General News
Online Marketplace Needs Inventory Solution for Realtime Sales- Akinde
Femi Akinde is the founded and chief executive officer of SlimTrader. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BS in Electrical Engineering.
Akinde has worked in a variety of high-level capacities at some of the most respected telecommunications and software firms in the world, including Gateway Communications, AT&T (Consultant), T-Mobile, and Microsoft.
Over his telecommunications career, he has been a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for T-Mobile’s mobile data platforms and wireless portals.
He switched careers post MBA by joining Microsoft as a Senior Finance Manager on the TV, Video & Music Finance team. He resigned from Microsoft to start SlimTrader.
In this interview with peter ugwu, he spoke on the gains of online marketplaces adopting offline inventories that correspond with the online listings.
The Concept: SlimTrader
We are turnkey e-commerce providers. What that means is that SlimTrader is a one-stop shop for businesses that are thinking of navigating the whole e-commerce ecosystem such as managing their inventories offline so they can sell online; across multiple channels. So, we are business enabling platform with a knack for perfecting
MoBiashara Solutions
The ability to help businesses to manage their inventories offline and make it available online is done through the platform called MoBiashara.
In other words, it provides you with a complete e-Commerce solution from start to finish. The virtual storefronts come fully equipped with an inventory management system; shopping cart; payment solutions for all payment types and order fulfilment.
We felt it was more core representative of what the platform does for businesses. Our first-mover advantage and ability to rapidly onboard partners results in a quick solution for our partners.
SlimTrader’s MoBiashara platform serves organizations with annual sales of a hundred to hundreds of millions. We have offices in the US and West Africa. Our success is predicated on the success of our partners
Assessment of Online Marketplace Performances in Africa
Marketplace sounds like the traditional means of bringing together for buying and selling. I think the main issue marketplaces in Sub-Saharan Africans ponder about is: do we have the buyers?
Yes. But the buyer’s fulfilment is not as expected. Buyers’ fulfillment is important, because we are asking buyers to come and buy online, but the connection to the real stores is lacking. Most times, you find that things that existed online are not actually available offline, because there is no connectivity between what is listed online and that listed offline. Till now, marketplaces have been focused on just list your goods.
However, listing is the simplest of all things in the process. Listing does not help you manage the Ins and Outs of the goods. That is the problem we solve. We realized that a lot of these marketplaces are concerned about how many listings they have.
It looks like the items are available, but the listings are not connected to the back-end system of the company. So, when you click, you just clicked on the product and not the back-end system of the platform providing the service.
Even as it is listed, you are not sure of the availability, because there is no real time connectivity. Therefore, MoBiaShara makes sure that what you see online is connected to the inventory management system of what the platform is doing in the store.
Ensuring Trust to Boost Marketplace Patronage
Yes, are sure that MoBiaShara is a critical in boosting marketplace users’ confidence and trust in the system.
If I click on something and it shows it is available, then, it has to be available. We tell businesses, listing online is the least you can do.
How do you integrate what is happening in your store to what is obtainable offline. Our solution bridges that gap. We are making only the available inventory to show up online.
Adopting Full e-Payment System in e-Commerce Space
Selling online ought to be the most cost-effective approach to transactions. When you go online you should be able to cash-compare; find out the best available price for you. We also believe that the internet as the major distribution backbone is the most cost-effective medium.
If you tire the internet to the store, making sure the goods are available real-time, then you are giving users the ultimate value.
We think for that ultimate to be, a business must be willing to tire whatever they are doing in the store to the online space. When someone comes online he/she should be able to get the complete package including payments.
We believe in the instant payment than cash on arrival/payment on delivery. By paying online you are forcing a seller to take something out of circulation.
Nigerians Preference to Payment on (Items) Delivery
We have read reports where people click online to buy something, but they got something else on delivery. That brings fulfillment issue.
There are two parts to this. First, do you trust the brand you are working with? Secondly, is the brand selling in real-time.
If you trust the brand and it is using a platform like ours to sell in real-time, then, there is no reason people will not appreciate paying online.
The mistrust is built around, ‘I don’t know if you have this thing, even though I click to buy’. But once you are 100% sure the listings are available, you will be moved to consummate the transaction with the seller.
For example, when people shop with foreign marketplaces, they do not have problem paying immediately. No foreign marketplace will say ‘pay on delivery’.
Furthermore, people trust that the marketplace has its acts together based on the availability of the product. Until another stock is available, the foreign marketplace will not list such product.
So, I’m buying from a rea-time inventory management system. People do not trust you because seller just listed things on your site.
Harnessing Talents to Deepen e-Commerce Market Growth
Well, from what I have seen, this is a new sector. E-commerce is not fully developed like the oil and gas, telecommunications, banking, among others.
The whole gamut of consumer internet business- ecommerce sector is new to our environment. Therefore, it is either we train those within to fill the roles or we are going to import talents.
