Author: Broader
When Ikenna Nzewi (Yale ’17), Uzoma Ayogu (Duke ’17), and Isaiah Udotong (MIT ’17) returned to Nigeria in 2017, they weren’t chasing headlines. They were chasing a solution. One that would fix a long-ignored gap in the country’s most valuable but inefficient supply chain — palm oil. Despite being home to the fifth-largest palm oil reserves in the world, Nigeria’s production processes had remained stuck in the past. Most smallholder farmers still cracked palm nuts by hand or with rocks. It was slow, wasteful, and financially unrewarding. Releaf began as a marketplace idea. But once on the ground, the founders…
In the working-class suburb of Ashaiman, just outside Accra, plastic waste is part of the landscape. It clogs drains, fuels floods, and forms mountains in empty lots. But for Nelson Boateng, it also became the foundation of something radically hopeful. Nelson’s relationship with plastic began early. At just 13, he took up work in a plastic manufacturing factory—a job that would unknowingly shape the rest of his life. By his twenties, he had co-founded a small company producing plastic shopping bags. Business was steady, but something felt off. The very material fueling his income was choking his community. In 2015,…
When one thinks of Shola Akinlade, the name often conjures fintech prowess—co-founder and CEO of Paystack, a company that transformed the payments landscape across Africa and was acquired by Stripe for over US$200 million in 2020. Yet, in an inspired pivot, Akinlade has channelled that energy into football, as a club owner and cultivator of talent, on both home soil and abroad. The idea took root in 2021, when the death of his father prompted deep reflection. Spending time with his elderly mother, Akinlade found himself pondering the legacy he wanted to leave, confronted with life’s brevity and the urge…
In cities across Africa, mobile banking has become the quiet engine of everyday life. Salaries arrive on apps, bills are settled through transfers, and small businesses depend on digital wallets to stay afloat. What was once a convenience has become the backbone of personal finance for millions. Yet behind this growing dependence lies a truth many users underestimate: the mobile banking app is far more exposed than it appears. The threat rarely comes from the app itself. Banks invest heavily in encryption, authentication layers and fraud monitoring. The real vulnerabilities sit outside their walls, in the habits and environments of…
In many African households, the television has quietly evolved from a simple display box into one of the most sophisticated computers in the home. Smart TVs now stream global content, mirror smartphones, listen for voice commands, and connect to every device on the WiFi network. But as the screens have grown sharper and the apps more intuitive, a deeper shift has taken place behind the scenes. These devices are no longer passive entertainment hubs. They have become powerful data-collecting machines often gathering more information than most families realise. Across Lagos, Accra, Nairobi, Johannesburg, and other cities where smart TV adoption…
In a landscape often marked by silence and misinformation surrounding women’s health, Nour Emam has not only broken barriers but is actively rebuilding the narrative for Arab women. As the co-founder and President of Motherbeing, an Egyptian femtech powerhouse, and the visionary behind its AI-powered app, Daleela, Emam is empowering millions with accessible, culturally sensitive, and judgment-free health resources. Nour’s journey into this crucial space is deeply personal and profoundly impactful. Following a challenging childbirth experience and a delayed diagnosis of postpartum depression and PTSD, she recognized a glaring void: the severe lack of accurate, culturally relevant, and accessible health…
In Ghana, counterfeit medicine isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a matter of life and death. Bright Simons saw it firsthand, watching communities struggle with fake pharmaceuticals that claimed to cure but often caused harm. For him, the problem was personal and urgent. It wasn’t enough to study it, debate it, or hope the authorities would act. Something had to be done. Simons, trained as a social entrepreneur with a keen eye for technology, began to think differently. What if the same mobile technology connecting millions of Africans could be used to verify the authenticity of products? What if consumers could hold…
The pandemic forced many African businesses to rethink how work happens. What started as a survival mechanism has now morphed into a defining shift in the way many SMEs operate. Across cities such as Lagos, Nairobi, Accra and Cairo, remote and hybrid work is gaining ground and with it, a chance to reset traditional business constraints. In Nigeria, a 2024 survey from Zoho shows only 14% of businesses operate fully remotely. About 31% have adopted a hybrid model, and the majority, 55% continue to require full on‑site attendance. That suggests remote work remains nascent, yet hybrid arrangements are emerging as…
Across Africa’s start-up ecosystem and emerging enterprises, one challenge consistently stands out: how to get small teams to act like owners rather than employees. In many cases, founders assume that ownership is earned through titles, shares, or lofty mission statements. The reality is subtler and more behavioural. True ownership culture emerges when team members feel empowered, responsible, and trusted to make decisions that matter. It is less about hierarchy or perks and more about mindset, accountability, and alignment with a shared purpose. In small teams, every individual’s contribution is magnified. One person’s initiative or lack thereof can shape the company’s…
Across Africa’s emerging business hubs, there is a subtle but profound shift underway. For years, founders equated a polished office with credibility. Glass walls, branded lounges, ergonomic chairs and high-tech meeting rooms became shorthand for professionalism and investment readiness. Yet some of the continent’s most resilient companies operate in modest spaces: converted flats, co-working floors, or entirely online. What separates these businesses from the rest is not their décor, but the trust they cultivate among their teams. In markets where funding can be unpredictable, talent is highly mobile, and infrastructure is often imperfect, trust has emerged as the true backbone…