In 2013, Tracey Turner and Jonathan Lewis founded Copia which means “abundance” in Latin. The company redefines the power of e-commerce regardless of income levels, access to technology or location.
Kenyans are able to place orders for items through Copia agents and they are delivered to them regardless of cost.
Under the Stewardship of CEO Tim Steel, Copia is among the fastest growing enterprises in the country.
The company has its headquarters at Tatu City, Kiambu County.
Whownskenya.com looks at the career of Mr. Steel and his leadership of arguably Kenya’s fastest growing online ‘supermarket.”
Education
Steel studied History at Ulster University between 1982 and 1985. This is according to his LinkedIn profile.
Between 2006 and 2008, he attended the University of Warwick, England, where he attained a Postgraduate Award in Management and Business Studies.
Steel topped it all off with a one year stint at the IMD Business School.
Career
Salvation Army
He kicked off his career as a Finance Manager at the Salvation Army East Africa in September 1990.
Steel held the position for 2 years until his departure in September 1992.
TNT Worldwide
In that same month, the Copia CEO joined TNT World Wide as the general manager for its operations in Kenya.
Steel held the role until May 1998, marking 5 years 9 months in Kenya. However, he continued to serve at TNT at different capacities and regions, until his departure in March 2017.
He was the General Manager – Cyprus and Finance and Administration Manager Eastern Mediterranean between May 1998 and October 2000.
Steel was the Managing Director Associates – IMEA, between 2000 and November 2004. He managed 33 TNT country franchise partners in Middle East, Africa and Indian Subcontinent.
He was moved to manage the Southern Africa region from 2004 to February 2012.
For a period of two years, Steel was the Area Manager North, East Africa and Indian Ocean Islands based in Nairobi. He held the position until April 2014.
Steel’s final stint at TNT was as General Manager Associates Asia Middle East and Africa. A role he held between 2014 and March 2017.
He was responsible for TNT’s franchise partner management in 82 countries.
Copia Kenya
Steel has served as CEO at Copia Kenya since March 2017.
Achievements
Since its establishment, Copia has a network of over 5,028 agents through which it delivers goods to underserved populations.
“We target the unbanked, underserved populations in remote areas. A majority are not tapped by mainstream commerce,” Steel told Kenyan Wall Street during an interview on March 21, 2021.
Copia has a vast network, especially in Central Kenya. It serves customers Embu, Karatina, Nyeri Muranga, Nanyuki, Naivasha, and Narok.
The company has recently expanded to Western Kenya.
As of March this year, Copia had completed over 3 million orders, with 97% accuracy. This is while maintaining returns at as low as 4% of the total value of goods delivered.
Copia ranks high on satisfaction in both customers and agents.
“Our Net Promoter Score (NPS)is 50, which is quite impressive given Apple’s NPS is 72,” Steel said.
