The Salary Scramble With Lee Kasumba

Ohene Twum joins us this week, and we went there. He's the architect behind some of Ghana's most meaningful projects, from the Savannah Dialysis and Maternity Hospital in Tamale, the first of its kind in Ghana's five northern regions, to markets that honor local culture and homes that prioritize dignity over luxury. He believes great architecture should never be a luxury reserved for t...

"Meaningful work is not always glamorous. But it is always worth doing well."Ohene Twum joins us this week to talk about what it really means to build for people, not just for profit. He designs hospitals in northern Ghana, markets that honour local culture, and homes that prioritise dignity over luxury. Part architect, part storyteller. And entirely driven by purpose. Catch the full con...

Louise from Earcandy has seen the AI hype cycle before. She knows what it promises, speed, scale, cost savings. But she also knows what it misses: the pause, the breath, the inflection that carries a story home. In this chapter, she takes on the question everyone's asking, Can AI replace African storytelling? Her answer might surprise you.

Louise from EarCandy has spent over 20 years in the business of language and culture, taking stories from one place and retelling them for another audience. She's localized over 1.5 million minutes of content into 28 African languages, worked with Netflix, Disney, and Paramount, and built a female-led company from the ground up. This conversation goes deep. We talk about the scramble behind th...

"It's the language you dream in. That's the language of your heart." Louise from EarCandy joins us this week to talk about what it really means to localize content for African audiences. She's in the business of language and culture, taking stories from one place and retelling them for another. Part science, part art. And entirely driven by purpose. Catch the full conversatio...

"I want the world from you. But I don't pay you the best. That's the difficult part." Musa Jesse, founder of Pilgrims Specialty Coffee, gets honest about the guilt of firing someone when you couldn't afford to pay them what they deserved. He talks about the "duty feeling" that weight at the back of your mind. The question that haunts you: Did I fail them because I c...

"Africa grows your coffee. You get the profit. That's theft."That's the kind of bold statement Musa Jesse, founder of Pilgrims Specialty Coffee in Zambia, isn't afraid to make. In this unfiltered episode of The Salary Scramble, Lee Kasumba sits down with Musa for a real founder-to-founder conversation about building a business in Africa without safety nets. Musa's journey...

Building a business in Africa often means navigating a brutal contradiction. You need to attract top talent and demand excellence, but the numbers on your balance sheet simply won't allow you to pay what they’re worth. In this raw episode of  The Salary Scramble , Musa Jesse, founder of Pilgrims Specialty Coffee in Zambia, gets brutally honest about that tension. He dissects the guilt of expec...

"We can work ten times more than the Chinese. Our DNA is strength. But are we building to capacity? To quality?" Papy Kaluw on why Africa has the power but still ships everything in from somewhere else.

The global fashion industry is worth $2.5 trillion. Africa's share? $31 billion, barely 1%. Papy Kaluw knows what that gap feels like. He left Congo as a child, dropped out of university, taught himself fashion, and built Urban Zulu from nothing. Today, he's dressed celebrities and opened pop-ups in Manhattan. But the journey from selling T-shirts outside Market Theatre to running a global...

Join us on The Salary Scramble With Lee Kasumba as Papy Kaluw breaks down the one thing every entrepreneur fears: your own paycheck taking a chunk out of your business. New episode out tomorrow!

Oma Areh has worked with everyone from Coca-Cola to Davido to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She's a PR powerhouse, film producer, and now a pioneer in the $26 billion micro-drama industry. But her journey started with a column called "How to Get the Man of Your Dreams" at age twenty and a father who announced the end of the Biafran war at sixteen. In this episode of The Salary Scramble,...

You've worked with global brands. You've built a reputation over six years. You've done everything right. And then one client doesn't pay for six months. Your reserves disappear. Your staff is counting on you. And you realize: the business you built can't pay itself. In this clip from The Salary Scramble, 'Oma Areh gets real about the month she couldn't make payroll and...

