Meet Jamila Zomah, a Ghanaian American, who is the founder and CEO of a food technology startup, known as African Dishout – A platform for ordering African foods online in the U.S. Jamila being able to transition from the banking industry to the food industry is one intriguing story about her.
About Jamila Zomah
Originally from Kumasi, Ghana, Jamila Zomah moved to the United States in 2012. She was living in New Jersey, and would often commute with her family to get African food and groceries in the Bronx.
Her most devastating experience was when she was on maternity leave after having her son and she would be home trying to order food from African restaurants only to realise that none of them had a delivery service.
When Jamila Zomah found it difficult to order food online from her favourite African restaurants while on maternity leave, she decided to solve that issue for herself, and other Africans living in the U.S.
She also observed that the menu of the African restaurants could not be viewed online and knowing that as Africans, food is very important to us. That was how the idea of establishing African Dishout started, with her trying to fix a problem for herself and now fixing a problem for thousands of Africans in the United States.
African Dishout
When African Dishout started, it only had one restaurant in its offering as it was the last thing on the minds of these business owners.
Zomah says at the time, these restaurants were not paying attention to delivery because the owners weren’t tech-savvy as they were owned by our regular mums and dads who are not great with the internet or with their devices. So, they had to guide them through the process gradually.
Over time, African dishout expanded and now has over 200 restaurants representing a range of African countries, which includes; Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, and Liberia. So far, they have done over 150,000 deliveries in and out of New York and the Bronx and recently launched in Massachusetts and some parts of Boston.
Being someone who was formally in the banking sector, relationship banking to be precise. She said Infusing her experience in relationship banking into the food and logistics business – African Dishout, came easy for her as she has been able to manage different clients and businesses over the years.
Regarding African Dishout, their biggest barrier was their restaurants being technologically adept. Fortunately, over the years, they’ve become more savvy as they now hire cashiers and have printers and tablets where they receive orders.
They have also been able to transition them to the app and website and today almost 90 percent of their orders are through the app. The app is accessible to both Android and iOS users and they have gotten over 15,000 downloads so far.
Jamila Zomah is a pacesetter and a goal-driven entrepreneur who wants to see her business –African Dishout become the number one destination for all Africans in the U.S. to order food, groceries, and book catering services.
She envisages African Dishout to become the African ecosystem in the United States and bring its users the ultimate, wholesome experience that they deserve.
