Providing an online marketplace for West African business

We shall have Westagora special for those who want to sell or buy automobiles and accessories, real estate; we shall also have business directories - listing of companies in every state in a country. Anyone who has goods or services to buy or sell can come online to connect themselves with those who are interested in buying from them or selling to them. We also do consultancy on e-business for any company that wants to build or strengthen their website.

Niche

People do not have to move around to get what they want to buy even within the state of the country they are. They can first search for it online. If someone wants to rent or buy a house in a particular area, for example, the person can go to the website and see a list of all the available houses and contacts of the agents.

Those who do not have any kind of business but have some disposables to sell can announce on the site. If someone wants to buy a secondhand product such as microwave oven, they can first search on the westagora site, and then call the seller rather than having to go round making enquiries.

Job seekers will be able to search for jobs available in every state online and they can post their resumes online.

Big companies in West African countries can advertise to the world because people in any part of the world and not just West Africa can log onto the site.

 

Accessibility

Westagora.com is hosted in the United States and so its download time is very fast.

Transactions

To give a business or product popularity, the person can register online. Businesses are already being registered. We are going to have a whole lot of businesses. There is also a forum where people who want to transact businesses can chat with the person who wants to sell or buy from them. We also have measures to curb the instances of online fraud.

Advertisement

Most adverts on foreign sites are foreign but the adverts placed on westagora.com are indigenous, products that are within the reach of people living in West Africa. People in the region can see products and services they want and they can also post their own products and services such as arts and crafts, furniture, automobiles, magazines, books. We shall also have a list of all the newspapers in West Africa.

 

Background

I read Geography and planning at the University of Calabar and later did my masters in urban planning at the University of Ibadan. I did another masters at the University of Lagos where I studied Geo-Informatics (GIS) which deals with location in space.

When I traveled to Sweden, I did a programme in information technology and business renewal that is using Information Technology (IT) to drive or to resuscitate a moribund business and make it more profitable. I also did a course in which I obtained a certificate in entrepreneurship in Sweden.

 

Challenges

The usage of internet in West Africa is still relatively low. The usage of credit cards which is often needed in most online transactions is still low. The erratic power supply is also a major problem.

 

Future prospects

We are going to make Westagora a public liability company in about five years' time. Since it is a business portal for all people in West Africa, it is beyond a few people. We are going to register in all West African countries. The default will be French or English based on the country's lingua franca.

 

Advice to entrepreneurs

Nigeria is a good platform for business though there are infrastructural challenges. What an entrepreneur needs is knowledge on entrepreneurship that is relevant to the times. Most entrepreneurs do not run their businesses the proper way and that is the main reason for business failure.

In seeking this knowledge, one should not blindly attend any seminars or institution but find out the ones really giving out the relevant knowledge as the Lagos Business School and Strategic Business School.