Naspers which pressed to a fresh record on Wednesday despite a downgrade of its bonds to BB+ status by rating agency Fitch, has made new efforts to consolidate its operations in Nigeria, and we were able to get access to an interview conducted with the new head of business development of one of its ventures in Nigeria, Mr Oreoluwa Adegbite. Oreoluwa Adegbite has more than 7 years working in the media and business development space in Nigeria, and has been at the heart of the growth of Ad dynamo, iROKOtv, and Jobberman in the country. Naspers has been known for finding and aligning with the vision of top talent in Nigeria, and this interview highlights some of those plans and expectations Mr Adegbite has as he joins up Naspers’ Job Industry play, Careers24.
Interview with Vanguard; Speaking to Vanguard on Naspers’s entry into the job space in Nigeria, Business Development Manager of Careers24, Adegbite Oreoluwa said the goal of the company is to build a premium platform that would help the portal aggregate responsive contents for both employers and job candidates; and ultimately to overtake Jobberman as an online job provider in Nigeria. With several experiences with other startups in Nigeria like Jobberman, iRoko Tv and Ad Dynamo, Adegbite said he is building a team of tech experts that will guarantee innovation in the way jobs are delivered to both employers and job seekers in the country. “Careers24 is actually a platform where employers can actually get to meet premium and quality candidates for jobs. So our platform is bringing a bridge concept where employers can meet job candidates who meet specific goals. In the past years, we noticed that a lot of job sites have sprung up but they have not been able to fill these professional roles for these employers,” Adegbite said. “This is a role we are coming to fill,” he added. He explained that beyond that, the company is also focusing on the opportunities available to fresh graduates and providing the necessary training they need to successfully penetrate the labour market. “We are trying to give chances to fresh and young graduates. We are rolling out different programmes that will help these fresh graduates get into the job space,” he said. He further explained that what they are bringing to the table differs in some significant way from what other online job portal like Jobberman, their main competition offers. “A few things in what we are doing are quite different from what Jobberman, which is the leading job portal in Nigeria at the moment, offers. The premium services that we offer is quite different from what they have. For instance, employers are everywhere looking for qualified candidates and what we are able to do is that within a matter of few weeks we get someone that fits into the designation. Others have not been able to do that. This is because it is a matter of understanding what to look out for in curriculum vitae. “More so, beyond the jobs, we are also trying to enhance our users. For instance there is no way you get a job without a quality CV, so we are also focusing on training job seekers. Beyond that we are also trying to build partnership with learning schools, a kind of finishing schools, where fresh graduates can learn about what the job space is all about. For now we see ourselves step ahead sites like Jobberman though we are still entering the market. And because we are funded by Naspers, we don’t see lots of challenges especially with funding,” he said. With the labour market saturated and employers facing increased difficulties finding the right talents, online job market will continue to play prominent roles in the process. Leaders in the industry like Jobberman and Careers24 will continue to play relevant roles in this sector as well but whether any of them will remain ahead of each other will be determined by quality of content and innovation.
