Unlocking Africa

Episode 220 with Nikolai Barnwell, CEO of pawaPay, a leading pan African payments company building the financial rails that connect mobile money wallets across the continent and to the rest of the world.  Nikolai brings over a decade of experience across mobile operating systems, business management, and digital infrastructure to this conversation about how money actually moves across Africa. In a...

Episode 219 with Mehrdad Ehsani, Vice President for Africa at The Rockefeller Foundation, a global institution working at the intersection of food systems, economic development, and climate resilience to improve livelihoods around the world. Mehrdad leads the Foundation’s work across Africa, focusing on building scalable systems that drive long term economic growth, agricultural transformation, an...

Episode 218 with Ayotunde Alabi, CEO of Luno Nigeria, one of Africa’s leading cryptocurrency platforms. Ayotunde brings over a decade of experience across finance and technology, with leadership roles at Spektra, ARM HoldCo, FBNQuest and Heritage Bank. As a SEC Sponsored Individual with certifications from the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers in Nigeria and the Chartered Institute for Securitie...

Episode 217 of the Unlocking Africa Podcast with Amadou Daffe, CEO and Co founder of Gebeya, a leading pan African technology company building talent ecosystems, digital marketplaces, and AI powered platforms to unlock Africa’s global competitiveness. As artificial intelligence reshapes the global economy, a critical question is emerging: will Africa simply consume AI tools built elsewhere, or wil...

Episode 216 with Derrick Edem Akpalu, Co Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Revna Biosciences, a biotechnology company advancing precision medicine, genomics, and molecular diagnostics across Africa. Derrick is leading a mission to transform healthcare outcomes by building world class diagnostic and research capabilities that address some of the continent’s most pressing medical challenges. Th...

Episode 215 with Luc-Etienne Dandrieu, General Manager of AlphaSeeds, a philanthropic investment company supporting sustainable agribusiness SMEs across Africa. In this episode we explore the future of African agribusiness, agricultural investment, and food security, and how patient capital can unlock new opportunities for entrepreneurs across the continent. Luc-Etienne brings more than twenty yea...

Episode 214 with Foulo Basse, President and Chief Executive of The Brazzaville Foundation, an organisation leading Africa’s battle against falsified medicines, counterfeit drugs, and pharmaceutical crime across the continent. Fake and substandard medicines are one of the most urgent yet under reported public health crises in Africa. From ineffective antibiotics and compromised malaria treatments t...

Episode 213 with Sander de Klerk, CEO and Founder of The Good Roll, a fast growing ecosystem reshaping the global paper industry through circular production, ethical sourcing, and socially inclusive solutions rooted in Africa. Recently named EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year 2024, Sander is building far more than a sustainable consumer brand. What began as The Good Roll, producing tree friendly...

Episode 212 with Nicolas Goldstein, HR Tech entrepreneur and Co Founder of Breedj, an artificial intelligence powered talent marketplace transforming global hiring in Africa. With over fifteen years of experience in international recruitment, outsourcing, Employer of Record services, payroll compliance, and remote workforce management, Nicola joins the Unlocking Africa Podcast to explore how Afric...

Episode 211 with with Kanessa Muluneh, serial entrepreneur, investor, and founder of Nyle Investment Group, a diaspora focused investment firm connecting global capital with high impact opportunities across Africa. Kanessa exited her first company at 21 and has since spent over a decade building, scaling, investing in, and advising businesses across Africa’s most important growth sectors, includin...

Episode 210 with Francis Osifo, Co Founder and CEO of Rayda, a global IT asset lifecycle management platform supporting remote and distributed teams in over 170 countries. As remote work reshapes how companies hire globally, one critical challenge remains under discussed: how businesses actually equip, manage, and retrieve devices for employees across borders. In this episode of the Unlocking Afri...

Episode 209 with Dara Adekunle, Managing Partner and CEO of FARMTIES Capital, an investment firm financing export oriented African agribusinesses and strengthening Africa’s role in global trade. Dara brings deep experience in impact investing, innovative finance, and international trade to this conversation on one of the most critical and under examined constraints to Africa’s economic growth the...

Episode 208 with Carl Manlan, a development practitioner and global thought leader working at the intersection of financial inclusion, policy, entrepreneurship, and social impact across Africa and emerging markets.  Carl brings deep experience from senior leadership roles at Visa, where he served as Vice President of Social Impact and Sustainability for the CEMEA region, and at Ecobank Foundation,...

