Unlocking Africa

Episode 245 with Ifelade Ayodele, Founder and CEO of Blaaiz, a financial technology company building the infrastructure to enable seamless payments, international money transfers and financial transactions across African and global markets. Ifelade brings experience spanning banking, management consulting, venture capital and financial technology, having previously worked with Standard Bank and Ac...

Episode 244 with Solomon Sonaiya, Co Founder, Business Development Director and Group Head of Entertainment at Livespot360, an integrated media and entertainment company building the businesses, infrastructure and commercial platforms behind Africa’s creative economy. Solomon has played a central role in Livespot360’s evolution from a record label into a creative business spanning live experiences...

Episode 243 with Dalumuzi Mhlanga, Founder and CEO of Notto, an alternative credit bureau building the infrastructure to help financial institutions assess creditworthiness and expand responsible lending across Africa. Dalumuzi has more than a decade of experience spanning telecommunications, technology and international development, working at the intersection of data, systems and economic opport...

Episode 242 with Nana Afoah Appiah Korang, Chief Investment Officer and Executive Board Director at Silverbacks Holdings, an alternative investment firm backing high growth companies across technology, sport, entertainment, fashion and the wider creative economy in Africa. Nana is an experienced private equity investor, entrepreneur and board director with expertise spanning deal origination, inve...

Episode 241 with Funmilayo Ishola, Founder of Dehydrator Hub Agrifood Technology Limited, a Nigerian agrifood company tackling post harvest loss by transforming perishable produce into higher value, shelf stable ingredients. Using hybrid solar powered dehydration and a Processing as a Service model, Dehydrator Hub gives farmers and women led agribusinesses access to processing infrastructure witho...

Episode 240 with Beamlak Alemayehu, Founder and CEO of Medanit Digital Health, Ethiopia’s first integrated, multi channel digital healthcare access system connecting patients with doctors, medication and mental health services through a mobile application, website and low bandwidth call centre. Beamlak is a clinical nurse and social worker whose experience of long waiting times, misinformation, me...

Episode 239 with Shola Bamidele, Founder and CEO of Loom Rooms, a creative ecosystem helping African artists develop their craft, strengthen their identities and build sustainable businesses around their work. Based in Egbeda, Alimosho, outside Lagos’s traditional creative hubs, Loom Rooms was established to address one of the biggest weaknesses within Nigeria’s entertainment economy: the lack of...

Episode 238 with Sander de Klerk, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Good Roll, a sustainable paper company building an integrated bamboo value chain between Ghana and global paper markets. The Good Roll began as a European consumer brand selling sustainable toilet paper and using part of its revenue to improve access to sanitation. It has since evolved into a much broader industrial busin...

Episode 237 with Lydie Murorunkwere, Founder and Managing Director of ML Corporate Services Ltd, Rwanda’s first locally owned licensed Trust and Company Service Provider, and Chairperson of the Rwanda Trust Companies Association. Over the past two decades, Lydie has worked with entrepreneurs, investors, family businesses and institutions across Africa, helping them establish governance, ownership...

Episode 236 with Linda Latsko Lockhart, Founder and CEO of Global Give Back Circle, an organisation focused on expanding education, financial inclusion and pathways to dignified work for women and girls across Africa. Since 2006, Global Give Back Circle has supported more than 6,000 girls through tertiary education, engaged more than 4,000 mentors and built programmes across Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda,...

Episode 235 with Houda Ghozzi, Founder and CEO of Open Startup, a pan African organisation focused on connecting African innovation with global opportunity through investment readiness, deep tech commercialisation, cross border partnerships and ecosystem development. Over the past decade, Open Startup has supported thousands of founders and startups across more than 20 African countries. Its lates...

Episode 234 with Madelaine Fourie, General Brand Manager at Sappi Verve, a business operating at the intersection of forestry, sustainable materials and global fashion value chains. Sappi Verve produces dissolving wood pulp from woodfibre, an essential raw material used to manufacture fibres such as viscose and lyocell that ultimately become the fabrics found in everyday clothing. From its forestr...

