| Sim Shagaya | |
| Birth Name: | Simdul Shagaya[1] |
| Birth Date: | 1975 |
| Birth Place: | Lagos, Nigeria |
| Nationality: | Nigerian |
| Alma Mater: | George Washington University Dartmouth College Harvard Business School Nigeria Military School |
| Years Active: | 2005–present |
| Known For: | The uLesson Group Miva Open University Konga.com E-Motion Advertising |
| Footnotes: | Sim Shagaya is a Nigerian businessperson who is recognized as the founder of uLesson Education Limited, E-Motion Outdoor Advertising, Konga.com and DealDey. |
Sim Shagaya is a Nigerian media and technology entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of uLesson Education Limited - an app built to make education available to learners across Africa and founder and chancellor of Miva Open University.[2] He is the founder and former C.E.O of one of West Africa's largest electronic commerce website Konga.com and founder of E-Motion Advertising - a leading out-of-home media company acquired in 2019 by Loadstad Media. In 2014, he was named in Forbes' list of "10 Most Powerful Men in Africa".[3]
In August 2019, Sim Shagaya was invited to and accepted to serve as a member of the Economic Advisory Council of the Executive Governor of his home town, Plateau State, Samuel Lalong.[4]
Sim Shagaya was born in Nigeria where he served in the Nigerian Army after completing the Nigerian Military School.[5] He completed most of his education in the US. He is a graduate of George Washington University and holds a Masters of Engineering degree from Dartmouth College. He also graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2003.[6]
Prior to the establishment of DealDey and Konga.com, Sim worked as a banker in South Africa under Rand Merchant Bank. He later moved to Nigeria where he became Google's head for Africa and went on to found a Lagos-based billboard advertising business called E-Motion in November 2005. Sim sits on the Economic Advisory Council of Plateau State, Nigeria.[7]
Before Sim started DealDey and Konga.com, he created several websites like Alarena, Jobclan, Gbogbo and iNollyWood which were relatively unsuccessful. In March 2011, DealDey was launched after he convinced the board of the billboardcompany he owned to invest in DealDey. On 3 July 2012, he founded Konga.com with a capital from Swedish investment firm Kinnevik. According to Sim Shagaya, the primary aim of Konga.com is to "aggregate the youngest and fastest-growing market that was dispersed, under-served and that traditional retailers were simply failing to reach".[7]
He founded the uLesson educational platform in 2020. [8]
Sim is also the founder and chancellor of Miva Open University which was recently launched and received its operating license in May 2023. [9]
| Year | Award ceremony | Award description | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | CNBC/All Africa Business Leaders Award in West Africa | Entrepreneur of the Year | [10] | |
| 2014 | The Leadership Conference/Awards | Leadership CEO of the Year | [11] | |
| 2014 | Forbes | The 10 Most Powerful Men In Africa 2014 | Listed[12] |