Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ
@eajene โข 8,277 subscribers
Insights on business, innovation, & prosperity in African markets โข Co-founded @GozemTG & strategic intelligence platform @AfridigestHQ โข Words in @FT @NYTimes
Videos
"The Nana Benzes are the richest people in Togo. We call them Nana Benzes because they were the first to drive Mercedes in Togo. That's why we call them Nana Benzes. They control everything here. Even the men are afraid of them โ because of their money." โ Togolese market woman in the documentary, God Gave Her a Mercedes Benz (1992)
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ174,861 views โข 2 months ago
Most global executives think about Africa 1% of the time. Meg Whitman, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard & eBay, was one of them โ until she became US Ambassador to Kenya and saw it up close. "When I was CEO of HP and eBay, I thought about Africa 1% of the time," she admitted at the Milken Institute's Global Conference earlier this month. But she left the continent a convert. "In 2050, one in four people on Earth are going to live on the African continent. One in three of the world's working-age people are going to live on the African continent. And that's just in 25 short years." Her message to global executives still on the sidelines: "You can't show up in 2045 hoping you're going to be a player on the continent in 2050." That's true โ and Africa's demographic transition is real whether the outside world appreciates it or not. How the global C-suite sees Africa matters. But what matters even more is how Africa sees itself. โ Afridigest Intelligence โ real intelligence & advisory to win in Africa's growth markets: | Follow Afridigest on LinkedIn & Instagram
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ38,820 views โข 29 days ago
Aliko Dangoteโs business playbook is simple: find where billions of dollars leave the African continent every year, then build the capacity to keep that money at home. When asked how he decides which businesses to be in, Africaโs richest man answers: "I first of all look at what we need as people: What is it that we're supposed to be producing, but we're importing?โ In other words, find what Africa imports then produce it domestically. Itโs usually termed import substitution, but he calls it backward integration โ understandably because in practice he often does both simultaneously. Every business in the Dangote Group โ cement, sugar, salt, petroleum refining, fertilizer, petrochemicals โ exists because Africa was spending billions importing something from abroad. If you want to follow Dangoteโs blueprint today, here are five sectors to explore: 1) Refined petroleum. Dangote addressed Nigeria's import dependency, but most of Africa still imports refined fuel; the continentโs annual import bill on refined petroleum products is estimated at $120B. After its West African success, the Dangote Group is already planning a $15โ17B replica refinery in East Africa. 2) Machinery & industrial equipment. Africa builds almost none of its own industrial equipment. Instead it spends an estimated $100B annually importing it. This is perhaps a higher risk, longer-horizon play; but it's also where the highest value-add sits. 3) Food processing & agribusiness. Africa spends over $60B on food imports annually โ mostly on raw staple grains like wheat, rice, and maize. Opportunities include domestic production of what's imported, production of indigenous crops as substitutes, agro-processing, and coordination infrastructure like commodity exchanges. 4) Building materials beyond cement. Africa spends ~$35B annually on building materials imports, excluding cement. Dangote conquered cement; the next layer is steel, glass, ceramics/tiles, roofing materials, and finished wood products. Urbanization-led investment is a primary driver, and local manufacturing is generally nascent. 5) Pharmaceuticals. Africa spends over $20B on annual pharmaceutical imports. Half the continent's countries have zero local pharmaceutical manufacturing. A Dangote-scale bet here would mean an internationally certified pan-African supply platform. Of course, the easy part is what Iโm doing right now โ ideating. The hard part is pouring capital into opportunities that take decades to incubate, in environments where the currency can lose 90% of its value while you're still laying groundwork. That's why most people talk about import substitution or backward integration, while others build refineries. โ Afridigest Intelligence โ intelligence & advisory to win in Africa's growth markets: | Follow Afridigest on LinkedIn & Instagram
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ32,113 views โข 1 month ago
