Diasporans make inroads into Nigeria’s entrepreneurship space
Nigerians living in the Diaspora are returning home to set up mega businesses. You will find these people in technology, fashion, food processing, educaion and other related areas. With their exposure, these Diasporans are aggressive and trailblazers. They are also more successful in accessing locally and internationally available funds.
In many cases, they initiate fresh ideas not seen anywhere before. Some of them bring in ideas they stumbled upon abroad, which are not yet tested in the Nigerian environment.
These entrepreneurs are succeeding and are the reasons why many others are mulling return.
Jason Njoku might not have thought before 2011 that he would be described as a ‘film magnate’ seven years after. Jason was born and raised in Deptford, South-East London. He had attempted 10 businesses before iROKO TV clicked in 2011.
As at 2011, no Nigerian firm was providing online movies. He saw this as an opportunity to bring quality films closer to Nigerians, partnering Nollywood. It started as a mainstream online movie and within the first year provided instant access to over 5,000 Nollywood film titles not only to Nigerians but also people across the globe willing to pay $5.
After securing $3million from Tiger Global in 2010, the then 30-year-old Jason and partners launched iROKOtv, on December 1, 2011. The site drew viewers from 178 countries around the world.
As of 2014, iROKO was the largest distributor of African content globally on YouTube with 950 million video views across its managed channels. The number is over one billion today. iROKOtv announced multiple deals of $19 million from French media giant CANAL+ and an existing investor Kinnevik AB in January 2016.
Jason is not the only one in this. Onyekachi Ekezie attended primary school in Port Harcourt and secondary school at Igbinedion Education Centre Secondary School, Benin City, Edo State. But the entrepreneur left mid-way for the United Kingdom, where he completed secondary education, later obtaining a degree in Computer Science from the Bowie State University, USA.
Kachi, as he is fondly called, is back as the CEO of Kaptain Foods Limited and Ready Stews, producing and packaging Nigerian-made stew and fully cooked foods.
Like any average Nigerian graduate anywhere in the world, Kachi’s dream was to work in an oil & gas firm, a feat he eventually achieved. He had a stint at Halliburton ESG, Houston, USA, where he worked as a field engineer.
He equally worked in Kongsberg Oil & Gas Technology in Houston as a software support engineer. Altogether, he spent eight years in oil & gas industry in the USA before returning to the country in 2012.
Incidentally, Kachi did not return to the country to pick a juicy, white-collar job in Shell or Chevron. He found a business opportunity while in the USA and decided to tap into it.
“It dawned on me I could package an authentic, easy to prepare stew in an appealing way. We thought Nigerians at home and abroad, especially students, would appreciate the convenience,” he told the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in an interview in November, 2017.
After living and working abroad for some time, Blondie Okpuzor returned to set up BathKandy, a beauty company that creates dessert-inspired beauty treats.
Blondie makes natural skin care products from locally available raw materials, including jollof rice and shea butter. She has over 50 soap brands, lotions made from goat milk, among others.
“They are all manufactured here in Nigeria. I make them by hand and we infuse delicious things like oils, tea, chocolates,” she told Start-Up Digest.
Temitope Ogunsemo, after a brief stay in the UK, returned to Nigeria to found Krystal Digital, an educational technology company creating, developing and deploying customised software applications for schools in Nigeria.
More so, Attah Anzaku studied Petroleum Engineering in Covenant University as well as Gas Engineering and Management at the University of Salford, Manchester. He has returned to set up AgroEknor, an international commodity trading firm. Attah exports hibiscus flower and other agricultural products to Europe, South America and Asia.
“Why I studied engineering basically was because of the exposure. It was not really what I wanted. After that level of education in 2013, when I was coming back to Nigeria, I met my partners—Timi Oke and Ayomide Oke.
“Timi Oke and I were in Covenant University and the University of Salford, Manchester. We started rubbing minds together and said, ‘We are coming back to Nigeria. Why don’t we set up a company.’ Ayomide Oke was in Nigeria and had set up a business. We said, ‘Let’s do this in the meantime before we get jobs.’ But it got so serious that we had to reject many job offers. I had a job offer in the Middle East by a renowned petroleum company but I left it,” he told Start-Up Digest.
ODINAKA ANUDU