American basketball superstar and tech investor, Andre Iguodala, has expressed optimism that leading Nigerian e-commerce firm, Jumia would soon compete with global companies like Amazon and Alibaba.
The NBA star stated this while speaking with newsmen in Lagos today, as part of his visits to Nigeria as a member of the Board of Directors of the Jumia Group.
According to him, “just like China, Nigeria has the right consumer retail aspirations to evolve a robust e-commerce market similar to markets with giant corporations like Amazon and Alibaba.”
He said playing for the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, California gave him access to the Silicon Valley, which influenced his decision to invest in technology.
He described his membership of the board of Jumia Group as an opportunity for him to contribute to the expansion of its operations across Africa and support talent development on the African continent.
Iguodala advocated for an additional board member from Africa, especially female, who would serve as the African CEO of Jumia operations.
The basketball professional also added that as part of his visit to Nigeria his fatherland, he had engaged about 30 tech start-ups to explore opportunities for growth and investment.
He urged American investors to look into opportunities available in the e-commerce market in Africa and Nigeria in particular.
In her remarks, the CEO of Jumia Nigeria, Juliet Anammah, described Iguodala’s visit to Nigeria as timely, saying his wealth of experience on the group’s global board, will take the e-commerce firm to greater heights on the African continent.
It would be recalled that Jumia, in April 2019, emerged the first African-based tech start-up to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
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