Business

The Audacity of Marek Zymslowski: Jovago.com Executive Takes on Mark Essien and Jason Njoku in ‘Nigerian Startups, Don’t Waste This, Abeg’

Don’t you just love it? The foreigners show up on Nigerian soil, enjoy the benefits of working in the Nigerian terrain, and there are many benefits that come with it, or else they won’t be there. And just in case those who claim to be Nigerians (who technically are in the same boat like the foreigners i.e. born and raised overseas) have a sense of entitlement and begin flexing muscles in the Nigerian market that the foreigners have dominated, or use the word “local”, the foreigners get vexed, and  take the Yankeefied Nigerians to school in an opinion article on Tech Cabal that essentially says, “Don’t get it twisted Jason Njoku, Mark Essien and the likes of you. We got this on lock down.”

Marek Zymslowski an executive at Jovago.com does exactly what I just described and what’s interesting is that he says he is calling the “hypocrisy” out  in Nigeria’s tech startup space?? *Confused face?” When did Nigerians stop favoring the white man, even from a poor country like Poland, over their own?

Why is he feeling that insecure? What hypocrisy is there to call out? You are vexed because there are new players in the marketplace, they are your competitors and they use the “local weapon?” Okay, so? Get over it. Come up with a better strategy.

-Uduak

This guest post should not be read as an official statement from the Managing Director of Jovago.com, Rocket backed African venture. This post doesn’t reflect company’s views in any way. It just comes from a dude who happened to be quite active for couple years in the Polish startup scene before he moved to Nigeria.

I worked in startups, I launched them, I raised capital and exited them. Others I mentored. I’ve seen how the ecosystem evolved in Poland. I can compare it now with what I see is going on in Nigeria. Obviously, there are many differences. But pointing them out is not that much fun. It’s too easy and every malcontent can do it for himself, feel free.

Historical Background

There are some similarities between Poland and Nigeria, which allow me, to some extent, to make some (just some) assumptions for NG, based on the Polish story.

To begin with, Poles and Nigerians are very entrepreneurial, active and creative. Sometimes maybe even too creative. We both are tradition oriented and God plays a huge part in the society. Not particularly when we party though.

Polish culture and language was able to survive even though Poland vanished from the map of Europe for more than 100 years, because some “royals” started to care more about their wallet then their country (ring a bell?).

Yoruba culture was able to survive in Brasil and Cuba, despite the hard times African people had to go through. The amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914 was organised by someone from the outside, but Nigerians have been able to keep the country together till this day despite domestic war, many coups and tribe conflicts of interests. Kudos for that.

Well, Poland sucks at football. Nigeria definitely doesn’t. This is why we convinced Emmanuel Olisadebe to play in our national team in Japan/South Korea 2002. Sorry for that.

Last, but not least we both have the most beautiful women (Duh! Miss World: Agbani Darego, Aneta Kreglicka. And Yes, I know you’re googling her now.)

Economic Background

Polish economy was choked by communist influence until Lech Walesa led us to freedom and inspired other East European countires to do the same. Our walk to economic prosperity started for good in the early 1990s. To simplify, let’s say that similar ignition towards growth started in Nigeria after Abacha’s death in 1998.

World financial crisis in 2008 actually helped Poland, our banking system wasn’t sophisticated enough to be influenced by the financial instruments that caused the crisis. So Polish GDP growth started to look way better compared to other European countries. The same crisis, as well as the DotCom bubble made many foreign educated Nigerians come back to their home and contribute to the growth of Nigeria with their international skills. Nigeria is now one of the growth leaders in Africa, just like Poland in Europe.

Polish Startup Scene

The Polish startup scene had issues and was born in huge pains. People claiming there’s were not enough investors and “foreigners are taking over”. Then, believe it or not, there was a problem of “too much money” in the market, which resulted in investing in very stupid ideas and unreliable people.

There were pessimists stating Poland will never build anything bigger than a local copy of something from US. Nowadays, Poland leads in 3D printing, Bluetooth beacons, we have worldwide appreciated SAAS solutions (LiveChat, Brand24, Nozbe) and Game Developers (The Witcher, Sniper). Polish Parcels (Inpost) contribute to ecommerce growth by optimising logistics in 50+ countries. Our startup scene is flourishing. And we managed to achieve all that mostly because of factors so criticised lately in Nigeria.

Foreign “Rocket” vs. “Local” competition

In general, Rocket companies don’t get involved in these kinds of disputes. Most of the time it’s a waste of energy. The competition won’t stop disliking us if we prove their arguments don’t hold water. Building a product people will love is exhausting enough. That’s what we care about. Only that will bring us satisfaction and profit. We just do our thing; we invest, build companies. We’re good at it and every thinking person will understand the longterm benefits of our presence in a particular country. These are most important.

We create the market by making people start doing online purchases, bookings, etc. We convince suppliers to expand the operations online. This would happen without us as well, but not that fast. We may be a so called online company, but the amount of field work we do is mindblowing. Especially in the marketplace business models we focus on. Every other player after us will have it so much easier to enter the market. Jason Njoku’s case of Facebook and Nairaland building scale without heavy marketing is simply missed, because it’s a totally different product, and different context.

We hire young, ambitious people, that don’t necessary have the skills in place, but have the potential. Not everyone has a family that will send them abroad to study, just like it happened to most of Nigerian startup scene’s heroes. (Lol! No Marek you didnt?)

What happened in Nigeria, and I can’t really recall similar situation from outside Africa, is that our competitors started to use the “local” card as a marketing weapon. I don’t mind the fact itself, it’s always good to get free publicity. It’s just the level of hypocrisy and populism I felt I needed to comment on. . . “

Tech Cabal has the full story.

Africa Music Law™

AFRICA MUSIC LAW™ (AML) is a pioneering music business and entertainment law website, livestream and podcast show empowering the African artist and Africa's rapidly evolving entertainment industry through its brilliant music business and entertainment law commentary and analysis, industry news, and exclusive interviews.

For general inquiries, advertising, licensing, or to appear on the show as a guest, please email ([email protected]). Thank you for visiting.

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Credited for several firsts in the fashion and entertainment industry, Uduak Oduok (Ms. Uduak) is a fashion and entertainment lawyer, speaker, visionary, gamechanger, trailblazer, and recognized thought leader, for her work on Africa’s emerging global fashion and entertainment markets, and the niche practice of fashion law in the United States. She is also the founder of ‘Africa Music Law,’ an industry go-to music business and law blog and podcast show empowering African artists. Her work in the creative and legal industries has earned her numerous awards and recognitions, including an award from the American University Washington College of Law for her “legal impact in the field of intellectual property in Africa." She has also taught as an Adjunct Professor at several institutions in the United States. For more information, visit her at https://msuduak.com.

You may also like...

2 Comments

  1. funk says:

    I sincerely believe in globalization with fairness. There is nothing wrong in competition gives the customers the ability to make a choice. That being said how easy is it for Africans or Nigerians to open and compete in Poland. To go on holidays to the CEE including Poland with your own money as a black person raises suspicion ie immigration.

    But that’s not the case in Africa ,whites continued to be welcomed and have more privileges than the locals.

    Why: simple corrupt government officials.

    1. I hear you and you do have a valid point. African governments need to do better so their citizens can enjoy the same benefits they so freely give foreigners, in the countries of these same foreigners that visit or do business in Africa. They really do.

Comments are closed.