{"id":47390,"date":"2017-05-25T14:08:06","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T13:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buzznigeria.com\/?p=47390"},"modified":"2022-01-12T08:48:14","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T07:48:14","slug":"wakanow-founder-obinna-ekezie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buzznigeria.com\/wakanow-founder-obinna-ekezie\/","title":{"rendered":"WakaNow Flight Booking Process, Customer Care Contact and Office Locations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wakanow is a Nigerian web-based travel logistics company founded in 2008 by two gentlemen Obinna Ekezie and Ralph Tamuno. The company, as a pioneer of some sorts in that industry, has become Africa’s premier online travel booking service company. Since its inception, the site has recorded over a million travel bookings and counting, and the traction it gained during its first two years in business made it possible for the innovative travel company to be awarded an exclusive license during the 2010 World Cup as an event reseller.<\/p>\n

During the past years, Wakanow has expanded its business travel across Nigeria to 32 States<\/a> and counting; it has also penetrated some countries with centers in the UK, Dubai, Ghana, Kenya and plans to penetrate more countries in Africa in the coming years. WakaNow is also the brain behind Destinations Africa (DA) \u2013 an African travel booking platform with a one-stop travel booking platform for all categories of African travels.<\/p>\n

To drive the initiative, Wakanow has also partnered with Ebony Life TV, an entertainment and lifestyle network, to produce a glamorous travel show – of the same name, designed to highlight the continent’s top destinations for African travelers.<\/p>\n

A Look at How Wakanow Come About<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Image Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WakaNow was founded in February 2008 by former NBA player Obinna Ekezie and Mr. Ralph Tamuno. It has gone ahead to redefine how travel services and reservations are made in Nigeria and across Africa. Disclosing what prompted the decision to start up an online travel company, one that was entirely new at the time it came onboard, Ekezie said the idea was born out of a personal experience he had while still in the US, where he couldn’t book or make travel reservation from the comfort of his home in Nigeria as people did in the U.S.<\/p>\n

“Back in the US, while I was a professional basketball player, I had a personal experience with making bookings from Nigeria and I asked myself, ‘why can’t we have the same experience here in Nigeria as we get in America and other developed markets? And as I did not see any reason why that could not be, we decided to set up Wakanow to change the face of travel and give people convenience, transparency, and best-priced deals,” Ekezie said.<\/div><\/div>\n

Ekezie and his business partner Ralph leveraged technology and the entire digital ecosystem to change the way people book travel and reservation in Nigeria. With the vision to own African packaged travel by aggregating the best of African holiday destinations under one roof, Wakanow was founded in February 2008 to respond to an industry in dire need of improved customer service, better deals, and more options and value for travelers.<\/p>\n

In 2010, two years after the company was founded, it was awarded an exclusive license as an event reseller during the 2010 World Cup. Although it started as an online company, today, Wakanow has offline outlets, over 32 travel centers around Nigeria and counting, including all the major airports, and in Ghana, the UK, Dubai, and Kenya. The company also floated an African travel booking platform called Destinations Africa (DA). DA is a one-stop travel booking platform for all categories of African travel. According to Ekezie, the major factor that influenced the DestinationsAfrica platforms was the desire to make the world experience the new Africa of hope and beauty, a new Africa of pride and endless possibilities.<\/p>\n

WakaNow’s Financial Struggles And Ekezie’s Removal As CEO<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Wakanow Founder Obinna Ekezie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like many businesses, it hasn’t been all rosy for the company as it has had its shares of challenges and difficulties. In 2018, 10 years after the company was founded, it was rumored that the company was going through some financial challenges following an economic recession that hit the aviation sector the year before and that the company was having difficulties paying staff.<\/p>\n

Thanks to an investment from a multinational private equity (PE) firm, Carlyle Group, worth $40 million, the company reportedly paid staff up to 4 months’ salaries. The relief was short-lived as the economic difficulty continued to bite even hard. In October 2019, Obinna Ekezie was removed as the CEO and replaced by Adebayo Adedeji, a retail and finance expert who had worked with Amazon as a Senior Finance Leader and other retail companies PetSmart and Walmart.<\/p>\n

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Wakanow’s new CEO, Adebayo Adedeji (Image Source<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adedeji started at the company in 2018 as the Chief Transformation Officer, then transitioned to CCO before taking over fully as the CEO in October 2019. The company seems to have foot its feet back on track and doing quite well under him.<\/p>\n

How to Book A Flight On Wakanow<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Wakanow\"<\/p>\n

Since innovation, technology, and simplicity are part of the company’s key selling points, it has gone ahead to also make booking flights from its platform as easy as possible. Travelers don’t need to have any special requirement in place, except for a valid form of identification (An international passport if you are booking an international flight, International passport, or a local form of identification ( National ID, Voter’s card, if you are booking a local flight)<\/p>\n

To book a flight from WakaNow, follow the steps below:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Visit www.wakanow.com <\/a>from an internet-enabled laptop, mac, phone, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    2. Once you are there, you will see the “Book Flight” button on the dashboard, click on it and fill in the following information displayed:<\/p>\n