No one knows how much Zinox Group bought Konga for sure. But from the latest Naspers’ financial statement, there is clarity on that. Naspers made two investments in Konga: $41 million and $13.5 million totaling $54.5 million. In the financial statement, the company noted the following “…disposed of its investment in its joint venture Konga Online Shopping Limited. A loss on disposal of US$38m,…”

During February 2018 the group disposed of its investment in its joint venture Konga Online Shopping Limited. A loss on disposal of US$38m, representing the reclassification of the group’s foreign currency translation reserve from other comprehensive income to the income statement, has been recognised in “(Losses)/gains on acquisitions and disposals”.

Without adjusting for currency fluctuation since Naspers reported its numbers in U.S. dollars, we can say the company received $16.5 million on pure cash basis: $54.5 million – $38 million. From the financial statement, Naspers held about 50.9% of Konga before the disposal. From that, we can calculate how much Konga was sold, and that number is $32.4 million [$16.5M*100/50.9]. So, the maximum possible amount Konga was sold was $32.4 million based on pure cash play from Naspers’ documents.

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 number was possibly less than $32.4 million as Naspers could have received preferential and preferred stock as it invested late as a majority investor. I wrote this after reading this which postulated that Konga was sold for $230 million. That is certainly not possible: Zinox would not do such a deal and Konga could not been sold that much.

The old Konga raised about $108 million but struggled with the typical long gestation period of turning profits in ecommerce operations. The core investors gave up!

Imagine if this money had been used to build physical stores in major ten Nigerian cities [Shoprite style], Konga might be a unicorn now. Digital is the future, but we need to thrive today also. And as we move to the web, everyone needs to know that Nigeria has no modern supermarket chain (excluding Shoprite). That may be the opportunity now before the fancy of ecommerce.

Join me as I keynote the largest gathering of African farmers, food and beverage industry players during Convergence 2018 in National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.  The conference is a four-day event, Sept 27-30 2018. I will speak on Sept 27 at 10 am. The theme of the conference is “Driving Food Security Through Technology”, an area I am playing a major role in the continent through Zenvus.

LIFBEF AFRICA is the largest food and beverage focused convergence. A trade fair, A festival, and conference. A trade show that focuses on the whole food and beverage value chain. Agriculture Biotech, food technology, food machinery, Agric technology, and Processing. from start to finish.

The event, offers a platform for stakeholders in the F&B industry, to converge and showcase product and services at an international level. Stakeholders will be offered a highly focused event which caters to their needs and opens them to the world. It an avenue to explore possible options, innovations, best practice in the food industry, also bring them the best ROI.

There will be a Conference, and master classes. Over 200 exhibitors from 10 countries will be hosted, and more than 20,000 trade visitors are expected to visit LIFBEFAFRICA 2018. If you are looking to introduce, exchange and learn about the latest innovation and technologies from around the world and feel the Nigerian Market, LIFBEFAFRICA is the place to be.

Over the years, I have been working with farmers, helping them to improve yield. In this talk, I will not be talking of scalable advantage, one oasis strategy, accumulation of capabilities, etc. Rather, I will simply speak how our food and beverage industry value chain players can sustain the mission: cure extreme poverty through massive scaling of agricultural productivity, and put quality meals on different tables across Africa. I will explain why a shift at scale is critical because when technology comes into a sector, productivity improves. It is time for massive adoption of modern technology in African agriculture.

Our generation must cure extreme poverty and every child born in Africa deserves a balanced nutrition. If we double farm yield in five years, we will reduce extreme poverty by half because more than 65% of working Africans are employed in agriculture. Yes, agriculture remains the fastest and easiest means to liberate people from the pangs of poverty.

On Sept 27, 2018, I hope to meet you in the National Stadium. I am coming with two Zenvus sensors: make it and see the beauty of AI working in African agriculture. I am a farmer; they know me and I hope to meet people we have been helping to advance the mission.