John Orajiaka is the founder of Adnol Multimedia, a pan – African value-added telecommunication service provider with headquarters in Nigeria.
With operations in more than 10 countries across the African continent, Adnol Multimedia – a business generating $14million revenue annually— provides everything from basic messaging and voice applications to digital lifestyle solutions using shortcodes for subscription services.
John is a 46-year old serial entrepreneur with other investments in a property development business and a private equity firm that invests in SMEs in the country.
John was inspired at 14 to become an entrepreneur by his father who owns a crafting business.
The engineer-turned-entrepreneur saw an opportunity in the mobile value-added services during the 2010 World Cup held in South- Africa.
To leverage this opportunity, he established Adnol Multimedia to become an MTN’s VAS content provider.
“I registered a company called Adnol Multimedia and applied to become one of MTN’s VAS Content Providers,” John says in a Forbes interview.
“Before long, we were averaging more than $150,000 a month in profits from our deployed services,” he says.
“Our RBT business grew so quickly that it enabled us to diversify our service offering to other digital lifestyle solutions spanning through mobile education, health, and agriculture,” the entrepreneur explains.
He says that the provision of music content on mobile phones has been the most successful of all the company’s value-added services.
He states that the business is expanding its operations aggressively across Africa and looking for growth elsewhere.
“We anticipated that the Nigerian VAS market will someday become saturated so it was common sense for us to look elsewhere for growth,” he explains.
“Apart from South Africa, and maybe some countries in North Africa, Nigeria has the most advanced VAS market in the continent,” he discloses.
He notes that in the long-run, the business sees potential in data-driven digital lifestyle solutions and services such as m-health, m-education applications and financial solutions in the African market.
Speaking on how increasing internet penetration in Africa has slowed the business growth, the young entrepreneur says that the advent of 3G and broadband over Wi-Fi connectivity affected his business, especially in Nigeria.
“So, in Nigeria, for example, we are seeing declining revenue streams from music download, inspirational content, humor, news and the rest. But then again, you need to understand that Nigeria is a more developed market,” he says.
“You will be surprised to know that Internet penetration in other African countries is not as widespread as it is in Nigeria,” he tells Forbes.
“So some content businesses that are comatose in Nigeria are doing exceptionally well in other African countries,” he adds.
On his outlook on the future of VAS content business in Africa, he says it is going to be tough, but his business is now developing a focus on deploying data-driven services and applications.
“As you can imagine, the basic VAS business is becoming increasingly saturated and a growing number of customers are opting to access music online or through mobile applications, coupled with the fact that access to video provides users with alternative entertainment content, which we cannot deliver efficiently through legacy channels,” he says.
“However, our ongoing interest is focused on developing and deploying data-driven services and applications going forward. In any case, we are still committed to this business and to expanding our footprint across Africa,” he adds.
On his advice to other entrepreneurs, he says, “You can achieve any set goal with the right mindset.”
“Read, learn and search out mentors who can also guide you. Do take a calculated risk and don’t be eager for overnight success,” he says.
“There is no such thing. It takes time to build, and a lot of commitment. One has to work for whatever one wishes to achieve,” he adds.
Josephine Okojie
