Che Azenyui Bruno
His name doesn’t seem very familiar to most African youths but his work is known the continent over. Millions of job and opportunity seekers in Africa have made use of his services at one stage of their career or the other. From secondary school students to university graduates and even dropouts, he serves youths of all ages and is even more renowned for the high frequency, ease of access and dynamic nature of his services.
Mambe Churchill Nanje is a multiple award-winning entrepreneur and software engineer. He is the founder and CEO of AfroVisioN, a Tech consultancy company with head office in Buea, South West Region of Cameroon.
In 2011, he was named the most outstanding young entrepreneur in Cameroon by the Junior Chamber International. He received, in 2017, an award from Cameroon’s Minister of Youth Affairs and Civic Education Mounouna Foutsou in recognition of his exceptional contribution as a young Cameroonian to the advancement of the country.
In 2011, He launched his most ambitious and biggest tech project Njorku.com and as of 2017, the platform had reached about 200,000 unique visitors monthly. Forbes Magazine in 2011 recognised Njorku as one of the top 20 technology start-ups in Africa.
Born and raised in Cameroon, a country with ever-increasing levels of unemployment, Nanje, 34, says his biggest motivation for launching Njorku was to make the Job search easier faster and less time-consuming for Africa’s ever-growing population of University graduates.
Award of recognition by a Cameroonian Youth Affairs Minister to Nanje
“I was concerned about the millions of youths who leave African universities every day and find it hard even to afford taxi fares to go around dropping job applications. I thought with technology these opportunities could instead be pulled to them even in their bedrooms and all they need to find a job is an internet-connected Smartphone,” he explained.
Beyond just its easy usability and user-friendly interface, another factor that attracts millions of users to Njorku.com every week is its free subscription services by which customized job opportunities are delivered into the mailboxes of subscribers every week.
“All you need to do is to enter your email address and click on the subscribe button on the platform and a dialogue box will appear giving you the opportunity to enter your professional and academic qualifications The platform will then curate job and career opportunities that align with your qualifications and deliver them to your email address every week”. Nanje explains.
Nanje on a Media Talkshow to discuss Njoku
As regards the usage method of the generic search engine on the platform Mambe Nanje explains that “user just need to type www.njorku.com on their smartphone or computer and this will automatically takes them to the platform homepage. The search bar at the home page gives you the option of selecting what job opportunity you are looking for by simply typing your job preferences into the search bar provided and pressing search by the side. There are also possibilities by which you can filter your search results by specifying the country and/or geographical region in which you need your search results” he adds.
Testifying to the ease of use and friendliness of the platform, Asoh Mirabel, Head of Sales and Marketing of a local food distribution enterprise in Buea, Cameroon recounts that she was able to save up to FCFA 3000 weekly after she encountered and began using Njorku.com
“I got to know of Njorku in 2004 when I just had my first degree. Most organizations at that time would not hire me because I lacked the work experience and I lacked visible track record. Knowing what opportunity was being advertised by what company at that time was also very difficult. I would spend at least FCFA3000 every week moving from one office to another depositing job applications and in most cases the response I received was usually dead silence or ‘sorry no vacancy’ and as someone who had no job, this wasn’t to be an easy task for me. then a friend of mine introduced me to the platform and explained to me how I could use it to find out which company is advertising and what position at what time. I quickly uploaded my CV unto the platform and since then Njorku.com has become my reference point for jobs, internship and other opportunities.
I get all my customized job opportunities delivered to me right into my mailbox every week. She says. Though launched years after his first company AfroVisioN Group Ltd, Njorku grew so quickly and in 2017 was listed as one of the most innovative companies in Africa.
As of December 2023, Nanje had already established Njorku in over 15 countries in Africa with the hope of expanding to other parts of the continent in future. “Our hope is to be able to serve about 350 million youths in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2025. We also have a long-term vision of planting Njorku in all 54 African countries,” he adds.
Born in September 1985, Nanje attended Government Bilingual Primary School Sodiko, Douala, Cameroon and Presbyterian High School Kumba. He has a Diploma in Computer Repairs and Maintenance from Trustech Institute of Technology Buea and is one of the pioneers of what has grown to be called Silicon Mountain; a name which he says was derived from the very attractive and beautiful Buea Mountain on whose foot his office is located and the large density of tech experts in the city.
Regarding the stories surrounding the early days of Njorku and his Career as a Tech entrepreneur, he has often been quoted as describing his beginning as far too humble. “I didn’t even have a laptop or a computer. I couldn’t even pay for the internet,” he says.
Nanje recounts that his Company’s name Njorku is derived from his native Dikome Balue and means elephant. He often uses the large body size of the elephant to describe the size of his vision for his initiative.
Nanje is one of the few African youths who have successfully used web development to employ about 20 other young people in Cameroon.