I am of the firm opinion that, if this is something we want to pursue, and grow exponentially, and with such level of unemployment or underemployment rate in the country, we can groom them to fill the spaces.
So, talent to me is basically the will and passion to learn. We have a lot of people in this country who are willing to learn. All we need is give them the opportunity. They are raw talents that require grooming or constant training to bring out the best in them.
How SMEs Can Capture Venture Capitalists’ Interests
We are in early stages of what will become a very vibrant industry. Nevertheless, what investors look out for before investing in any business is: ‘where is my exist point?’ In other words, if I put my money in this business, how do I get the money?
A lot of people are taking their time before investing in any small and medium enterprises. But, there is no clear part to exit in the SMEs.
It is not like where a lot of companies are listed on the Stock Exchange. I look at Interswitch, which has a successful exit; there are no lots of tech companies that have that kind of exit. What most venture capitalists are doing is putting their toes up.
Ok, we will invest and see what happens. The moment you have more successful exit in the marketplace and other SMEs, there will be boom in terms of investors expressing interests in the market. For instance, I invested N100million and I got N1billion when the company exits, which is my investment multiplied by 10.
I will be cool with that than putting my money in the bank; which is really what venture capitalist is all about. VC is about better returns, especially, when I invest early enough. Presently in the country, there is high interest rate on lending.
That is why you find people with ‘disposable income’ say to themselves, ‘this is not a proven field. I rather put my money in a fixed deposit or move into oil and gas deal or something with proven means of better returns.
But as soon as we have more businesses been bought and others going IPO (Initial Public Offering), then people would want to invest.
Assessing Marketplace Maturity
In trying to assess the market, you look for the acceptability level. Presently, there is a lot of education in the market which is step in the right direction.
When you talk to a lot of people their opinion about shopping online or being a customer to any of the technology companies, is still not as should be.
However, when we get the point where respondents are open to new technologies, then we are getting to the position of market acceptance via technology saturation. Definitely, we will get there, because this a country with a huge population.
If just 10% of this country become consumers of technology products then the companies will become truly successful. Market acceptance will lead to maturity.
On the other hand, the tech companies have to scale-up to become successful; they have to become self-sustainable too.
They have to formalize processes and have to endear themselves to the hearts of the consumers. For that to happen, they need a wider clientele base who understands what they offer.
Need for More Online Marketplaces
This country has over 150million population. How many people are using the popular online marketplaces daily? Probably, they are not over 3million.
At that percentage, we should refer to the aspect of market maturity. Less than 3% as customers, can we predict what the country/market will look like then we have about 10% of the population as online shoppers.
When people are argue that the market is somehow saturated, I then ask: how many smartphones are there in the market? Assuming 2 out of 5 people you meet have smartphones that are connected to the internet. So, it is not really that far-fetch to say we have enough.
For a company like ours, every solution is available via mobile phone, because the target audience, all, basically have smartphones they use as hotspots. Therefore, connectivity is not that much a problem now.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) statistics have shown a steady increase in teledensity. The only thing the market needs now is more education to drive acceptance.
Space in Africa, the Lagos-based firm Oniosun founded, is expecting its Egusi melon seeds to splash down in the Pacific Ocean Saturday—fresh from a trip to the International Space Station.
Once Earthside, experiments will begin on what is being hailed as the first food native to West Africa to be sent to space.
As Oniosun told AFP on Friday, it could herald an era where space exploration reflects the planet’s diversity.
“When we talk about humans colonizing other planets, this is not just an American mission or a European mission—this is a global mission,” he told AFP.
And future African space explorers might enjoy a taste of home.
Experiments on extraterrestrial food, which is to say tested in space, have been going on for years.
Growing food in space is seen as a crucial part of long-distance space flight and long-term missions, where frequent resupply won’t be feasible.
Scientists at the University of Florida in the United States, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, in the southwestern Nigerian city of Ibadan, will examine the seeds “to see the effects of exposure to space” and zero gravity, including on the seeds’ DNA.
Once planted, researchers will monitor their post-space performance and germination.
The seeds went up to the ISS on a SpaceX flight last week, as part of NASA’s partnership with private firms.
Oniosun said the inclusion of Egusi seeds marked an important step forward, both for those on Earth as well as future astronauts.
High in protein, they are typically used to prepare soups and stews across West and Central Africa.
Africa’s most populous country has a small space industry, but the launch of the seeds seemed to generate more excitement on social media and in newspapers than previous launches of Nigerian satellites, he said.
“The moment that we’re sending food that they love, a food that holds significant cultural contexts to Nigeria… everybody starts getting interested in the subject,” Oniosun told AFP.
“The launch of Egusi melon seeds into space is more than a symbolic gesture,” he added.
“The future of humanity among the stars must reflect the diversity and richness of life on Earth.”
Whether pounded yam—the key dish served alongside Egusi soup—will make its way to the final frontier remains to be seen.
