Episode 120 with James Torvaney, the visionary Managing Director behind Pulse Sports, a thriving online sports news platform with a staggering 2 million monthly users. James's journey is one of amazing growth, having guided Pulse Sports from its inception to become the leader in the field in Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda. Pulse Sports is part of the renowned Ringier Sports Media Group, which includes well-known businesses such as Livescore.com and other top sports media websites throughout Europe. ...
Apr 29, 2024•45 min•Ep. 120
Episode 119 with Rachel Toku-Appiah, who is the Director of Program Advocacy and Communications for Africa at the Gates Foundation, and is at the forefront of advocating for gender equality across the African continent. Her extensive expertise and leadership within the foundation's advocacy efforts position her at the forefront of this critical movement. Before joining the foundation in 2021, she spent more than two decades in key global health and development roles, most recently as director fo...
Apr 22, 2024•46 min•Ep. 119
Episode 118 with Princess Adeyinka Tekenah, CEO of Happy Coffee, an indigenous Nigerian coffee brand and coffee solution company that has been actively dedicated to creating awareness about the Nigerian coffee value chain and improving the production and consumption of locally sourced Nigerian coffee since its establishment in 2015. Despite facing challenges common to startups in Nigeria, such as limited funding opportunities, Happy Coffee has thrived through bootstrapping and reinvesting profit...
Apr 15, 2024•37 min•Ep. 118
Episode 117 with Kingsley Pungong, the Founder and CEO, and James Woods, a Partner and Director of Rainbow Sports Global. Rainbow Sports Global is a leading sports enterprise with a global footprint that has successfully positioned itself as a leading Pan-African sports entity, providing holistic management, marketing, and media solutions for football sports agencies, clubs, and talented African football players. The company controls multi-continent football club relationships and has unique exp...
Apr 08, 2024•46 min•Ep. 117
Episode 116 with Deepankar Rustagi, who is a co-founder and CEO of Omniretail, a unified consumer goods distribution platform that improves the inefficiencies of traditional trade through a technology-driven FMCG platform. During Nigeria’s cash crunch in Q1 2023, Omniretail launched an embedded finance platform, OmniPay, which achieved over $100 billion worth of transactions in its first few months of launching. The cash crunch means a decline in output from cash shortages across the economy and...
Apr 01, 2024•39 min•Ep. 116
Episode 115 with Omar Shoukry Sakr, who is the CEO and Founder of Nawah-Scientific. A company on a mission to revolutionise the way people do scientific research in Egypt and beyond. Nawah-Scientific is the go-to place to outsource scientific services online. Nawah is a core hub of high-tech research equipment that provides a multitude of services to the region through an online platform, a world-class calibre of scientists, and a strong logistic network. They serve industries in need of product...
Mar 25, 2024•45 min•Ep. 115
Episode 114 with Harry 'Tomi Davies (TD), who is a Systems Analyst turned Public Speaker and author, Tech Strategy Advisor and Angel Investor, who is also Collaborator-in-Chief at TVC Labs, co-founder of the Lagos Angel Network (LAN) and President of the African Business Angel Network (ABAN). He is also widely regarded as the "godfather of angel investing" in Africa. TD is an active stakeholder and speaker in the African startup ecosystem, and he uses his wealth of experience and network to guid...
Mar 18, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 114
Episode 113 with Scott Walker, who is CEO and Founder of Systemic Innovation, which is a systems change innovation practice solving wicked systemic challenges through a collective intelligence model that connects people, ideas, and insights. Scott is also a co-author of the Scaling in Africa report, which is the most comprehensive analysis to date of the African scaling ecosystem. Designed as an applied research study (i.e., to identify pragmatic solutions to a set of specific problems rather th...
Mar 11, 2024•51 min•Ep. 113
Episode 112 with Sunkanmi Ola, who is Co-Founder and CEO of Propel, a platform that has built one of the largest ecosystems of tech and developer communities in Africa—over 200 diverse communities with 500,000+ members spread across 22 countries and 3 continents. With its 'Community-as-a-Service' offering, companies can leverage this ecosystem of tech communities, on-demand, to drive a variety of their product and business goals. Over 100 companies have engaged Propel's ecosystem for hiring top ...
Mar 04, 2024•46 min•Ep. 112
Episode 111 with Marco Forgione who is the Director General of The Institute of Export and International Trade, which is a professional membership body representing and supporting the interests of everyone involved in importing, exporting and international trade. The Institute of Export & International Trade (IOE&IT) recently launched its expansion into Africa with the opening of its first office in Nairobi, Kenya, in July 2023. IOE&IT has developed and delivered training, education,...
