By Temitope Akintola

The nature of my job affords me the opportunity to travel a lot, interface with people from different walks of life and get very social.

In my recent travels on the continent, from Far East Ethiopia to the west in Senegal, one theme seems to be ever present in every hang out spot, bar, club, resorts or even in formal meetings that I attend: FOOTBALL.

Football presents itself as a very potent weapon across the continent, it’s your go-to topic to start a conversation in any setting these days, even the wealthiest man on the continent.  Aliko Dangote would burst into laughter and excitement once Arsenal Football club is mentioned and that could easily turn to a heated argument if long time friend Femi Otedola tries to spite him at Arsenal’s lack of success in winning the premiership for over a decade.

I vividly remember a TV presenter in Nigeria starting with facts how Boko Haram had not attacked a village or dropped a bomb during the period of the last World Cup held in Russia. 15 July 2018 marked one of Boko Haram’s biggest attacks on the Nigerian Military since 2015 – that date coincided with the last day of the World Cup.

We forget our differences, our religion, and our struggles, once the game comes up and we start to hug when our team scores not minding the religion, ethnic group or political party the person belongs to; only one cluster matters now; what football team you support.

I carefully add that this trait is not limited to football, but as an African from the West, Football is sports to us. The “Ping-Pong diplomacy” was coined when China ended a 25 years of no-communication with the US by inviting American players to an exhibition match, Nelson Mandela used Rugby to unite RSA in 1995.

However, Joe Humphrey said that “sport is essentially anti-family and encourages unethical, discriminatory behaviour”.  What happens when we do not support the same team? Violence? Racism? Targeted attacks?

I asked my friends’ kids in Ethiopia, Senegal and Nigeria to write a composition on what they would like to be in the future and I got about the same response. They all want to be footballers. They want to be the next Amiya Taga, Sadio Mane and Jay Jay Okocha. They wrote with so much passion for the game, a caustic, consuming passion that takes every other thing as secondary, leaving football as the primary focus.

Do we blame the kids? Footballers are more celebrated these days than Nobel Laureate winners in our society. It’s gradually becoming the ultimate achievement to play in Europe. Our schools spend more on sport activities like NUGA games, Inter House sports than they spend to equip the laboratories and on JETS club.

Is football becoming a new virus to our future generation?  Is our love for football doing more harm to our economy and our future than good? Is there a balance to be found? Is it time for schools to revisit the curriculum? Every home now boasts of a potential sports gambler in Nairabet and Betnaija now?

I leave us with this statement from Tupac “Black Americans do not need any more basketball players or football players but rather Physicists, Mathematicians and Businessmen because these are the class of people that would re-write the black history and add the needed pedigree to the black nation”.

Thank you for reading

I wrote this morning that Amazon Go is a path for Amazon to conquer territories which are impervious to ecommerce. Amazon Go will become the future retail operating system. After writing for Konga to sell, and they actually sold, I have come to admire the new Konga. Largely, the new Konga is a better business than Jumia and if they continue to execute, that will be the category-king.

Amazon has done well in America. But Amazon is not a force in global retail – it represents a very low single-digit percentage of the total retail market. Jeff Bezos, the Founder and CEO of Amazon, knows that. You cannot have disruptive impacts in global retail unless you bring atoms in the playbook. So, besides the success of Amazon digital, Amazon has been going offline. It brought Whole Foods home. But the biggest that will happen is Amazon Go – automated and cashier-less retail shop. Simply, with Amazon Go, Amazon can become the operating system of modern retailing. In the company’s letter to shareholders, Jeff made that note.

Do not be tripped by Jumia’s 14 countries in Africa – most of those countries are smaller that the GDP of Ikeja. But Konga is expanding territories with possibility to deliver to my village. Africa’s ecommerce will be won with atoms – Konga is making it happen.

Nnamdi explains this evolution and revolution with new products this company has launched. With those physical stores, the new Konga is a real deal. Amazon or Alibaba can buy it within years!

