How Uche Ogboi Rose To The Position Of CEO Of Lori Systems And Her Billion-dollar Mission To Transform African Logistics
How Uche Ogboi rose to the position of CEO of Lori Systems and her billion-dollar mission to transform African logistics
Uche Ogboi was nearing the end of an eventful eight-year career as an investment banker at Citi when Lori Systems began operations in Kenya in 2016.
She was the head of the multinational bank's small business fund and was instrumental in the deployment of billions of dollars for projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.
Lori would go on to win $25,000 at TechCrunch's inaugural Battlefield Africa competition a year later. Eghosa Omoigui, the founding partner of EchoVC Partners, a Nigerian venture capital firm, was one of the event's judges. Ogboi joined EchoVC as an associate principal, responsible for closing deals and assisting the firm's portfolio companies with operational issues.
Josh Sandler, Lori's founder and CEO, met Ogboi for the first time in 2017. When they met again in 2019, Ogboi had advanced to the position of principal at EchoVC and was leading the venture capital firm's investment in Lori's Series A round.
Sandler was looking for someone to bring structure and help scale the logistics startup's operations, and her due diligence process impressed him.
Sandler tells TechCabal in a joint interview with Ogboi, "she was so incredibly structured and process-driven."
“She recognized our efforts and pushed us in new directions. Lori was in need of her.”
Joining Lori and multitasking
Ogboi joined Lori in July 2019 as Chief Operations Officer (COO), four months before the Series A funding round was announced. However, in her first few months at Lori, Ogboi needed to do more than serve as COO; she needed to immerse herself in the thorny business of African logistics.
“I didn't begin functioning in the role until more than a year had passed. I began by gaining experience in nearly every aspect of the business because it was necessary,” she explains.
She was on the ground supervising cargo departures and transportation. She served as interim chief financial officer and general manager of the startup's operations in East and West Africa.
“That experience has equipped me with the ability to work closely with and empathize with every member of the team, as well as with customers and transporters. I've seen the business from every angle.”
This hands-on experience with the business aided her in comprehending logistics pain points. It demonstrated how technology will eventually drive solutions that alleviate those aches and pains.
“For our investors and stakeholders, I am aware of and understand what it takes to scale Lori to become the continent's first multibillion-dollar company.”
Deploying to Nigeria and saving costs
Lori's objective is to assist clients in saving up to 20% on their expenses. While they have historically accomplished this, Sandler attributes some of the changes that have occurred since 2019 to Ogboi.
Until Ogboi's arrival, the startup operated primarily in East Africa, with offices in two Kenyan cities (Nairobi and Mombasa) and the Ugandan capital, Kampala. Sandler co-founded and served as chief product officer of the company with Jean-Claude Homawoo.
In the second half of that year, as part of her first task, Ogboi scaled Lori's official expansion into Nigeria. Thus, she heightened competition in Nigeria's technology-enabled logistics sector, which already included startups such as Kobo360 and TradeDepot.
According to Sandler, she doubled the size of the Nigerian business within the first year. In 2020, when COVID-19 disrupted normal border traffic, she kept the entire organization lean, enabling the company to save 40% on costs and nearly double margins.
By mid-2020, Ogboi's role in shaping Lori's response to the pandemic had prompted Sandler to consider the startup's future.
“After seeing Uche in action, it became even clearer that Lori should be the leader of this organization as she continues to grow,” Sandler says.
It was not an easy decision, but by December, discussions had escalated, establishing a succession plan that would result in her appointment as CEO on July 1, 2021.
A rare CEO leading an African first-mover
Sandler, a South African, will serve as Executive Chairman of Lori, while Ogboi will serve as visionary for the startup.
She hopes to leverage her ten-year "cocktail of experiences" ranging from investment banking to venture capital to help Lori achieve its mission of being the platform that optimizes every node in the logistics value chain, thereby lowering haulage costs in Africa.
Certain factors, such as inadequate road infrastructure and policy inconsistency, will be beyond her control.
Kenya was ranked 68th on the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index in 2018, Uganda was ranked 102nd, and Nigeria was ranked 110th out of 160 countries.
However, Ogboi's primary focus for transforming the space – and the focus of her leadership at Lori – will be to continue exploring the potential of digital technology in logistics. Lori currently provides clients with real-time information about their goods and trucking assets via web-based applications.
Therefore, what is the next technology milestone on their technology roadmap: the Internet of Things? How about augmented reality for warehouse management? Blockchain technology for trucking?
Ogboi is evasive. However, she notes that they are working on several initiatives over the next few months that will enable them to "scale much more quickly."
On the one hand, it should be expected that someone with such experience would lead such a large mission. In reality, Ogboi is one of Africa's few female technology CEOs. She takes a deep breath and acknowledges the sad reality, but knows she is in a position to accelerate women's advancement in other tech startups, particularly Lori.
Meanwhile, the company has recovered from the shock caused by 2020. It has returned to its pre-COVID monthly growth rates of 20%. They received an undisclosed investment and partnered with Imperial Logistics, a global logistics company, in November.
Sandler is confident that Ogboi will help Lori expand her network of contacts and relationships. Lori has facilitated the movement of billions of dollars' worth of cargo under his leadership; he anticipates trillions with Ogboi in charge.
For the new CEO – a mother of two daughters – waking up in the middle of the night to think about Lori has become a tradition. Now that she is carrying the burden of African logistics on her shoulders, she is likely to sleep even less. I prod and prod in anticipation of her first announcement. Convivial but evasive, she offers only a general warning: "watch this space."
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