Climbing the ladder of success
Gideon Shilunga, a fourth-year student at the University of Namibia, received US$5 000 from the Tony Elumelu Foundation to finance his e-commerce business.
Desiree Gases
Republik Ventures is a Namibian-based international online store that offers a wide range of quality products such as electronics, computers, groceries, fashion, home appliances, children’s items and cultural crafts. Gideon Shilunga, a fourth-year student at the University of Namibia, established the business in 2017.
Zone asked Shilunga what some of the challenges were that he faced with opening his own business. He said “a major weakness that may count against us is the fact that we are new online retail store and we do not have the financial capacity to compete with multi-billion dollars online stores like Amazon and Alibaba and Africa is slowly adopting to technology change”.
When asked about what some his achievements with his business were, top of the list was the US$5 000 - worth approximately N$76 500 – he received after attending the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) entrepreneurial training for eight months.
Shilunga received the money to finance his e-commerce business, and his business idea was chosen from about 400 000 ideas all over the continent.
With the capital, he managed to pay for the company’s annual duties and marketing. “The seed capital helped a lot. We are in the process of creating a website and mobile apps. We will be launching the apps on 11 March,” he added.
When it comes to the future plans for Republik Ventures, Shilunga said: “Our mission, or future plan, is to establish an online retail business that will make available a wide range of goods and products from top manufacturing brands at affordable prices to a wide range of customers that will cut across different countries of the world. Republik Ventures is also seeking investors.”
Republik Ventures is a Namibian-based international online store that offers a wide range of quality products such as electronics, computers, groceries, fashion, home appliances, children’s items and cultural crafts. Gideon Shilunga, a fourth-year student at the University of Namibia, established the business in 2017.
Zone asked Shilunga what some of the challenges were that he faced with opening his own business. He said “a major weakness that may count against us is the fact that we are new online retail store and we do not have the financial capacity to compete with multi-billion dollars online stores like Amazon and Alibaba and Africa is slowly adopting to technology change”.
When asked about what some his achievements with his business were, top of the list was the US$5 000 - worth approximately N$76 500 – he received after attending the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) entrepreneurial training for eight months.
Shilunga received the money to finance his e-commerce business, and his business idea was chosen from about 400 000 ideas all over the continent.
With the capital, he managed to pay for the company’s annual duties and marketing. “The seed capital helped a lot. We are in the process of creating a website and mobile apps. We will be launching the apps on 11 March,” he added.
When it comes to the future plans for Republik Ventures, Shilunga said: “Our mission, or future plan, is to establish an online retail business that will make available a wide range of goods and products from top manufacturing brands at affordable prices to a wide range of customers that will cut across different countries of the world. Republik Ventures is also seeking investors.”
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