Episode 207 with Sabine Mensah, Deputy CEO of AfricaNenda Foundation and co author of the State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems in Africa 2025 report, one of the most comprehensive studies on Africa’s digital payments infrastructure. The SIIPS 2025 report reveals the extraordinary scale of Africa’s instant payments transformation, with 64 billion real time payment transactions worth nearly 2...

Episode 206 with Robert Hornsby and Franck Tcheukado, Co Founder and Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Operating Officer of Jobomax Homes, a West African real estate developer focused on delivering secure, high quality housing for Africans in the diaspora and on the continent. Robert brings a unique perspective as a former US Air Force veteran turned entrepreneur, while Franck brings deep operati...

Episode 205 with Conrad Tucker, Director of Carnegie Mellon University Africa, the only United States research university with a full time teaching and research presence on the African continent. Based in Kigali Innovation City, CMU Africa was established to address the shortage of high quality engineering and technology talent required to drive Africa’s digital economy. Conrad brings deep experie...

Episode 204 with Andrew Osayemi, Founder of YapTime and co creator of Meet the Adebanjos, the hit British Nigerian sitcom now streaming on Netflix. Andrew Osayemi is a diaspora entrepreneur whose career spans FX derivatives trading in London and New York, African diaspora television production, and now language learning and education technology. In this episode of the Unlocking Africa Podcast, And...

Episode 203 with Stella Nse Okuzu who is the Director and CEO of the Royal African Society, one of the UK’s oldest and most influential Africa focused institutions, dedicated to promoting a deeper understanding of Africa and strengthening relationships between Africa and the rest of the world. She also brings extensive experience from her work leading East Africa partnerships at Radio Workshop, wh...

Episode 202 with Melissa Mbugua, East Africa Partnerships Lead at Radio Workshop. Melissa Mbugua leads partnerships across East Africa at Radio Workshop, an award winning organisation that trains young people across the continent to create powerful radio programmes and podcasts. Through storytelling, Radio Workshop equips youth with the skills, tools and confidence to inform their communities, inf...

Episode 201 with Dr Mercy Korir, CEO and Editor in Chief of Willow Health Media. Dr Mercy Korir is a medical doctor, award winning journalist, and business executive who is redefining health journalism in Africa. As CEO and Editor in Chief of Willow Health Media, she leads the first dedicated Health and Science Newsroom in Kenya and the region, with a mission to empower communities through credibl...

Episode 200 with Zodwa Mkandla, Founder and Managing Director of Traverze Travel, one of Zimbabwe’s most successful travel management companies and a leading player in Africa’s tourism and aviation industries. Since 2003, Traverze Travel has redefined corporate and leisure travel in Zimbabwe through exceptional service, innovative travel solutions and strong regional expansion into South Africa an...

Episode 199 with Kosta Scholiadis, Founder and CEO of Street Wallet, a South African fintech company empowering informal traders and street vendors to access the digital economy. Kosta brings a wealth of entrepreneurial insight and purpose driven innovation to this conversation about financial inclusion and the digital transformation of Africa’s informal economy. Founded in Cape Town, Street Walle...

Episode 198 with Anaporka Adazabra, Founder and CEO of Farmio Limited, an agritech company redefining agriculture through smart, accessible technology that empowers farmers to build profitable and climate resilient agribusinesses across Africa. Anaporka is a Bayer Foundation Women Empowerment Awardee and a driving force behind the transformation of Africa’s agricultural sector. Through Farmio, she...

Episode 197 with Omar Lababidi, CEO of Wafroex and Founder of Goldswarm, a premium West African honey brand that is redefining sustainable luxury while empowering thousands of smallholder farmers across Nigeria. With over twenty years of experience investing in, leading and scaling companies, Omar combines deep business expertise with a passion for innovation, sustainability and community developm...

Episode 196 with Dr Alaa Salih Hamadto, Founder and CEO of Solar Foods, a pioneering Sudanese enterprise transforming food preservation, agriculture, and sustainability across Africa and the Middle East. Dr Hamadto is an award-winning scientist and social entrepreneur whose company merges traditional solar drying techniques with modern IoT and clean technology to build climate-resilient, community...