Konga, Yudala Open up On Merger
Impact
By Olabisi Olaleye and Josh Babatunde
The duo of Konga and Yudala whose matrimonial will begin on Tuesdsay, May 1, 2018 have finally opened up on reasons that necessitated the merger.
According to them, e-commerce in Nigeria and the African continent is still largely untapped.
“The merger would impact the country positively through innovative e commerce channels.
“In spite of significant optimism of an unprecedented upsurge in global e-commerce spend which is widely expected to gross $4.058 trillion or 14.6 per cent of total retail spending by 2020, e-commerce in Nigeria and on the African continent is still largely untapped”.
Although some e-commerce platforms have had to close down owing to unconducive and unfriendly environment as well as government inconsistent policies.
However, not daunted by the prevailing economic situation,the two organisations noted that the merger between Konga and Yudala is now a master strategy that undoubtedly has the potential of finally breaking the e-commerce bug in Nigeria, Africa and across the globe.
They further stated that the merger would translate to being the strongest e-commerce force in Africa,improve customer experience,overcome distrust through cracking of mobile payments,deploy Cutting-edge technology and better logistics/delivery.
By virtue of the shared resources that would naturally benefit the brand from the merger including sheer size, human resources capacity, massive warehousing capabilities, increased reach and wider array of products, services and offerings at its disposal, industry watchers and other experts are unanimous in their position that Konga can finally rise as an e-commerce force that can rival some of the world’s biggest such as Amazon and Alibaba.
Meanwhile, industry watchers believe that a fresh dawn seems imminent for e-commerce in Nigeria. “Should the new brand live up to expectations by deploying a predominantly automated, user-friendly range of cutting-edge tech solutions, it will succeed in creating a frictionless e-commerce experience that will set a standard for the continent”.
Recall that e-commerce in Africa has remained a tough nut to crack. And majority of players in the sector are locked in a battle of attrition in their bid to turn profitable. Many others have lost the battle and quietly exited the scene. The list of such failed ventures is seemingly endless.
According to the official announcement released by the management of both companies, the business merger, which takes effect from Tuesday May 1st 2018, will see both companies operate under the Konga brand name and with dual CEOs in the persons of Nick Imudia who will be in charge of online among others and Prince Nnamdi Ekeh who will be responsible for the offline arm of the business.
Founded in 2012, Konga has featured prominently in the news in the past couple of months following its acquisition by Nigerian tech giants, Zinox Group, after months of intense negotiation with the company’s erstwhile majority investors, Naspers and AB Kinnevik.