Africa's Big Switch (ABS)

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Africa's Big Switch Podcast, hosts Celine , Lys , Bolaji and Hassana reflect on the 10 episodes released in 2024. They discuss their favourite episodes, progress and give insights into the future direction of the podcast. The conversation takes on a more casual and chat-like tone rather than a formal interview. Special thanks to Atim and Adeoti for the mark...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of ABS, we sat down with Victoria Peill , founder of Duara Education , a social enterprise that is empowering female teachers to create community-based micro schools. Victoria's background spans, education, entrepreneurship and strategy, including roles with African leadership, group posting, consulting group and teaching in Peru. Duara Education makes high qu...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of ABS, we sat down with Kristin Wilson . Kristen currently works for the Innovate Africa Fund as the Managing Partner and Bold Angel Network, she crafts innovative solutions that combine human operations, data analytics, and software to drive growth for SMEs and start-ups in sub-Saharan Africa. The Innovate Africa Fund is a founder-first catalyst fund dedicated to...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of ABS, we sat down with Modupe Poku . Modupe currently works for the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change as the Education Advisor to the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education focusing specifically on digital learning. The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change partners with political leaders to drive meaningful change by offering strategy, policy, an...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of ABS, we sat down with Toni Sanni , Head Corporate Finance and Venture Capital at the Emerging Africa Group .   The Emerging Africa Group is an ESG-focused organization that partners with investors to bridge Africa's financial gap and support sustainable development. With over $1 billion raised, it offers financing and advisory services across sectors like i...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of ABS, we sat down with Richard Chongo , the Country Director of Opportunity International Malawai. Opportunity International is a global network of over 40 organizations, primarily microfinance institutions, helping millions of families in over 20 countries across Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America to lift themselves out of poverty. Funded by support...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of ABS, we sat down with Delz Erinle , the Founder and Product Lead of Agrify . Agrify focuses on decarbonizing the agricultural value chain through regenerative intelligence and carbon microfinance, aiming to improve farmer resilience and farmer incomes. Delz is an innovator with expertise in Economics and Product Design as well as master’s degrees in Marketing Ma...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of ABS, we sit down with Alberta Asafo-Asamoah , the Co-Founder of Liquify , an invoice financing platform connecting African SME's to global capital markets.  Alberta started in corporate banking in Europe before moving to impact investing and entrepreneurship. In 2018, she founded AlgebraInTheCity , an educational support organization to provide quality educ...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of ABS, we sit down with Joe Kinvi , the Founder of PLTFM, a multi-asset investment platform for Africa and Africans in the Diaspora. He also leads HoaQ , an investor community with over 100 investments across Africa and its Diaspora.  Before embarking on his entrepreneurial journey, Joe was an experienced operator with a background in finance, mergers and acquisit...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of ABS, we sit down with Abiola Adebiyi , the Founder of Elevate Development Foundation (EDF) . EDF is a youth-led NGO focused on educating, enlightening, and empowering vulnerable Nigerians in underserved communities. Abiola, a forensic accountant with a master's degree in sustainable development from the University of Sussex, advocates for public policies gr...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of ABS, we sat down with Dammy Feyide , the Founder of Theo by LISA, a digital learning solution for children in public primary schools and remote areas. Dammy is also the Team Lead of Strategic Partnerships & Business Development at ProvidusBank, the Founder & CEO of Let it Shine Academy, and the Proprietress & Executive Director of Let it Shine Second...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Africa's Big Switch Podcast, hosts Hassana, Joshua, Beatrice, and Bolaji reflect on the 14 episodes released so far.  They discuss the progress that has been made and give insights into the future direction of the podcast.  The conversation takes on a more casual and chat-like tone rather than a formal interview.  The hosts also take the opportunity to wish...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of ABS, we sat down with Eder Munyampenda , the Rwanda Country Manager at Sawa Energy , a startup that empowers East Africa’s small and medium businesses by reducing electricity pricing and volatility.  Sawa Energy was founded by three environmentally and socially conscious entrepreneurs, who bring significant experience in solar, finance and business. Sawa Energy...