Feb 26, 2024•41 min•Ep. 111
Episode 110 with Yomi Kazeem, from Salient Advisory, which is a healthcare consulting firm that tracks innovations in African health tech, and Jessica Vernon, CEO and Founder of Maisha Meds, which is a company that has created the first and largest network of private pharmacies and clinics in East Africa through a mobile app that delivers subsidised care. Salient Advisory produces comprehensive reports, delving into African health technology trends and facilitating partnerships, aiming for a fut...
Feb 19, 2024•55 min•Ep. 110
Episode 109 with Ted Pantone, a dynamic startup leader with a relentless drive to achieve results, boasts a proven track record of guiding young businesses and entrepreneurial teams towards success. With the launch of four startups under his belt, he has secured over $20 million in funding and has actively invested in over 50 businesses. Additionally, Ted serves as the co-founder and CEO of Turaco, a pioneering venture revolutionising healthcare financing in emerging markets. Recognising the dir...
Feb 12, 2024•49 min•Ep. 109
Episode 108 with Julie Gichuru who is the Chief Public Affairs and Communications Officer at the Mastercard Foundation, overseeing corporate, programmatic, policy, and thought leadership communications with a team spanning Africa and Canada. The Mastercard Foundation works with visionary organisations to enable young people in Africa and Indigenous communities in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work. Mastercard Foundation wants a world where young people are included and are thriving, ...
Feb 05, 2024•55 min•Ep. 108
Episode 107 with chef Selassie Atadika who is an award-winning chef, educator, and food systems advocate. Born in Ghana, her family fled following a military coup, eventually settling in New York. She credits her mother and travels to over 40 countries as a humanitarian aid worker for the United Nations as influences for her dishes. In 2014, she returned home to Ghana to establish Midunu, Midunu Chocolates, and The Midunu Institute as love letters to Africa—a dedication to celebrate and preserve...
Jan 29, 2024•51 min•Ep. 107
Episode 106 with Oswald Osaretin Guobadia, who is the former Senior Special Assistant on Digital Transformation to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, spearheaded the creation and execution of the Nigeria Startup Act (NSA) program. The Nigeria Startup Act project is a joint initiative by Nigeria’s tech startup ecosystem and the Presidency to harness the potential of Nigeria's digital economy through co-created regulations. The Act is aimed at ensuring that Nigeria's laws and regula...
Jan 22, 2024•53 min•Ep. 106
Episode 105 with Eugene Tawiah, who is co-founder of SecondSTAX, which is a platform and gateway to access and trade all debt and equity securities across multiple African bond and stock exchanges. SSX facilitates transactions by securely and efficiently routing orders onto existing mature capital markets infrastructure in complete compliance with local regulations. SSX simultaneously offers B2B securities trading infrastructure as well as B2C retail customer solutions for simplified access to t...
Jan 15, 2024•50 min•Ep. 105
Episode 104 with Charles Shima, who is the founder and CEO of ZaNiheza, a booking software and afrocentric travel marketplace for immersive experiences that connect travelers with local curators. ZaNiheza provides immersive tours and activities that enhance travelers' experiences when they visit African destinations. Their proprietary booking software makes it possible for travel suppliers to create, manage, and offer tours and activities online. What We Discuss With Charles Shima What specific ...
Jan 08, 2024•44 min•Ep. 104
Episode 103 with Touria El Glaoui, who is the Founding Director of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, which is the leading international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora, has annual editions in London, New York, and Marrakech. Founded in 2013 by Touria El Glaoui, 1-54 is the first and only international fair dedicated to contemporary African art. With three editions per year—in London, New York, and Marrakech—as well as a pop-up fair in Paris, 1-54 is the lead...
Jan 01, 2024•44 min•Ep. 103
Episode 102 with, Dr. Keratiloe Mogotsi, who is the former Program Director at the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI), which works to bridge the gap in the study, research, and practice of philanthropy and social investment in Africa. Global interest in the field of philanthropy and social investment in Africa and continents outside of Euro-America is growing exponentially. Recent years have seen a considerable increase in research and writings related to these topics. ...
Dec 27, 2023•43 min•Ep. 102
Episode 101 with Omoniyi Kolade is the founder and CEO of Seerbit, a pan-African enterprise payment platform that enables fast, seamless, inclusive, and secure payments for leading local and global companies present on the African continent. SeerBit is a platform that enables all types of businesses to process payments from their customers with the digital tools they need. In Africa, customers are often limited by circumstances or location, such as the unavailability of the internet or a lack of...
