THE SINKING OF SABUNTA

It was not long ago that my sister, her friend (both alumni of Oxford University) and i were discussing the potential of on-line retailing in Nigeria around the dinner table. I was stating that with no real competitor in the market the gap is certainly there for someone to launch a site to cater to fashion conscious Nigerians, so my sister and i began brainstorming business ideas that we could bring to fruition. It was to my surprise (horror) that my sisters friend proclaimed that in fact there was a website that had recently been actualised for Nigeria selling both international brands as well as domestic fashion labels.

My sisters friend is from Germany and she is very familiar with the businesses of the Samwer brothers who also hail from Germany and are otherwise known as the copy cats of the tech world. Not content with conquering the European and South American tech markets the Samwer brothers, through their start-up incubator Rocket Internet, now wanted to conquer Nigeria!

The site was called Sabunta and looked very professional with HD pictures and a variety of brands to purchase from. They did minimal advertising but were managing to attract customers who gave favourable reviews.With unlimited money being pumped in from Rocket Internet  they were definitely going to retain their position as market leaders if anyone else dared to enter the fashion e-commerce realm. How was i therefore going to be able to compete against them if i launched my own site? And what did the Samwer brothers know about the Nigerian market? I scoffed at the concept of these brothers doing business as a non-Nigerian in Nigeria;how would that work without help from somebody based there?

Until research led me to somebody called Tunde Kehinde, co-founder of Rocket Internet Nigeria, MBA educated from Harvard Business School and co-founder of Bandeka.com, an online internet dating website for people from Africa. Great credentials. Hmmmmm....

So how amusing for me to read several months later that the Sabunta ship is sinking. Well to be fair it has already sunk. They have consolidated the Sabunta site and merged it with their other site Kasuwa to form Jumia. Same template website but sales are not just focused on fashion but also on electronics, games, beauty and errrm.... everything similar to what Amazon provides. Downsizing of operations staff has occurred whilst senior management jobs still retained. 

So now all eyes are on Jumia. This model should prove more profitable for them and i would be interested in hearing what the man behind Rocket Internet Nigeria , Tunde Kehinde, has to say about the new direction they are taking. What i do know is that any future failures would be a sign that perhaps either Rocket Internet are not cut out for the Nigerian e-commerce market or Nigeria is not yet ready for the e-commerce market. What do you think?

READ MORE (Techloy did a fab article on this)

BRICKS AND MORTAR NIGERIA;$124 MILLION DOLLARS TO BE INVESTED IN RETAIL SECTOR

The Persianas Group, the developers of the Palms Shopping Mall in Lagos State,the Polo Park Mall in Enugu State and two further malls currently under development in Kwara State and Oyo State, are to receive $124 million or N20 billion from the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, to tackle the underdeveloped but rapidly expanding retail and commercial property market in Nigeria. 

The Persianas Group's aim is to build a portfolio of internationally specified purpose built malls which will have several positive impacts for the nation including rollout of 'modern' food retailing, direct and indirect employment which of course is much needed in Nigeria, development of business infrastructure which will attract further foreign investment and payment of tax revenues that will accrue to the government (lets hope the money is  actually pumped back into redevelopment of the country rather than to individuals pockets...)

Mr Adetayo Amusan, Chairman of Persianas Group, said “IFC’s investment in Persianas demonstrates a commitment to supporting Nigerian entrepreneurs and is critical to preparing Persianas for our next phase of growth. This investment will help real estate development contribute to more jobs in businesses offering safe and healthy consumer products and services.”

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LUXURY SECTOR POTENTIAL TO DRIVE AFRICA'S ECONOMIC GROWTH

On November 15th-16th 2012,the International Herald Tribune will host its annual Luxury conference in Rome discussing  the potential and growing influence for luxury goods and global luxury brands in the continent of Africa.
Amongst the exciting line up of speakers, which include the biggest names in the fashion industry such as Donatella Versace, Lauren Bush Lauren, Jean Paul Gaultier, Manolo Blahnik and Sylvia Venturini Fendi, also includes Nigerians Duro Olowo, Fashion Designer and Omoyemi Akerele of Style House. 
The agenda promises to discuss Africa as a potential luxury consumer and producer along with the impact of Chinese investment in Africa, the new generation of luxury consumers and how technology is opening up new channels for luxury retail.

Naturally, luxury investment in the continent will steer towards the most developed of markets and areas of increased tourism. I predict conversations will be based on established markets in Sub-Sahara Africa such as South Africa. Kenya will feature because of the rise of its tourism sector and introduction of luxury holiday and tour packages. Angola, Africa's third biggest economy, has a growing population of wealthy individuals, mainly due to their growing oil exports. Nigeria, of course, Africa's second biggest economy, which has seen an influx of foreign investors entering the market encouraged by the rising population of the middle class. Areas of North Africa will be acknowledged despite recent adversities, amongst other smaller countries in the continent that have a growing middle class and attract a relative number of tourists each year.

Ticket prices, set at £2495 excluding VAT...(exactly!), reflect the quality of speakers invited and the businesses that will be in attendance. One can only dream of attending such an exciting and progressive event for our continent.

To register and book tickets for the event click here