Babajide Duroshola Joins M-KOPA As Country Manager To Spearhead The Company Expansion In Nigeria
Babajide Duroshola joins M-KOPA as Country Manager to spearhead the company's expansion in Nigeria
M-Kopa, a financial technology company based in Kenya, has expanded into Nigeria and appointed Babajide Duroshola, the former CEO of Safeboda, as the new Country Manager to lead its team.
Earlier this year, the company conducted a pilot test in Nigeria of its solar systems and smartphone financing options and saw a significant adoption rate.
Mayur Patel, M-Chief KOPA's Commercial Officer, stated that the expansion enables the fintech to leverage the strength of its financing platform to serve more underbanked customers.
According to M-KOPA, the smartphone financing business has seen a greater uptake, with the company selling over 20,000 devices in Lagos, the company's initial market.
Patel explained that they achieved great success during the pilot by combining the best of their multi-market company with a willingness to localize and adapt their offering to Nigerian consumers' unique needs.
He added that the company is best positioned to address mobile operators' primary challenge of converting consumers from 2G/3G to 4G networks through strategic partnerships and an end-to-end solution.
Following its success, the company has decided to expand fully into the country, with Babajide Duroshola leading the expansion.
Duroshola previously served as the Nigerian country manager for SafeBoda, a Ugandan bike-hailing company, which he joined in 2019 to spearhead the company's expansion into the Nigerian market.
Duroshola was able to evade the country's deadly crackdown on bike-hailing during his tenure at Safeboda and founded the country's most successful bike-hailing company.
Duroshola, as the new General Manager, will be tasked with the similar task of accelerating M-expansion Kopa's into the country.
Babajide Duroshola expressed excitement about his new assignment in a statement following his appointment. He stated that he has already witnessed firsthand in Nigeria how smartphone financing drives business growth and the positive impact M-Kopa can have on the communities in which it operates.
Technology inclusion
M-KOPA was founded in 2011 in Kenya as a way to expand the country's pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar market.
Through its pay-as-you-go financing model, the company has expanded its offerings to include televisions, refrigerators, and other electronic appliances for customers in Kenya and Uganda.
It expanded its offering of smartphone financing in Kenya last year through a partnership with Safaricom and Samsung.
M-KOPA has sold over 1 million pay-as-you-go solar systems and provided $400 million in financing to millions of customers, in addition to raising over $180 million in equity and debt across its primary markets in Kenya and Uganda.
M-KOPA has established a presence in Lagos and Oyo as part of its expansion into Nigeria.
In a similar fashion to its model in Kenya, the company has partnered with Samsung and Airtel to make smartphone financing available to customers in the country.
Additionally, M-KOPA is actively recruiting for a variety of positions, including Android Developers, Back-end Engineers, and Data Scientists.
In Conclusion
M-KOPA now has a strong team to lead its expansion in Nigeria, thanks to Duroshola's track record. Additionally, it demonstrates the company's commitment to providing financial services to millions of unbanked customers across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Through its financing platform, the company will provide access to life-enhancing products and services such as smartphones, solar lighting, energy-efficient televisions, refrigerators, and digital financial services.
