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Q&A: Ayodeji Adewunmi Wants To Take Jobberman.com Regional

Q&A: Ayodeji Adewunmi Wants To Take Jobberman.com Regional

Need a job in West Africa? Most likely will do your online search with Jobberman.com, the region’s most popular job search engine and aggregator. Launched in Nigeria in 2009, Jobberman attracts more than over 50,000 unique visitors daily.

Thirty-year-old Ayodeji Adewunmi co-founded the site with friends, Opeyemi Awoyemi and Olalekan Olude.

Initially, Adewunmi was headed into a career in medicine, having studied at one of Nigeria’s most important universities, Obafemi Awolowo University. He holds a holds Bachelor’s degree in Medicine & Surgery from Obafemi.

But after the idea of Jobberman struck Adewunmi, it became his main focus. The company launched within a week of conception. Now the firm, which spends heavily offline and online on marketing, is one of the leading employment websites in Nigeria and Ghana.

Outside of Jobberman, Adewunmi has also made his mark in the medical field as well. He was a recipient of the Inaugural Malaria Awards 2006 (University Student of the Year category) for his pioneering work on malaria. He was also named a TEDGlobal 2007 Fellow.  (TED is a global series of conferences that focus on a variety of issues and ideas).

Prior to Jobberman, Adewunmi also dabbled in the financial sector. In 2007 Adewunmi was on contract assignment with the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs & Co London Offices. And in 2009, he was invited to join the New Leaders Program class of 2009 of Tallberg Foundation, an international humanitarian organization. He was also named a Crans Montana New Leaders Fellow in 2010.  Crans Montana New Leaders is a community of young leaders from Africa, the Arab World, Far Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.

Adewunmi has addressed audiences from the University of Ghana to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

AFK Insider had a chance to speak with Adewunmi about how he plans to take Jobberman even further.

AFK Insider: Why do you think Jobberman has been such an instant hit?
Ayodeji Adewunmi: Targeting in a big addressable market and differentiating yourself in the process is critical. Jobberman.com was launched to address the massive unemployment issue in Africa by leveraging the internet to give job seekers access to employment opportunities in a region that has historically had limitations on the flow of both information and people.

AFK Insider: What made you decide not to go into medicine?
Ayodeji Adewunmi: I felt I could make more socio-economic impact being an entrepreneur as against being a doctor. Entrepreneurs move society forward.

AFK InsiderHow did you fund Jobberman?
Ayodeji Adewunmi: Initially we bootstrapped but since then we have raised Seed, Series A and B.

AFK Insider: What have been some of the major developments at Jobberman sine 2009?
Ayodeji Adewunmi: In the last two years alone, Jobberman has helped over 35,000 people to find their dream jobs.

AFK Insider: Plans and goals for 2014?
Ayodeji Adewunmi: We plan to become a dominant No. 1 in operating markets (Nigeria and Ghana), so we are paying some attention on market share.

AFK Insider: What makes Jobberman different from Njorku, or other job websites?
Ayodeji Adewunmi: More jobs than anyone else. Jobs you wouldn’t find anywhere else. Only real jobs–no spam or scam

AFK Insider: How many people have gotten jobs though the site?
Ayodeji Adewunmi: Over 42,000 people.

AFK Insider: What were some of the difficulties you faced when you first launched?
Ayodeji Adewunmi: Perception–businesses were not sure we could deliver on the product promise. I think that was our most significant challenge starting the business.

AFK Insider: What are some of the pluses of doing business in Nigeria?
Ayodeji Adewunmi: Nigeria is an open canvas–big market, big opportunity, little competition.

AFK Insider: What are some of the disadvantages of doing business in Nigeria?
Ayodeji Adewunmi: Political risk and cost of doing business–the policy challenge, the infrastructure challenge.