Sim Shagaya is a media and technology entrepreneur from Nigeria. He is the founder and CEO of uLesson Education Limited, an app designed to make education more accessible to African learners.
He is the creator and former CEO of Konga.com, one of West Africa’s largest electronic commerce websites, as well as the founder of E-Motion Advertising, a leading out-of-home media company bought by Loadstad Media in 2019. He was named one of Forbes’ “10 Most Powerful Men in Africa” in 2014.
Sim Shagaya is a Nigerian entrepreneur who founded uLesson Education Limited, E-Motion Outdoor Advertising, Konga.com, and DealDey.
Sim Shagaya was invited and accepted in August 2019 to serve on the Economic Advisory Council of Plateau State’s Executive Governor, Samuel Lalong.
Sim Shagaya’s Education
Sim Shagaya was born in Nigeria and joined the Nigerian Army after graduating from the Nigerian Military School. He received the majority of his education in the United States. He is a George Washington University graduate with a Masters of Engineering from Dartmouth College. In 2003, he also earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Sim Shagaya’s Career
Sim formerly worked as a banker in South Africa for Rand Merchant Bank before founding DealDey and Konga.com. He eventually relocated to Nigeria, where he became Google’s president of Africa before launching E-Motion, a Lagos-based billboard advertising company, in November 2005. Sim is a member of Plateau State’s Economic Advisory Council in Nigeria. He considers Hakeem Belo-Osagie to have had the “most impact” on his career.
Deal Day and Konga.com
Sim founded many websites, including Alarena, Jobclan, Gbogbo, and iNollyWood, before launching DealDey and Konga.com. DealDey was launched in March 2011 after he persuaded the board of directors of the billboard company he owns to invest in it. He founded Konga.com on July 3, 2012, with funding from Swedish investment firm Kinnevik. The fundamental goal of Konga.com, according to Sim Shagaya, is to “aggregate the youngest and fastest-growing market that was dispersed, under-served and that traditional retailers were simply failing to reach.”
He founded the uLesson educational platform in 2020.
Sim Shagaya’s Awards and Recognitions
In the 2013 CNBC/All Africa Business Leaders Award in West Africa, Sim was nominated for the Entrepreneur of the year award and won.
He also won Leadership CEO of the Year Award in The Leadership Conference/Awards in 2014.
Forbes nominated Sim for The 10 Most Powerful Men In Africa 2014.
