Venture Building POD: Venture Building, AI and Scaling Impact: Inside Funema’s vision for backing African ventures 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 Building Sona's Field Notes #03: Principles Over Playbooks Sona Mahendra challenges the African tech ecosystem's reliance on startup playbooks and frameworks, arguing instead for first principles approaches to venture building.
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.
Founders OP-ED: African Logistics Reality Check—Gugulethu Siso shares hard-earned insights on avoiding startup failure Thumeza founder Gugulethu Siso reveals the brutal survival cycle of African logistics startups and shares practical wisdom for navigating relationship-driven markets where technology alone cannot ensure success.
Venture Building Sona's Field Notes #01: The VC Question That Won't Let Founders in Africa Rest In the debut edition of her monthly email, venture builder-turned-founder Sona Mahendra confronts a common VC question African founders dread.
Ecosystem OP-ED: If Weekend Go Sweet—Fatu Ogwuche's reading of African Tech's 2024 'Wednesday' signals Through the lens of a street-smart Nigerian saying, Big Tech This Week founder Fatu Ogwuche unpacks a year of tense realities in African tech and why 2024's closing signals are fueling high hopes for 2025.
Media POD: Tinashe Mukogo of Money & Moves on building independent media that balances commercial success and public interest Former Deloitte consultant and Siemens executive, Tinashe Mukogo, discusses how his professional experience and corporate background are shaping his live, real-time approach to building a sustainable, independent financial media property.
Startups OP-ED: AI and the Rise of the Tech Solopreneur—Hype or reality? AI’s efficiency revolution is reshaping tech entrepreneurship. From US insurtech Jerry’s profit flip to Postman’s automated API tools, Africa’s solopreneurs could thrive with lean, AI-driven models over capital-intensive scaling.
Talent #ThrowbackPOD: Revisiting a 2018 chat with Gebeya's Amadou Daffe & AltSchool Africa's Adewale Yusuf A candid throwback exchange unpacking Ethiopia's quiet rise as a tech talent powerhouse against Nigeria's developer compensation evolution.
Banking OP-ED: Banking Evolution—Building digital banks that balance scale and sustainability Global shifts and regional demands are transforming neobanking, as African digital banks redefine success through delivering market-relevant financial services profitably and sustainably.
Fintech POD: Beyond Free Banking—Chijioke Dozie on Carbon's journey to profitable digital banking in Nigeria Chijioke Dozie, co-founder and CEO of Carbon, shares insights on building a sustainable digital bank in Nigeria and the evolving neobanking landscape across Africa.
Ecosystem OP-ED: Systematic Strategies & DIY Innovation—Shaking up market education in Africa’s startup investment scene A new generation of African VC professionals is reshaping ecosystem education through institutional strategy and individual innovation.
Venture Capital POD: No Seven-Year Wait—How Baobab Network is offering tentative investors a taste of Africa’s tech potential Ambar van der Wath explains how Baobab Network, a tech venture accelerator, is helping investors test the waters in Africa's tech venture capital scene.
Entrepreneurship OP-ED: African Tech Needs a New Entrepreneurship Narrative—Moving beyond the 'genius founder' myth Oversimplification is the true enemy as Andile Masuku examines the complexities underlying popular myths in African tech entrepreneurship.
Sponsored POD: Victor Mapunga on building from first principles in Africa's 'tech graveyard' Victor Mapunga, founder of FlexID and Shona Prince Technologies, reveals the raw truth of building from scratch in Zimbabwe—rejecting hero labels and embracing the grit of progress.
Venture Building OP-ED: Unpacking the challenges of asset-light models in Africa feat. Abderrahmane Chaoui Discover why popular "asset-light" business models, celebrated for their scalability, often falter in Africa's unique landscape, as Abderrahmane Chaoui shares his insightful analysis.
Venture Building OP-ED: Inside Morocco’s startup ecosystem with Salma Kabbaj Moroccan tech accelerator co-founder and CEO, Salma Kabbaj, offers a glimpse into the evolving startup landscape in Africa's fifth-largest economy.
Fintech OP-ED: Reflecting on a decade in African fintech feat. Elizabeth Rossiello Elizabeth Rossiello, CEO of AZA Finance, reflects on her decade-long journey from founding BitPesa to steering a fintech scale-up in Africa, navigating industry changes and strategic growth.
Storytelling Gqom: The Babusi Nyoni Story The extraordinary personal story of Zimbabwean multi-hyphenate tech innovator Babusi Nyoni highlights the depth of African talent and human resilience.
Unajua UNAJUA S2: Why would anyone launch a research insights business in Uganda? feat. Peter Kisadha Peter Kisadha is bullish on the need to address the dearth of actionable insight into Africa's tech and innovation scene with robust, home-grown research efforts.
Unajua UNAJUA S1 EP2: What have founders learned from Africa's early internet startups? feat. Derin Adebayo Derin Adebayo shares what he reckons the ecosystem has learned from Africa’s first generation of internet startups and suggests what lessons might be gleaned from other emerging markets.
Unajua UNAJUA S1 EP1: How significant is the opportunity for tech companies in Africa? feat. Derin Adebayo For this Unajua Series opener, Derin Adebayo factors in on the size of the commercial opportunity for tech companies in Africa and offers a take on whether the apparent lack of exits should cause worry.
Mark Essien 20: What Defines An African Startup? Subscribe on iTunes [http://bit.ly/2cl7ISa] | Subscribe on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3Z3LxMD9ilV0cMYc9c9MMe] Back in Episode 3 of the African Tech Round-up [https://www.africantechroundup.com/what-is-a-startup-african-tech-round-up/] we asked the question: “What is a startup?” A lively discussion ensued— inspired by an eloquent piece written by David
