Artificial Intelligence OP-ED - AI in Africa's context gap: a PwC partner, a Wits researcher, and a Ghanaian founder walk into the same problem A PwC partner says African organisations' AI tools are 'pretty useless' without clean data. A Wits computer scientist explains why. And a Ghanaian AI founder is betting he can close the gap. Part 2 of 2
Digital Transformation OP-ED - What good navigation looks like: no machine sails itself From Block's standing ovation to Monday.com's manifesto to a South African consultancy that started with the social system, Part 3 asks what good AI navigation actually looks like when you prioritise the human element and demand results over rhetoric.
Fintech POD - Seyi Ebenezer on why African startups should stop chasing cheques and start building books Payaza's co-founder and CEO Seyi Ebenezer makes the case for debt over venture capital, explains why credit ratings are the ultimate negotiating weapon for African founders, and passionately advances the idea of a pan-African credit rating agency built by the continent, for the continent.
Digital Transformation OP-ED - The mine, the machine, and the intern From post-WW2 coal mines to modern codebases, history suggests AI transformation will rise or fall not on technical capability alone, but on whether organisations deliberately redesign the social systems that surround the machine.
Artificial Intelligence OP-ED - How solo sailors sleep Solo sailors don't forecast the ocean. They set an alarm and pay attention. In the age of AI disruption, that pragmatic sensibility turns out to be rarer and more valuable than anyone is admitting.
Digital Transformation OP-ED - After the launch party: who actually benefits from AI? What gets measured depends on who builds the scale.
Venture Capital OP-ED - Cupid's cash flow: the matchmakers have marriage problems too When venture capitalists push portfolio consolidation, they're not just playing cupid. They're managing their own performance pressure.
Fintech The Trajectory Africa Distilled #02: Infrastructure-building Opportunities in Fintech Trade credit, stablecoins, neobanks — where the smart money is heading next.
Career OP-ED - AI augmentation in 2025: what Accenture's layoffs and a homeless Nigerian app founder reveal about the future of work The question isn't whether you're augmented. It's whether you can deliver.
This Is Connectivity OP-ED - Self-driving VC: Boardy, QuantumLight, and the end of the warm intro? AI is automating the art of the warm introduction. What happens when connectivity becomes a product rather than a relationship?
Venture Capital The Trajectory Africa Distilled #01: The Limits of Digitalisation in African Markets In the opening instalment of her seven-part email series, Tayo Akinyemi explores why African fintech companies opt to build physical infrastructure to enable digital solutions - and identifies five opportunities emerging from this constraint.
This Is Connectivity OP-ED - AI is dismantling consulting's oligopoly. If McKinsey's using ChatGPT, what are you paying for? Ten years ago, a social media agency owner told me my consulting ambitions were naive delusions. He wasn't entirely wrong. But neither of us saw what was coming.
Market Intelligence OP-ED - What do SAG Ventures and Balloon Ventures have in common? The intermediary trap Prince Nwadeyi's published research and Joshua Bicknell's operational experience expose the same problem: entrenched incentive structures don't serve those closest to real economic activity.
Startups POD - Prince Nwadeyi on building financial services solutions corporates commission but won't execute themselves Prince Nwadeyi unpacks how aligning incentives across value chains turns corporate muscle and founder execution into profitable innovation, and why Mustard Finance Group's reported 99.9% repayment rate proves the model works.
Impact Investing OP-ED - M-KOPA’s decade of discovery: when patient capital buys time to pivot M-KOPA’s lengthy path to profitability shows how patient capital can buy the time (and permission) to pivot until the real business emerges.
Digital Transformation OP-ED - What can standing in an iPhone 17 queue in Tokyo reveal about digital power and control? Plenty. Scarcity and sovereignty play out differently in Tokyo and Nairobi, but the underlying lessons for Africa’s tech builders are strikingly similar.
Fintech POD - April Long on why chasing 'impact' almost killed her fintech whilst bulk traders quietly transformed Africa-China trade Pyxis (rebranded Waka) CEO April Long reveals how her obsession with serving SMEs blinded her to the aggregators actually moving $286 billion in trade - and why accepting this reality saved her venture.
Market Intelligence OP-ED - Boring is beautiful, but can $50 million pyrethrum flower power fuel a natural insecticide industry revival in Kenya? When development finance meets agricultural nostalgia, the unit economics must be interrogated.
Market Intelligence OP-ED - Who controls the narrative? First-party data, truth and power in Africa’s digital economy As powerful actors spin persuasive stories, the challenge is documenting reality with first-party evidence, resisting myths, and shaping narratives that serve more than self-interest.
Fintech POD - Inside Verto's fintech strategy for cracking Africa's $286 billion trade puzzle Ola Oyetayo shares how Verto is tackling cross-border payment challenges, exploring stablecoin potential, and scaling a profitable fintech serving businesses across key African markets.
Ecosystem OP-ED - Alesimo Mwanga on why strategic partnerships are the secret to scaling African innovation beyond funding Ecosystem strategist Alesimo Mwanga explains how strategic partnerships unlock cross-border venture growth where funding alone falls short.
Venture Building POD - Funema's vision for venture building, AI and scaling impact in Africa David Ogundeko unpacks Funema's contrarian venture development philosophy, long-term investment sensibilities, and lessons from nearly a decade of building startups in Nigeria, South Africa, and the US.
Venture Capital OP-ED - Why ‘venture capital’ in Africa is a misnomer, and what to do about it Africa’s startup funding landscape is often mislabelled as venture capital, but the reality is starkly different. It’s time for honest, context-driven investment models that truly fit.
Venture Building Sona's Field Notes #02: The Market Size Misconception Sona Mahendra unpacks the pervasive founder habit of prematurely abandoning promising ideas due to perceived market size limitations.
Ecosystem OP-ED - Edge of the matrix: Bankole Oluwafemi on levelling up in a world of unequal passport access For Nigerians, global mobility isn't just travel—it's a game rigged at birth. "Full-stack creative" and TechCabal founder Bankole Oluwafemi reveals how to hack the system and rewrite your sovereignty stats.
