Upskilling and growing with Jabu

Jabu's chief executive officer (CEO), David Akinin, was born in Venezuela and grew up in the United States of America, where he completed his high school education.

He then pursued higher education at the University of Chicago in Economics, completed coursework at Harvard University and Paris VII, and obtained an MPhil in inclusive innovation at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business.

He started working as a teenager in his father’s furniture store, and at a young age, Akinin would build websites for their clients, which opened his eyes to how businesses operate and grow.

He worked for Google in California while still in university.

Thereafter, he worked at Credit Suisse from 2011 to 2014, a global investment bank, to "understand how money works," mostly in mergers and acquisitions.



Driven to develop

He travelled to many different African countries, but says Namibia captured his heart.

Akinin’s first venture in Namibia was Atenu Developments, a building contractor and real estate development firm. Today, his brother and business partner, Samuel Akinin, runs the company.

After starting Atenu, Akinin focused on business, logistics, infrastructure, and the development of towns and informal settlements. His first housing project was launched in Grootfontein and later grew and expanded to building houses in Outjo, Oshifo, Ruacana, Kahenge, and Nkurenkuru, to name a few.



Turning point

Seeing the success of these projects, Akinin embarked on projects to develop the education system by building schools and early childhood development (ECD) centres in Namibia. A collaboration with Meryl Barry from the Pupkewitz Foundation and Hannah Laufer from Palms for Life birthed six ECD centres and over a dozen schools in Namibia. Atenu and Pupkewitz renovated the Robert Mugabe Clinic and built a clinic in the Kunene Region.

A turning point in his career happened during the Covid-19 pandemic, after learning that local tuck shops had been shut down and taxi operations stopped.

Akinin, recognising a need to create a supply chain between manufacturers and retailers in these areas, started Jabu Logistics.

Jabu helps brands and manufacturers reach informal retailers all over Namibia and also offers tech and data-driven solutions for brands to grow their market share through merchandising and distribution.



Recognising a need

Akinin met four women who approached him and said they helped individuals register their businesses.

"I asked them how much they get paid to walk around and approach strangers for their service. They said N$700 was their monthly income."

He thought he could improve their lives by offering them a deal.

"I gave each of them N$50 and told them, If you can get to my office in Eros before I do, I will double your pay.'"

Thereafter, he drove off to another appointment and then returned to his office.

"When I got there, I found them seated, waiting for me. We had a quick brainstorming session, and I offered them contracts, which they signed before departing to a food wholesaler in Windhoek," he said.



Recognising a need

There, he bought pasta, maize meal, cool drinks, cooking oil, soup boxes and sugar, which filled up his car. He drove to a popular street in Katutura that had a lot of tuck shops, climbed to the top of his car and began promoting the products on sale by shouting "pasta, sugar, maize meal, etc.!"

Locals ran to his car and bought goods for their homes and tuck shops.

Akinin and the women sold these products and made very small profits.

After seeing how necessary this service was in the informal settlement, the team continued to do this each day for several months.

However, a big problem remained: at the end of the day, they got to the office with a bag full of cash and coins and hundreds of receipts that were impossible to track. Akinin thought if they didn't digitise the entire value chain, they’d never be able to scale, which became a priority.

Today, Jabu delivers to thousands of tuck shops in the informal settlements of Windhoek and nine other towns in Namibia, Zambia, and South Africa.

For his almost decade of work developing communities and creating employment in Namibia, Akinin was awarded the Knight’s Cross in the Order of the Civil Merit by the King of Spain, a version of Spain’s knighthood. He has also served on the board of the African Union for Housing Finance and was the chairman of the inaugural board of GS1 Namibia, where he still serves.



Fun facts about Akinin:

I enjoy travelling.

I love spending the day with an entrepreneur and listening – learning from them is the biggest gift.

I enjoy reading biographies and acrylic painting.

I am fluent in seven languages.