Episode 231 with Amanda Etuk, Program Director at Cascador, an Africa focused platform supporting growth stage entrepreneurs with the leadership, networks, strategic partnerships and catalytic capital needed to build resilient, high impact businesses. Amanda works at the intersection of strategy and execution, helping founders navigate one of the most overlooked stages of African entrepreneurship....

Episode 232 with Shain Shapiro, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Music Ecosystems and one of the world's leading experts on music, public policy, and economic development. Through his work advising more than 130 cities and governments worldwide, Shain has helped reposition music from being viewed simply as entertainment to being recognised as a driver of investment, job creati...

Episode 231 with Daniel Yu, Founder of Africa Jobs Fund, a philanthropic venture builder focused on creating high productivity jobs across Sub Saharan Africa through export manufacturing and international labour mobility. Daniel is best known as the founder and former CEO of Wasoko, one of Africa's leading commerce and supply chain technology companies. After spending more than a decade build...

Episode 230 with Soledad Sanchez Canamares, Family Friendly Workplace Policy Specialist at UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa, where she works with businesses, governments, and development partners to advance workplace policies that improve employee wellbeing, talent retention, workforce productivity, and long term business performance. As organisations across Africa and around the world face grow...

Episode 229 with Esther Tumbare, Chief Executive Officer of Friendship Bench, a pioneering Zimbabwean organisation transforming access to mental healthcare through community based solutions that have reached hundreds of thousands of people and expanded across multiple countries. Esther leads Friendship Bench's efforts to scale one of Africa's most recognised healthcare innovations while...

Episode 228 with Nena Sanderson, Chief Product Officer and Managing Director of Mobility at M-KOPA, a leading African fintech and asset financing company helping millions of people access productive assets, digital financial services, and clean mobility solutions through innovative pay as you go financing. Nena leads product strategy across M-KOPA's business while also overseeing its rapidly...

Episode 227 with Mimi Kufuor, Global COO of KoinKoin, a digital assets exchange and financial infrastructure company focused on solving cross border liquidity and payment challenges across Africa and other emerging markets. Mimi oversees the company's global operations across multiple jurisdictions and works closely with regulators as digital asset frameworks continue to evolve. She also serv...

Episode 226 with Nicholas Bassey, Chief Operations and Program Officer at the African Diaspora Network (ADN), an organisation mobilising diaspora investment, entrepreneurship, innovation, and strategic partnerships to accelerate economic growth across Africa. Nicholas joins us to discuss the future of diaspora investment in Africa, how African entrepreneurs can access global capital, and why Afric...

Episode 225 with Ernestine Van Rappard, CCO  at Workpay, a Kenyan founded, Y Combinator backed payroll, HR, and Employer of Record platform helping companies hire, pay, and manage employees across Africa without setting up local entities. Ernestine joins us to unpack one of the biggest hidden barriers to doing business in Africa: compliant hiring, payroll, and workforce management across multiple...

Episode 224 with Dima Rasnovsky, General Manager for Africa at Glovo, one of the world’s leading quick commerce and on demand delivery platforms transforming how consumers access food, groceries, retail products, and everyday essentials across cities. Dima leads Glovo’s growth and operations across African markets, helping drive the expansion of digital commerce, last mile delivery, and retail tec...

Episode 223 with Ezekiel Adamu, entrepreneur, change agent, and Group CEO of Balmoral Group, one of West Africa’s leading event and experiential companies. In this conversation, we explore how Africa can build globally competitive sports and entertainment industries that drive economic growth, create jobs, and position cities like Lagos as international event destinations. Ezekiel shares how his j...

Episode 222 with Shamim Ehsani, Co Founder of Tribe Hotels Group, a hospitality and lifestyle company redefining modern African luxury through the integration of culture, art, and experience led design. Shamim has built a portfolio that includes Tribe Hotel in Nairobi, Hero Bar, named The Best Bar in Africa, and the upcoming Tribe Beach House in Kilifi, while continuing a family legacy that has he...

Episode 221 with Juliet Oshagbemi, Chief People and Culture Officer Africa at Zipline, a global leader in drone delivery, healthcare logistics and supply chain innovation. Zipline has been operating in Africa since 2016 and is now fully integrated into public health systems across Ghana, Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire, delivering blood, vaccines and essential medical supplies on demand a...