Send us Fan Mail We had a conversation with Noelle Okwedy , the Energy Insights Lead at Stears , a startup focused on providing data and insights to professionals interested in the African continent.  Having  worked in the Nigerian power sector after studying financial economics with econometrics at the University of Kent. Noelle is passionate about improving energy access in Africa. We cover the...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Kelly-Ann Mealia , Chairperson and Co-Founder of Energy Capital & Power. Kelly-Ann brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in facilitating financial investments in Africa, shedding light on the significant impact these gatherings have on promoting investment and forging strategic alliances in Africa's energy indust...

Send us Fan Mail We had a conversation with Natasha Ibori , the Co-founder of Uwana Energy, a clean energy management platform and marketplace, to help people seamlessly transition to clean, affordable energy. Uwana Energy is an impact-driven entrepreneur committed to giving more people the freedom to do whatever they want.  Having worked in climate and finance across 4 continents, she is experien...

Send us Fan Mail We had a conversation with Chinenye Ajayi , an energy professional and commercial lawyer with over a decade worth of experience. Chinenye is currently the Team Lead of  the Power and Infrastructure Practice at Olaniwun Ajayi LP where she provides legal and business advisory services to clients within the energy sector, particularly in the renewable energy space. Amongst other volu...

Send us Fan Mail We spoke with  Edma Lawer , the founder and CEO of ELO Petroleum ,  an Oil and Gas service company that specialises is providing manpower and materials in the upstream sector in Ghana. Edma also runs Youth Empowerment Wave Global (YEWGlobal) , a Youth NGO that engages and inspires young people to use their skills to establish businesses for themselves. After completing undergradua...

Send us Fan Mail A conversation with Hubert Waterinckx , a Social Development Specialist at the World Bank Group .  We unravel Hubert's journey – from working as a Tax Lawyer, to being a reservist in the Belgian army,  to a visionary in social development, all fueled by his unwavering passion to spread prosperity across Africa!  Since then, Hubert has worked on multiple large-scale infrastruc...

Send us Fan Mail An exciting conversation with Bradley K. Poku-Amankwah , the acting Principal Coordinator at the Ghana Energy Transition Office. The Ghana Energy Transition Office is a collaboration between the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All and the Government of Ghana based at the office of the President in Accra.  Prior to this, Bradley served as the Senior Technical Assistant to Gha...

Send us Fan Mail We had a great conversation with Pam Haigh , who is the UK General Manager at Ripple Africa. Ripple Africa is a UK registered charity working to improve local environment, education and healthcare in Malawi, Africa. Operating at the grassroots level, involving the community in all aspects of its activity, Ripple Africa has over 690 staff and 12,000 people in Malawi working on proj...

Send us Fan Mail We had a great conversation with Nana Skari Maidugu , who is the Head of Sustainability and ESG at the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).  At NSIA, Nana is responsible for developing and driving sustainability strategy & climate initiatives, as well as the implementation of its ESG framework across the Authority, its investments and partnerships. With extensive exp...

Send us Fan Mail We sat down with Emmanuel Ezenwere   the CEO of Arone , a company whose mission is to pioneer technologies that democratize access to basic amenities required to live a better life.  Emmanuel is an entrepreneur with 8 years of experience building technologies that focus on the development of  unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)  and clean energy technologies. Arone looks to solve issues...

Send us Fan Mail We had a conversation with Nicholas Rawhani , the CEO of Vula , a company whose mission is to help African entrepreneurs secure funding for their business.  Born and raised in South Africa, Nic tells us about his experience transitioning from the corporate world with McKinsey, where he worked to support green scale-ups in Africa, to leading a venture backed start up.  The key them...

Send us Fan Mail We had a conversation with Maryam Abdulkadir , an environmentalist who works with rural communities in Nigerian to reintroduce cultural medicinal practices.  She is the founder of Plant Revival Enterprise, a social enterprise that replants native medicinal fruit trees and crops which have become endangered in specific communities in Nigeria. Plant Revival is known for creating the...