He became a vegetarian because meat was expensive and his student stipend was low. Then it became fashionable. Then it became political. Then he realized he was wearing leather shoes. In this chapter, Sanza Sandile traces his complicated relationship with food from hot dogs and boredom in a dormitory to exploring vegetable stalls in the new South Africa, from Rasta consciousness to the uncomfortab...

Sanza Sandile Shabalala doesn't call himself a chef. He calls himself a cook, a storyteller, and a gastronomic smuggler. But somewhere between growing up in Soweto in the 80s, co-hosting the radio shows that shaped a generation at YFM, and building the legendary Yeoville Dinner Club, he became something else entirely: a founder who refuses to look like one. In this episode of The Salary Scramb...

He used to think Ethiopian restaurants were just shebeens with sour-smelling beer. He wanted to save the planet but couldn't pick an animal. And before he became one of the most beloved chefs on the African continent, he was just a guy in Yeoville who loved breast and thighs. In this teaser from The Salary Scramble, Sanza Sandile Shabalala, the gastronomic smuggler himself talks about the firs...

When passion pulls you in a new direction mid-degree. After two years of engineering, our guest realized he was spending more time on his political science and economics electives than his core classes. The identity crisis he feared? It never came. Instead, he found surprising support and a lesson in trusting yourself. If you've ever feared changing direction, or wondered whether it's too...

Victor Williams ran NBA Africa. But his story starts in Freetown, Sierra Leone. His parents could have stayed overseas. They chose to come home. That choice shaped everything. From a government school in Freetown to Harvard. From Goldman Sachs to launching the Basketball Africa League. Now he's betting on the continent again as founder of Lions Range Group. This is a conversation about followi...

From torn paper tickets to double-booked seats, this episode unpacks a reality many still face across the continent. What seems like a small inconvenience reveals a deeper conversation about access, systems, and the true value of experience. This is the real Africa. No filter. New Episode Out Today!

Laila Zangwio, a powerhouse athlete and CEO of HIIT ME UP & SWIMPRO GH, shares her incredible story of perseverance and determination. From defying parental expectations to dominating national triathlons and competing on the world stage, Laila’s journey is a testament to the power of self-belief and hard work. Discover how she overcame financial hurdles, trained without a coach, and earned her...

She went 2.5 years without paying herself. She taught class the day her sister died. Her mother told her she was wasting her time. This is Laila Zangwio. Relentless. Before she built HIIT Me Up Ghana, one of the country's premier all-female fitness communities she was a girl who didn't know how to be with girls. A triathlete who funded her own ticket to compete against 800+ athletes. A daughter wh...

She learned bulimia from her senior sisters. Eat until you can't breathe. Hands down the throat. She thought it was normal. Then she learned about gluttony. And prayed against it. She put herself on the streets. Walked. Jogged. Lost the weight. Then went straight into professional competition. This is not a clean fitness story. This is the messy, uncomfortable truth behind a champion. Laila Za...

Be honest: when was the last time you let yourself believe your dream could actually happen? Peter Pearse-Elosia decided to stop treating his passion like a hobby and start treating it like a future. While everyone around him pushed for safety, he pushed back with one dangerous question: What if the dream works? This episode is for anyone who's ever felt crazy for wanting more. For anyone tire...

Everyone wants to earn more but not everyone understands what actually drives salary growth. In this episode, Peter breaks down the gap between effort and reward, and why working harder doesn’t always translate into earning more. If you’ve ever felt stuck, underpaid, or unsure about your next move, this episode is for you. Full episode out today!

She sat on the idea for 10 years. Now her company is about to turn 10.Tiffanie Anderson, founder and CEO of Away to Africa, joins Lee Kasumba on The Salary Scramble to talk about building a bridge between the diaspora and the continent on her own terms. From her first trip to Cape Town as a law student (pre-Africa trending on Instagram) to bootstrapping a business that prioritizes ethical tourism...