Konga Should Sell To Jumia

By Nnamdi Odumody

Konga is a leading Nigerian omni-channel e-commerce brand on a mission to become the engine of trade and commerce in Nigeria and beyond. It was founded by a Nigerian serial entrepreneur, Sim Shagaya, in 2013, but was acquired by the Zinox Group.

The key sentence is thus: “Our mid-term goal would see to the establishment of more stores across Nigeria”. Yes, the new Konga would be opening physical stores across Nigeria. Certainly, that is a great winning business model. Besides the money being in the physical space, having stores will reduce the marginal cost challenges associated with pure play ecommerce. The piece quoted me as it argued the brilliance of pursuing this hybrid commerce for Konga

The company has undergone a strategic redesign which has seen it become the pioneer of the online marketplace structure with physical retail stores nationwide, with diversification into other businesses. Konga provides shoppers access to thousands of credible merchants, offering millions of certified, competitively priced products, across many categories.

In partnership with Microsoft, it launched a proprietary integrated application which is the first in Africa that will be the anchor of its expansion on the continent with a target to launch additional 140 Retail Stores and 15 mega fulfillment centers across Nigeria by the third quarter of 2020.

On May 1^st 2019, Konga will launch Konga Same Day Delivery for product categories in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt while improving its delivery rate by over 50 percent to other states.

Here are some major redesigns.

Konga B2B: This is Konga’s most aggressive price offering that supports resellers and bulk buyers nationwide with deliveries to locations no matter the distance. Shipments will be made from their mega fulfillment centers in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Onitsha, Kano, Warri, Enugu, Ibadan, Owerri and Uyo. It will be live from May 1^st 2019.

Konga Corporate: Its renowned highly competitive pricing and shopping bargains is extended to corporate organizations, cooperatives, government agencies, NGOs and others. It has a well trained team across different cities in Nigeria with understanding of how corporate entities operate and the flexible payment needs of Cooperative Associations with its Konga Pay mobile money platform.

Konga Pay: Konga Pay is its solution to simplify payments. It is a Central Bank of Nigeria licensed electronic wallet for making and receiving payments, airtime recharge, payment of digital terrestrial television subscription as well as linking your debit cards and bank accounts for seamless transfers or payments. The platform is fast, secure and easy to use, offering convenience to users.

KExpress: A digital logistics company with the capacity and nationwide spread for Konga and other users to meet the last mile deliveries for their customers, effectively. KEpress has advanced capacity and robust technology which allows its customers to accurately track their goods online irrespective of the location.

Konga Travel: Konga Travel is a 21^st Century lifestyle travel and tourism brand with cutting edge technology in the industry for online and offline businesses, to service individuals, families, group and corporate travel needs. It wants to improve the customer experience in the industry to the served, underserved and unserved travelers.

Konga will soon launch Platinum and Gold status merchants in Konga fulfillment centers. These merchants and manufacturers are provided secure spaces in its centers for efficient delivery to its shoppers.

With a soon to be concluded transaction of a major healthcare chain in Nigeria, Konga will bring its success in revolutionizing commerce to transform an industry which is ripe for digital transaction to serve the healthcare needs of Nigerians. Konga is undergoing revolution and evolution at the same time in the Nigerian ecommerce system. Its hybrid model is the path to sustained growth and profitability.

Let me wish many traveling for Good Friday and Easter. I like the Good Friday/Easter because it reminds me what it means to move from the valley to the mountaintop. Anything can rise, including careers, and I am hoping the spirit of the season will unlock moments of hope – and glory, for many.

As you celebrate the season, find answers to this question: what are the 3 things I need to do to move from Good Friday to Easter in my career? The ecclesiastical translation from Good Friday to Easter required Action. If you want such, you need to take action also.

The key is taking action and working to do things that can impact your desired outcome. The Action is the Call to Mission.

Good Friday ahead!

The Call to Mission