Mike Dola is the Chief Executive officer of Cokodeal. In this interview with Martins Lowen, he speaks on how trade in Africa can be improved through e-commerce and the limitless potentials of the continent.
What does your company (Cokodeal) specialize in?
Cokodeal.com is Africa’s largest local content e-commerce. We specialize in promoting goods produced in Africa to Africans and the global market.
What inspired the vision?
The company is a product of an ardent desire for an Africa that will be the convergent point of global trade and not a continent that is at the mercy of foreign aid. We think that there is urgent need to consciously expose African produced goods so as to change the world’s perception of Africa being a predominantly consumer market.
How does cokodeal operate?
Cokodeal.com is a platform that connects traders. The websites is designed to allow individuals, businesses and corporate bodies to create and personally manage online stores. They can easily upload images, texts, and videos of their goods and services which they can also edit at will, the same way you edit your facebook profile. Interested buyers can find and contact these businesses.
Considering the continent’s relatively low level of literacy and ICT knowledge, do you see prospect in this idea?
Yes! If China, despite being a non-English speaking country and with even a relatively lower literacy level as at then could rise through this same challenge with the help of e-commerce platform like Alibaba.com to become world’s largest exporter of local products, I believe, Africa can even do better. However, the website has been painstakingly designed for easy use.
From the speech you delivered at the launch of the company in Lagos, you said your desire was to make Africa the convergent point of global trade, how do you intend to achieve it?
With cokodeal presence in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Rwanda & Zambia, we will intensify our efforts to put in place structures that will enable us reach deep markets within these prime regions. We have also put a special mechanism in place that will support traders to load their contents. More importantly, we will concentrate on how to increase our advertisement reach, especially to the west for them to connect with African traders, thereby making Africa the trade hub.
On the 23rd of January 2015, DAILY POST published one of your speeches in which you confirmed that cokodeal.com will go a long way to promote intra-Africa trade. What exactly do you mean by this and how achievable is it.
Africa market is an uncoordinated market; the market is not interconnected enough. There are products and services Africans source from the west not because same are not available in the African market but because they are not given the necessary publicity that could bring them to the awareness of Africans. So, we will improve the exposure of goods and services offered from different regions and establish trade shows both online and offline to bring traders within Africa together. Cokodeal.com integrates a multiplatform that allows each country website to be different; as such, people can choose country to shop from. . There are numerous e-commerce sites presently, how do you intend to compete with the already established players in the online retail market?
Cokodeal.com is uniquely different from other e-commerce companies in Africa. We offer much more than just online retailing. We do not intend to compete directly with players in the retail market. From our vision we have created a different niche as cokodeal.com is solely for the promotion of trade in African made goods “local content development”: that is only goods produced within Africa. You know what? Africans are hungry for growth in all spheres of life, soon as they discover that the company is dedicated to their growth, it will fly at the speed of light. We are a leading edge in this unique direction so we have no one to contend with, we can only be talking of those who will be inspired to follow us.
What are your biggest challenges?
Our greatest challenge has been educating business owners to switch from their old traditional way of trade which has very limited reach and embrace the modern e-business method with boundless reach. However, with time they will appreciate the level of exposure we will give their business. Secondly, reaching for medium – large local business locked in remote areas has not been easy. We also have issues with their inability to efficiently use the website due to low IT knowledge; we are currently working on how to educate massively and fix that anyway.
What is the short- long term vision for cokodeal.com?
To establish and consolidate our presence in major African countries in few years and in the long run grow across Africa. We will connect the entire continent to the complex web of global trade.
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