Voices and Visions

In this episode of Voices & Visions, Ivana Heijnen speaks with Joseph Murabula, CEO of the Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC), an incubator and accelerator for climate-smart enterprises. KCIC was set up in 2012 as part of a World Bank-backed network of climate innovation centers and has supported more than 3,500 enterprises. Its work spans energy, agriculture, water, waste and forestry. Th...

In this episode of Voices & Visions, Ivana Heijnen speaks with Bernard Njathi, Founder and CEO of IMFUYO, an award-winning agri-fintech company building data systems and financial products for Kenya’s livestock farmers, a group long excluded from formal credit. The conversation looks at one of the world’s oldest professions and one of its least digitised sectors, and at what it takes to make f...

In this episode of Voices & Visions, Ivana Heijnen speaks with Vladimir Dugin, Managing Partner at E3 Capital, an early-stage investor backing tech-enabled companies across Africa's low carbon economy. The conversation explores what it actually takes to build a climate fund, from surviving a coup mid-investment to separating real impact from philanthropy dressed up as venture capital. The...

In this episode of Voices & Visions, Ivana Heijnen speaks with Martin Freimüller, CEO of Octavia Carbon, the first commercial direct air capture company headquartered in Nairobi, positioning Kenya as a global node in carbon removal and climate infrastructure. The conversation explores why Kenya, and not the US, Europe, or anywhere else, is uniquely suited to build one of the world's most...

In this episode of Voices & Visions, Ivana Heijnen speaks with Melalite Ayenew, an early-stage technology investor and venture builder based in Nairobi, bringing a cross-market lens across Africa, Europe, and the US shaped by her background in strategy consulting, technology, and venture building. The conversation explores what it actually takes to build and fund a company at the earliest stag...

In this episode of Voices & Visions, Ivana Heijnen sits down with Mary Njoki, Founder and CEO of Glass House PR, one of the leading public relations and communications firms operating across Africa. With campaigns running in 15 countries from a Nairobi headquarters, Mary brings a systems-level view of how African narratives are built, who controls them, and how digital media, algorithms, and p...

What does it take to finance Africa's energy transition? Millions of people still lack reliable access to electricity.  Expanding energy access requires more than new technologies. It depends on investment models that reflect local realities, patient capital, and businesses capable of delivering solutions at scale. In this episode of Voices & Visions , Ivana Heijnen sits down with Benjami...

In this episode of Voices & Visions, Ivana Heijnen sits down with Adonijah Ndege, Senior Reporter at TechCabal, one of the leading publications documenting Africa's technology and business ecosystems. Having reported across nearly 50 African countries, Adonijah shares an on-the-ground view of how narratives about Africa are built, who controls them, and how often they diverge from reality...

Why are so many women entrepreneurs still overlooked by investors? Across East Africa, women lead a significant share of small and growing businesses, shaping local economies, creating jobs and building companies with regional ambitions. Still, access to private capital remains one of the biggest barriers to growth. In this episode of Voices & Visions, Ivana Heijnen sits down with Carolyne Kir...

What makes investors say yes? As global venture markets become more selective, founders across Africa are discovering that fundraising goes beyond finding investors. In this episode of Voices & Visions, Ivana Heijnen sits down with Francis Nasyomba, CEO of Raisin Capital and creator of Capital Connect, to explore how capital actually moves across African markets. Drawing on more than fifteen y...

For many people, M-Pesa is known as a mobile money platform. In reality, it has become a critical layer of Kenya's economic infrastructure. In this conversation, Andrew Mutha and Peter Gichangi of Safaricom unpack how M-Pesa evolved from a simple money transfer service into an ecosystem supporting payments, savings, credit, insurance, investments, and cross-border transactions. The discussion...

Climate adaptation is often discussed as a future challenge. For many African businesses, it is already an operational reality. In this conversation, Victor Ndiege, CEO of Kenya Climate Ventures, breaks down what climate investing actually looks like on the ground, from financing structures and local currency investing to the role SMEs play in strengthening economic resilience across African marke...

In this episode of Voices & Visions, Ivana Heijnen speaks with George Odo, Senior Partner at AfricInvest, bringing nearly three decades of experience across development finance and private equity. The conversation explores capital deployment across African markets, the realities shaping investment decisions, and the way businesses scale across regions. The episode covers: Private equity, ventu...

Rewriting the Narrative of Kenyan Coffee with Ritesh Doshi | Voices & Visions For the first episode of Voices & Visions , host Ivana Jeinen sits down with Ritesh Doshi, CEO of Spring Valley Coffee, one of Kenya’s leading specialty coffee companies. From building Kenya’s first scalable pizza delivery business to leading a premium coffee brand expanding internationally, Ritesh shares a groun...