ODESHI 006 - How to Start a Successful Ecommerce Company in Africa with Raphael Afaedor

Today’s bulletproof entrepreneur, Raphael Afaedor, is the co-founder of SupermartNG, a leading online grocery store in Nigeria. Prior to founding SupermartNG, he was the co-founder of Jumia.com, Nigeria’s largest e-commerce store, where he and his co-founder helped oversee the company’s rapid growth from a start-up team of 10 people to 450 people in roughly two years. Before dipping his toes in the entrepreneurial waters, Raphael gained valuable business and technology experience at some of the world’s best companies i.e. Monster.com, Goldman Sachs, and Notore Chemicals.  However, his love for business and passion to contribute to Africa’s development led him to turn his back on a lucrative career in favour of the arduous, but rewarding life of an Entrepreneur. Now, his company is currently revolutionizing the grocery business by providing a 3 hour home delivery service of fresh produce and other goods to families that are pressed for time. The grocery business in Lagos, Nigeria is conservatively estimated to be a $72 billion a year industry that is largely informal in structure and fragmented. SupermartNG aims to differentiate itself by taking the stress and hassle  involved in the weekly grocery shopping (Families spend an average of 6 hours a week  trying to shop for groceries primarily due to the notorious traffic jams in the Lagos metropolis).