BTA2023 From the crowded markets of Owerri to the fast-paced startup ecosystem in Lagos, David Chima has built his entrepreneurial journey on one principle: understanding the mechanics of trade.
Today, he is the co-founder and CEO of Kuraway, a business-to-business (B2B) digital platform connecting suppliers and retailers across Africa. But his story began long before venture capital, pivots, or cross-border payments.
Early Lessons from Owerri’s Markets
Growing up in Owerri, Imo State, Chima observed his mother — a civil servant at the Federal University of Technology Owerri — run a rice distribution side business to supplement her income.
She sourced bulk rice at discounted rates from warehouses and resold at a profit. That simple arbitrage model introduced Chima to supply chains, pricing strategy, and demand cycles.
“Civil servants in Nigeria don’t earn a lot,” he recalls. “So she always looked for extra income streams.”
Those lessons would later shape his approach to technology-enabled commerce.
Turning Campus into a Logistics Laboratory
While studying Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at FUTO, Chima launched a custom apparel sourcing business.
In his third year, he secured a contract with the university’s Student Union Government (SUG) to supply branded clothing for up to 5,000 new students. He sourced garments from Aba — one of Nigeria’s largest commercial hubs — managed production, branding, logistics, and payment structures.
For institutional contracts, he pre-financed production and received payment after delivery. For smaller clients, he required upfront deposits.
It was hands-on training in procurement, supplier relationships, and working capital management — effectively a physical prototype of what would later become a digital marketplace.
First Startup Attempt and Pandemic Setback
In 2020, Chima launched Housing Zone, a rental marketplace aimed at improving Nigeria’s property search inefficiencies. But the COVID-19 pandemic halted onboarding and operations, forcing the venture to shut down.
Rather than retreat, he recalibrated.
From Escrow Startup to Marketplace Platform
In 2022, he co-founded Bondly with Isaac Edmund, building an escrow payment solution to address trust gaps in African trade.
By September 2024, the team pivoted into Kuraway — a B2B sourcing marketplace integrating escrow as an optional layer.
Today, Kuraway connects merchants in agro-commodities, chemicals, cosmetics, and manufacturing across Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon.
The platform has:
- Facilitated over $600,000 in trade
- Onboarded more than 1,300 businesses
- Grown to a 10-person team headquartered in Lagos
Chima describes it as “replicating what we did in university — but on a continental scale.”
The Vision: “Alibaba for Africa”
Competing in Africa’s growing B2B commerce space, Kuraway aims to become a central sourcing hub aligned with the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“Our vision is to be the go-to platform for trade in Africa,” Chima says. “Think of it like the Alibaba for Africa.”
His ambition blends impact and scale: building African solutions while unlocking wealth through infrastructure-led innovation.
When he’s not scaling cross-border trade systems, Chima plays chess — a fitting hobby for a founder navigating Africa’s complex supply chains one calculated move at a time.
