Francis Omokhape Oghuma is the CEO of Naijaborn. In this interview, he shares the vision behind Naijaborn as well as the future plans of the new Nigerian social network. Enjoy and remember to share your thoughts as well.
Oluniyi: Please introduce yourself and tell me about your background.
Francis: My name is Francis Omokhape Oghuma CEO Qubestreet & co-founder Naijaborn.com, I am a young innovative entrepreneur from Nigeria. I am from a new media and entertainment background. Based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Oluniyi: What was the exact motivation behind creating naijaborn.com?
Francis: What motivated us to create the platform,was due to the gap in the market in introducing and showcasing our poll of talents to the world. We decided to launch a one stop platform that indexes Nigerians globally & showcase their creation to the world.
Oluniyi: Is this new platform limited to Nigerian “talents” only?
Francis: Yes, but the users are not Nigerians only. The creations are of Nigerian origin. So yes its limited to Nigerian talents.
Oluniyi: If you are implying that you have none-Nigerians on the platform, what is the percentage of none-Nigerians, and what countries are they from?
Francis: Lets say 85 % Nigerians and 15% non-Nigerians as the platform is still new, which is fair enough as the goal is to connect Nigerians and non-Nigerians to Nigerian creators.
Oluniyi: Ok. Can you list some of the countries the none-Nigerians are from?
Francis: South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, USA, Cyprus etc
Most of the non-Nigerians are joining based on word of mouth marketing by their friends i.e Nigerians based in those countries.
Oluniyi: Mambe your partner in this enterprise, is based in Cameroon. How did you come by him and how do you collaborate effectively on this project?
Francis: Well interesting question : Mambe Nanje Churchill as an investor connected with me through an interview I did on StartUpsNigeria.com and we got talking and shared our dreams for Africa and we clicked and I introduced my baby project to him and we got into a business relationship to develop it and collaborating hasn’t been stressful as we both have our job descriptions, I handle the business development and overall business vision of the product and he is the CTO and handles the technology side of the product and so far you can see its on point.
Oluniyi: Fair enough. What is in this for you both? What do you aim to achieve at the end of the day? i.e. direct benefit.
Francis: Wow, nice question, Naijaborn is a business venture and definitely in any business organization our goal is to make profits and have a sustainable business model. And presently our goal is to keep developing the platform and give an average Nigerian the power to showcase his/her creation to the world and get exposure.
Oluniyi: How do you intend to translate the traffic into cash?
Francis: …..Through ads… corporate ads placements and premium products for organizations, brands and people interested in reaching them. And minus naijaborn.com we have other products attached to the brand e.g. merchandise, digital magazine,e.t.c which we hope to monetize over time.
Oluniyi: Do you consider Facebook and Twitter threats to your platform? If yes, why? If no, why not?
Francis: No. Facebook caters for all to share and connect with friends globally, Twitter on the other hand allows us to share our status and lets be honest an average Nigerian goes online to network and show what he has to offer, so creating a platform like naijaborn.com is not to compete with both existing services but to give Nigerians something unique and simple to use.
The market is too big to cash into so for now, there is no threats in that market.
Oluniyi: Where do you see naijaborn.com in the next 5 years?
Francis: Wow, I honestly see Naijaborn as the number 1 destination for all Nigerians globally i.e. home and abroad and being the first social media platform coming out of Nigeria competing globally with top rated brands in Silicon Valley.
Oluniyi: Thanks for your time Francis and I wish you the best of luck with your enterprise.
Francis: Highly appreciated Sir, and keep the great work exposing young and innovative minds across Africa. Show ya sef!
Earlier, I had done a review of Naijaborn.com, for your reading pleasure.
This is a great idea! Wishing all of the team at Naija born all the best. I have to say I admire my Nigerian brethrens and sistrens for their creativity and entrepreneurship
All the best buddie
Hi David, Thanks for the showcase
I am honored.
@nana thanks for the kind words ,we would keep working hard and make sure you show ya sef !
I am impressed at the pan-African link and by the fact that you guys hooked-up through StartsUpNigeria.com
Keep up the good work.
It’s interesting to know that Startups Nigeria has inspired pan-African partnerships like that of the Naijaborn platform. We’re developing a match-making service for entrepreneurs in the new platform to launch very soon. @David – So when will I get into your interview list;-)?
😀 Soon enough my friend, soon enough.
Thanks David for the showcase and exposure.
show ya sef!!!!
@david ! i got no choice ! the plans we have for nigeria,is beyond typing ! thanks for the exposure !
Great work from the dudes @ naijaborn. Keep showing ya sefs!;-)
Great Interview,
Naijaborn really has a great CEO; we’re moving forward thanks to Francis & Mambe. Great souls with great leadership.
Keep the pace up everybody, there is no time to sleep until we start to export blogging successes to the west. We are gradually getting there.
nice one david