later, e-commerce is an industry. We will be using these lessons [at Supermartng.com] to build a service that our customers will admire. We couldn’t be more excited,” he said.
Before seeking investors, he said entrepreneurs need to consider whether funds are really needed and what the investor will bring on board apart from the capital.
“An investor brings capital to the table. You want to ask yourself if you need that capital and if there is more being offered than just the capital e.g. contacts, know-how etc. You also want to be sure you share the same long term vision. Once these questions are answered, then the issue is less of whether it is a local or foreign investor,” he said.
“If you are comfortable with the ownership after the sale, the shared vision and any operational experience, then you have your decision made. It’s like a marriage; you want to choose your partner carefully, because it is a long term journey. It’s less about the origin of the spouse, but more about a shared vision of the future, shared values, how you complement each other etc.”
Even though he has founded Supermartng.com with Fagbure, he said he still maintains a good relationship with Kehinde.
“The relationship is great. We talk regularly and even met up for drinks just last week. There is a mutual respect and we find that we often consult each other on various business issues. We are friends; a change in a business relationship won’t alter that,” Afaedor said.
