Nigerian-born NBA basketball star and member of the Jumia board Andre Iguodala is currently in Nigeria. The three-time NBA champion met with local tech entrepreneurs in Lagos, to offer mentorship and connect participating tech startups with investors. Although, a non-investor in the company, Iguodala was appointed to the Jumia board in March 2019, one month prior to the company’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange, a strategic effort to attract foreign investors to the Pan-African emerging e-commerce powerhouse.
Iguodala has his eyes set on the tech horizon, a major shift for an athlete who has made fame and fortune from playing professional basketball. The Memphis Grizzlies player is making another career not just from being a tech investor, also, from helping fellow professional basketball players make informed decisions on investment in tech businesses. His partnership with entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley led to the first edition of the Players Technology Summit in 2017. He has invested in tech companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tesla.
Speaking on his role as a member of the firm’s board Iguodala said, “I am involved in discovering and developing African talents. Also, bringing awareness to US investors, given the company’s presence in the NYSE. Some investors may not be as aware as they should or may not understand how e-commerce works in developing economies. I go out to the field speaking about the continent, how we are going to continue to grow, how our growth has come along, the road to profitability as well as overcoming some of the hurdles”.
The former Golden State Warriors player is involved in the NBA Africa project and has plans to help Jumia explore opportunities when the league kicks off next year. Iguodala sees growth opportunities for the African e-commerce market which is currently operating at 1 percent. Comparatively, the American e-commerce sector is 12 percent, while the Chinese market is operating at 20 percent, dominated by Amazon and Alibaba respectively, Jumia controls e-commerce in Africa, with presence spanning 14 countries across the continent.