In a powerful demonstration of its commitment to the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has launched the second cohort of the IgniteHer Bootcamp for Women Entrepreneurs, a strategic initiative aimed at accelerating gender inclusion and economic empowerment through digital innovation.
The bootcamp, themed “Empowering Women Entrepreneurs for Growth and Innovation”, was launched in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and brought together selected women entrepreneurs from across Nigeria, both physically and virtually, for rigorous training in digital skills, innovation management, business development, and investor readiness.
The NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, who declared the bootcamp open, reaffirmed the Agency’s role in aligning Nigeria’s digital development with the national priorities of reforming the economy for sustained inclusive growth and accelerating economic diversification through industrialisation and digitisation.
“Through IgniteHer, we are actualising President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda by expanding women’s access to technology and economic opportunity,” he stated.
The DG, who was represented by the agency’s Acting Director of the Digital Literacy and Capacity Building department, Dr. Ahmed Tambuwal, noted that inclusive innovation is a cornerstone of NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2.0: 2024–2027), which supports national aspirations for inclusive growth, poverty eradication, and youth empowerment.
“We are not merely imparting skills; we are creating self-reliant entrepreneurs, change-makers, and leaders,” he added.
Inuwa disclosed that the IgniteHer Bootcamp is also a key component of the National Gender Digital Inclusion Strategy (NGDIS), through which NITDA is working to empower 12.7 million Nigerian women with digital literacy skills by 2027. He averred that the programme complements broader government efforts to bridge gender gaps, enhance productivity, and reduce unemployment, especially among young women.
Citing a report by the World Wide Web Foundation, the DG emphasised that closing the digital gender gap in Nigeria could unlock an estimated $13 billion in GDP growth over the next decade.
“This training is a step towards harnessing this economic potential and ensuring that women play an integral role in shaping the digital landscape of Nigeria,” he noted.
He therefore called on participants selected from over 12,000 applicants to seize the moment and shape the future of Nigerian entrepreneurship.
While highlighting NITDA’s leadership in strategic partnerships, the DG commended JICA and the Government of Japan for their ongoing collaboration in supporting digital empowerment through programmes like IgniteHer and the iHatch Incubation Programme, which provides startup support, mentorship, and innovation development to early-stage entrepreneurs.
“At NITDA, we believe that inclusive innovation is not just an ideal but a critical strategy that ensures the growth of a stronger economy, the development of smarter solutions, and the existence of more resilient communities. Through IgniteHer, we are dismantling barriers and replacing them with pathways to opportunity,” he concluded.
In his remarks, the Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Matsunaga Kazuyoshi, reaffirmed Japan’s long-standing commitment to innovation and gender inclusion in Nigeria. He announced that Japan, through JICA, is currently supporting two grant projects worth $30.9 million, focused on improving Nigeria’s startup ecosystem, strengthening the investment climate, and building an inclusive innovation hub.
The Ambassador also referenced the upcoming Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9), themed “Co-create Innovative Solutions with Africa”, as further testament to Japan’s dedication to deepening Africa-Japan cooperation on digital transformation and entrepreneurship.
Lead Facilitator of IgniteHer, Hajiya Hafsat Salabi-Dange, described the programme as a catalyst for social and economic transformation. While praising NITDA’s visionary approach to development, she stated that the programme is a movement that is bridging the digital gender divide and fostering economic independence.
Encouraging the participants to remain curious, intentional, and bold, she said, “What you will gain here goes beyond business; it is a tool for community upliftment, national growth, and generational impact.”
Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Limited have entered into a strategic alliance aimed at advancing operational effectiveness, sovereignty, and sustainability through space-based innovations.
This was during a courtesy visit by Jane Egerton-Idehen, managing director and chief executive officer of NIGCOMSAT, to Air Marshal Hasan Bala Abubakar, chief of the Air Staff (CAS), at the NAF Headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, August 7, 2025.
According to Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, director of Public Relations and Information, Headquarters, Nigerian Air Force, discussions during the meeting focused on leveraging NIGCOMSAT’s satellite capabilities to enhance the NAF’s mission-critical functions, particularly in the areas of secure communication, real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
Both parties acknowledged that the future of national defence lies in digital dominance and home-grown technological solutions.
Abubakar stressed the urgent need for indigenous systems to support the evolving demands of modern air operations.
“We must continually seek innovative ways to improve our capabilities and reduce reliance on foreign systems.
Strategic collaboration with institutions like NIGCOMSAT is essential to ensure secure communication and real-time situational awareness across our theatres of operation,” the CAS said.
In her remarks, Egerton-Idehen praised the Air Force’s proactive approach and expressed NIGCOMSAT’s readiness to support the military with tailored satellite solutions that align with national security objectives.
“This partnership is not only timely but critical in strengthening Nigeria’s digital defence infrastructure.
NIGCOMSAT stands ready to deploy its expertise in support of the Nigerian Air Force and contribute meaningfully to national security,” she said.
Both organisations reaffirmed their shared commitment to advancing Nigeria’s security architecture through the use of indigenous space technologies.
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