Lori Systems, the African e-logistics platform, has announced the appointment of Uche Ogboi as its Chief Executive Officer. The announcement was made via a Medium post by the company’s co-founder and outgoing CEO, Josh Sandler.
In the post titled “Welcoming Lori’s New Powerhouse CEO,” Sandler revealed that Ogboi’s appointment is a “product of many months of reflection about what it has taken to make Lori Systems Africa’s leading logistics software and what it’s going to take to grow Lori Systems into a multi-billion dollar company.”
Sandler, who will be moving on to serve as Executive Chairman of Lori’s board, went on to write that Ogboi who has been the company’s Chief Operating Officer since 2019 has been a key part of Lori’s success story.
“I am confident that as CEO, she will drive Lori Systems into a period of unprecedented innovation and growth,” he wrote. “There’s no better person to mobilize the market opportunity and execute on our mission to lower the cost of goods in frontier markets.”
Speaking on the appointment, Mengqiu Wang, Lori Board Member and Founding Partner of Crystal Stream Capital said, “On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are delighted to announce Uche Ogboi as Lori’s incoming CEO. With Uche’s operational excellence and strong vision, we are confident she will continue to advance Lori’s commitment to sustainable growth.”
Ogboi also stated, “I joined Lori because I was deeply captivated by the mission and inspired by the team driving it. Josh is a visionary and has built something radically special in Lori. As CEO, I am committed to continue executing on our vision and scaling the platform to new markets. I am grateful to Josh, Jean-Claude, and the board for this tremendous opportunity and excited to start delivering on the exciting plans ahead.”
As Lori’s COO, Ogboi has recorded significant success growing Lori’s Nigeria business 10X in less than a year. In East Africa, loading times and border crossings improved to 6 hours, whereas it was 72 and 48 hours respectively when Lori started.
Before Lori, Ogboi served as a Principal, Investments at the pan-African venture capital firm, EchoVC Partners, investing in and scaling startups across various industries and markets. Prior to joining EchoVC, she worked at Citi as an Investment Banker and was involved in deploying over $8 billion of capital across various regions including Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.
“Time and time again Uche has proven herself to be a brilliant operator and strategic partner, outperforming during times of market stability and difficulty. The immense trust and confidence I have in her was the key reason I was able to make the difficult decision to transition from the role of CEO.
“Building Lori has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life, and I feel lucky that Uche has agreed to lead Lori into the next chapter. I am excited to continue to support Uche, our team, and our mission as Executive Chairman,” said Sandler.
Founded in 2016, Lori Systems, a pan-African company, is the leading e-logistics platform in Africa, seamlessly coordinating haulage in frontier markets. In 2020, the company was selected as a “Technology Pioneer” by the World Economic Forum. E-logistics companies have become some of the highest growing startups globally, and in Africa, Lori is at the forefront. Ogboi will assume the position of CEO effective July 1.
