African Business Stories

On the show I interview a mother-daughter duo. Petra and Joseline Kateeba. We talk about executing an effective succession, bouncing back from loss and what scaling means to a second generation Ugandan business. Mrs Petua Kateeba is the Co-founder and a shareholder in Crest Foam Limited. She trained as a midwife and co-founded the company with her late husband in 1984. Following her husband’s deat...

Flora Mutahi is the Founder & CEO of Melvin March International owners of Kenya's largest flavored tea brand. In 1995,  Flora heard about the planned deregulation of the tea industry in Kenya. She saw this as an opportunity and with very little industry knowledge and resources, she decided to go into the tea business. While enjoying a cup of tea one day, she had a light bulb moment and di...

Yoadan Tilahun is the founder & CEO of Flawless Events. A corporate events company based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Yoadan went to the United States for college and for 15 years did not visit her home country. On a family trip to Addis in 2007, she felt so at home she never went back. A friend knowing she did events as a side business in the United States, asked her to help organize a conferen...

Amal Hassan is the Founder and CEO of Outsource Global. A leading business process outsourcing company based in Nigeria and serving countries in Africa, the United States, UK and Japan. Her passion to unlock Nigeria’s development potential through technology-driven innovation and value addition led her to build, capitalize and restructure a series of  technology-related businesses that succeed in...

Valerie wanted to do things differently. She told herself she was young, didn’t have the funds and needed more experience. Passion said no! So she quite her job, sold everything she owned  raising $10,000. With that seed money she started Niyel , a campaigns and advocacy firm based in Dakar, Senegal. It’s been 12 years since she took that leap and we explore the journey so far.  Niyel helps organi...

Monica Musonda is CEO & Founder of Java Foods , a Zambian based food processing company. Java Foods first product was “eeZee Instant Noodles”, which has become Zambia’s leading instant noodle brand. Java Foods also manufactures and distributes eeZee Supa Cereal (a fortified instant cereal/porridge).  Her experience working with one of Africa’s most successful entrepreneurs gave her the impetus...

Nichole Yembra is the Founder and Managing Director of The Chrysalis Co which houses The Chrysalis Capital, a $15M African tech fund and The Chrysalis Advisors, a financial, investment, and strategy firm. Previously, she was the Chief Financial Officer for a PE Backed $80M fintech holding company and served as Managing Partner of its investment arm.  Her vision is to support African tech companies...

The African creative industry includes music, film and fashion and is attracting a lot of attention from investors. My guest, Roberta Annan and I will explore this in the context of her business journey from a pre-med education to a career in development, building and utilizing a solid network to wealth creation. A rich story with a lot of life lessons.  Roberta Annan is The United Nation Environm...

Africa has the highest concentration of female entrepreneurs, accounting for almost a third of all businesses on the continent. It’s safe to say we are a continent of strong women! That said, women continue to face enormous institutional and systematic challenges as well as gender violence. Women seem disadvantaged from the jump.  In addressing these issue, the burden had rested disproportionately...

Vivian Nwakah is the Founder and CEO of Medsaf a tech enabled pharmaceutical distribution company based in Lagos, Nigeria. Vivian was born and raised in the United States and as part of her MBA, she moved to Nigeria for an internship in 2013 and never left! Medsaf was set up in 2016 and connects a fragmented supply chain to provide transparency to pharmaceutical companies and provide authentic dru...

Mo Abudu is the Founder and CEO of EbonyLife Media, Africa’s first Global Black Entertainment and Lifestyle network. She is a talk show host, TV producer, human resource management consultant, media personality, entrepreneur, and a philanthropist. The first African to chair the International Emmy Awards Gala, first African to be awarded the Cannes Medallies d'Honneurs and described by Forbes...

Amanda Cotterman is the Founder and Managing Partner at Equalife Group , a Venture Debt company based in Nairobi, Kenya. With a background in finance and after having run two previous businesses in Kenya, she realized there wasn’t enough debt financing in Africa. Using her own money, she started on a journey to build out the venture-debt eco-system in Africa.  Amanda’s African Business Story is on...

"O" Adeyemi is Head of Global Partnerships & Expansion at  Flutterwave, a Fintech company founded in 2016 and focused on making it easier to transact and do business across Africa - users are able to make international payments in their local currencies. The value of strategic partnerships has fueled Flutterwave's growth and success. Most recently in 2020 they raised a $35 milli...

This interview was done prior to the COVID-19 global shutdown. Ndidi's story of resilience and grit remains inspiring in these uncertain times. She continues to use her voice and expertise to support businesses and communities on the Continent. You can read an op-ed she wrote recently -  https://bit.ly/2Wa5yMH About Ndidi Nwuneli In 2000 and at 25, Ndidi became the first CEO of FATE Foundatio...

Welcome to African Business Stories a new podcast hosted by Akaego Okoye. The show features the stories of resilient African female entrepreneurs building and running businesses in Africa. Women who against all odds stay winning.