Andre Iguodala, the Nigerian-born NBA player with the Golden State Warriors, who is also a member of Jumia’s board of directors has vowed to bring in more partnerships and investments to Nigeria’s technology ecosystem.
Iguodala who was hosted by the company in Lagos recently said that he has indeed found the tech ecosystem interesting as an investor in Jumia, one of the largest e-commerce companies in Africa.
He further stated that as a member of the Jumia board, the intention is to see how to better grow the company as well as create opportunities for further investments from the United States.
With Jumia’s New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) initial public offering (IPO) listing earlier in the year, Iguodala is confident that his place as a member of the board would further enlighten potential investors and bring awareness about the African company to light.
“Part of my duties being on the board is to bring awareness to United States investors on the African company. One of the things I would like to bring to Africa is partnerships and opportunities to take advantage of.” He said.
“One of the conversations that got really interesting for me is finding talent, especially African talent because we are an African company and we want to keep it that way. Not just finding talent, but developing talent, not just in Nigeria but for the whole continent, Iguodala added.
Speaking about opportunities, he stated that the NBA intends to start an NBA Africa League. Although nothing official has been said about it, Iguodala said he intends that a possible partnership between Jumia and NBA Africa comes up next year.
The Golden State player stated that his interest in technology did not just start with Jumia but it has always been something he had had a passion for. He holds a Players Technology Summit in the United States to help athletes become business savvy and value life outside of sports.
According to Iguodala, he understands that a major challenge for technology start-ups is usually funding and that is why he has chosen to partner with some of these companies to see how to bring to light some of the ideas they already have.
Stating that his interests are not just limited to e-commerce alone, Iguodala said he intends to meet with a number of tech start ups during his stay in Nigeria.
Ogochukwu Ejikeme
