This week’s African Start-Up, airing on CNN International, turned its
focus to an entrepreneurial success story from Nigeria. The programme
meets brothers Seun and Seyi Abolaji, who set up Wilson’s Juice Company
in 2010.
Explaining how the company tapped into a new market,
Seun Abolaji tells CNN: “We offer a fresh squeezed juice product made
from real lemons; a healthy alternative to what’s on the market now.”
Seyi
Abolaji continues: “When we started thinking about Wilson’s in Nigeria,
there was nobody doing lemonade… we went around to anyone who would
let us in their factory and we just started asking questions… and
saying “hey, why is there nobody doing juice in a bottle?”
Now
a household name, the Abolaji brothers tell African Start-Up that they
started the company with just $5. Seun Abolaji says: “Could we have
started this company in the United States? I doubt it. We would need 10
million dollars maybe three… And that’s the beauty of Nigeria you can
have a naira and a dream.”
Distributed to cover 650 locations and
18 states within Nigeria, Wilson’s Juice now has a factory that employs
30 workers and produces up to 24,000 bottles a day.
saturate Lagos and Nigeria. We believe there’s a lot of work and a lot
of value to add here. But from the very beginning we’ve seen ourselves
as a global brand. We made a product and we’re making products that can
stand on the shelf anywhere in the world.”