Dec 18, 2023•39 min•Ep. 101
EPISODE 100 with Sherif Nessim who is a technology specialist with over 24 years of experience in offering solutions and products to corporations, mobile carriers, and service providers (B2B) as well as consumer services (B2C) in Egypt and the Middle East and Africa area. Sherif is the visionary founder of Jedar Capital, a rising venture capital firm. Jedar Capital, which specialises in assisting early-stage entrepreneurs from pre-seed to Series A, focuses its efforts on promoting innovation thr...
Dec 11, 2023•49 min•Ep. 100
Episode 99 with Tega Iortim, who is an impact-driven entrepreneur with a passion for using technology to solve major supply chain related challenges across developing countries. Tega is the CEO and founder of Figorr, which is an IoT company that offers real-time monitoring and tracking for temperature-sensitive items. Figorr aims to play a part in bridging the gaps in the healthcare cold chain in Sub-Saharan Africa. To this effect, Figorr was setup with primarily two (2) objectives: 1. To build ...
Dec 04, 2023•38 min•Ep. 99
Episode 98 with Ismael Belkhayat, who is the founder and CEO of Chari, an e-commerce app that has recently been valued at $100 million. Chari helps small retailers in French-speaking Africa procure inventory for their stores and get it delivered for free while benefiting from payment facilities. It is a one-stop shop for traditional proximity stores, allowing them to order any consumer goods they sell and get them delivered for free while benefiting from financial services. Ismael is an experien...
Nov 27, 2023•41 min•Ep. 98
Episode 97 with Ibrahim Abdel Rahim, who is a managing partner at Moonbase Capital. Moonbase Capital invests in SMEs through Search Funds, an innovative new asset class that combines the stability of private equity with the agility of venture capital in order to yield more consistent returns to our investors at lower risk. Their main focus is on providing entrepreneurs with hands-on support throughout the search, acquisition, and growth phases of their journey, leveraging 40 years of combined ex...
Nov 20, 2023•50 min•Ep. 97
Episode 96 with Anthony William Catt, who is the founder and director of Ventures 54. A company on a mission to build and strengthen the international investment corridors between Africa’s tech, startup, and investor ecosystems and the rest of the world by mobilising capital and facilitating investment Working with governments, DFIs, and other international funding agencies to provide technical assistance to founders and investors by establishing key networks, unlocking human and commercial reso...
Nov 13, 2023•59 min•Ep. 96
Episode 95 with Rana Abdel Latif, who is an investment professional with cross-transactional expertise in M&A, financing, and restructuring deals across various industries and also a senior principal at Nclude. Nclude is an investment platform for fintech innovation. Founder-centric in design, it supports early and growth-stage entrepreneurs who are tackling financial inclusion and enables their success by offering a full-stack support ecosystem for fintech and fintech-enabled start-ups in E...
Nov 06, 2023•43 min•Ep. 95
Episode 94 with Joseph Rutakangwa, who is the founder and CEO of Rwazi, which is a market intelligence platform that provides multinational consumer goods companies with actionable data from developing markets on who is buying what, for how much, from where, when, and why, to help them drive revenue and expand. Rwazi combines technology and a network of 20,000+ qualified data collectors (called "mappers") spread across urban and rural areas in 40+ countries in Africa, Asia, and South America to ...
Oct 30, 2023•54 min•Ep. 94
Episode 93 with Thabiso Foto, the Chief Financial Officer at Founders Factory Africa. Thabiso currently leads the finance and operations departments at Founders Factory Africa, providing invaluable strategic, technical, and operational guidance to their vibrant community of start-ups. Founders Factory Africa is a tailored, corporate-backed accelerator and incubator that builds and scales 100+ tech businesses across the African continent. FFA is based on a unique model of combining leading corpor...
Oct 23, 2023•48 min•Ep. 93
Episode 92 with Yemi Olulana, the CEO of Flex Finance, the leading spend management and corporate card platform for African businesses. Flex Finance empowers businesses across Africa to gain control over their expenses through their user-friendly web and mobile platforms, as well as corporate cards. They have successfully assisted thousands of businesses, liberating business owners and finance teams from the stress of spend management. Flex Finance simplifies this critical aspect of business, ma...
Oct 16, 2023•33 min•Ep. 92
Episode #91 is with William Brent, the Chief Marketing Officer of Husk Power Systems, a global leader in distributed utilities. Since its establishment in 2008, Husk Power Systems has been at the forefront of providing dependable electricity to rural communities and businesses, all powered by renewable energy sources. Their commitment is unwavering—delivering uninterrupted power, 24/7, at a price they can afford. What sets Husk Power Systems apart is its innovative approach. Through a user-frien...
Oct 09, 2023•46 min•Ep. 91
