Sim Shagaya’s New Beautiful Dream  

 The name Sim Shagaya would surely ring a bell among many whose innovations contributed largely to the growth of the e-commerce industry in Africa. Despite many challenges he faced in the industry, his name would remain in the book of time for his revolution and remodelling of the industry which today has become a multi-billion-dollar business.

Shagaya’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to establish DealDey in March 2011. In quick succession, he founded Konga, an online marketplace in 2012. He later sold the e-Commerce giant to tech billionaire, Leo Stan Ekeh in a mouthwatering multi-billion naira deal.

With lots of cash to play with after trading off Konga, Shagaya shifted focus to online education and in his usual characteristics; he is blazing the trail once again.

In 2020, Shagaya embarked on his most life-changing venture, perhaps his life’s biggest assignment: uLesson, an innovative digital educational platform aimed at empowering African learners and redefining learning experiences. In the last few years of its existence, uLesson has impacted millions of youths in the continent with over 10.6 million lessons watched, 3.6 million questions attempted, 810,000+ live lessons attended, and 3.5 million app downloads.

As the Founder and CEO of uLesson, Shagaya is undoubtedly keen on leaving a lasting legacy on the nation’s education clime, tapping on the potential of digital education. With the significant increase in the number of candidates registering for the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB), a considerable number of these candidates not securing admission into conventional universities, Shagaya is bridging the gap by joining the league of university owners in Nigeria.

Recently, the dynamic entrepreneur who was named by Forbes as one of the 10 most powerful men in Africa, launched Miva Open University, a division of his uLesson Group. Shagaya will lead as the Chancellor of the new Open Distance eLearning University providing undergraduate programs in a variety of fields such as Computer Science, Cyber Security, Data Science, Software Engineering, Public Policy and Administration, Economics, Accounting, and Business Management.

In addition to the existing course offerings, Miva Open University has plans to expand its curriculum to include nursing and law programs.