"I had an issue being an African in Africa," says Abdul Samad Rabiu CFR, CON, Africa's second richest man. He flew from Lagos to Cape Town for a mining conference, but was turned back at the border. His visa had expired by one day โ and he takes full responsibility for that. But what stopped him in his tracks was this: While he waited at immigration for four hours, three flights arrived from Europe. Every single passenger on those flights walked into Cape Town without a visa. "I had an issue being an African in Africa โ being turned away because I did not have a visa, while foreigners from other continents were coming in and were allowed to enter without a visa. This must change." This isn't just Abdul Samad Rabiu's story. It's the story of African integration in miniature. The continent has built the frameworks but not the systems, signed the agreements but not delivered the reality. AfCFTA exists. The African Union exists. The declarations exist. What doesn't yet exist is a continent where an African businessman can move as freely across African borders as a European tourist. That gap โ between declaration and reality โ is the defining challenge of Africa's next decade. โ Afridigest Intelligence โ intelligence & advisory to win in Africa's growth markets: | Follow Afridigest on LinkedIn & Instagram
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ28,794 views โข 1 month ago
"The wealthiest Africans 10 years from now will not be the Dangotes and the Masiyiwas of this world. It will be the young people sitting right now building AI applications for agriculture, health sector, food security..." That bold prediction came from billionaire businessman Strive Masiyiwa himself at Global Africa Business Initiative's 2025 Unstoppable Africa event. His reasoning? The AI revolution has fundamentally changed the startup game: โข Lower barriers to entry: AI businesses require 1/10th the capital of traditional ventures โข Unprecedented scalability: Solutions can cross borders at speeds unimaginable 30 years ago โข Rapid developer growth: African developers are growing faster than their European counterparts on platforms like Groq โข Real-world applications: From crop diagnostics on farmer smartphones to AI-powered education in local languages The ingredients for wealth creation on the continent are changing But Masiyiwa's prediction only comes true if progress continues to be made on critical foundations โ electricity, connectivity, data infrastructure, digital skills, and language inclusivity.
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ68,731 views โข 3 months ago
Before its shutdown, Nigerian API fintech Okra diversified from open banking into cloud infrastructure โ a move that raised eyebrows at the time Four months ago in Feb., I asked CEO Fara Ashiru if the shift was more opportunity-driven or survival-driven Here's what she said ๐๐ฝ
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ124,293 views โข 11 months ago
![When I moved back to Nigeria over a decade ago, I worked for VC-backed e-commerce platform Konga Nigeria where I got a first-hand education into consumer behavior in African markets at scale. Unlike the US where e-commerce meant paying in advance, online shopping at Konga generally meant customers placed orders but didn't pay for them until the goods arrived, were inspected, and ultimately accepted. Of course, those orders could be rejected, too. And many were. Up to a third were returned if memory serves correctly. That's part of why pay-on-delivery was referred to at the time as "the worst thing to happen to e-commerce in the country" and the "demon of Nigerian e-commerce." Fast-forward ten plus years to today, and Jumia Group still relies heavily on that industry demon. So I asked Jumia CEO Francis Dufay why pay-on-delivery is still necessary โ in today's future-forward world of fintech, AI, and drones. His response reflects a broader lesson about building in African markets that he later made explicit: Accept your market as it is, not as you wish it to be. "There's a difference between our dreams and the market reality... We don't love [pay-on-delivery]... But we have to live with it... So, we embrace it." Watch his answer in the video below ๐๐ฝ P.S. The full conversation from 2025 is on YouTube here โ](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2035284781454516699/amplify_video_thumb/2035266897654988800/img/Yh6UvqD0KCEq12xV.jpg)
When I moved back to Nigeria over a decade ago, I worked for VC-backed e-commerce platform Konga Nigeria where I got a first-hand education into consumer behavior in African markets at scale. Unlike the US where e-commerce meant paying in advance, online shopping at Konga generally meant customers placed orders but didn't pay for them until the goods arrived, were inspected, and ultimately accepted. Of course, those orders could be rejected, too. And many were. Up to a third were returned if memory serves correctly. That's part of why pay-on-delivery was referred to at the time as "the worst thing to happen to e-commerce in the country" and the "demon of Nigerian e-commerce." Fast-forward ten plus years to today, and Jumia Group still relies heavily on that industry demon. So I asked Jumia CEO Francis Dufay why pay-on-delivery is still necessary โ in today's future-forward world of fintech, AI, and drones. His response reflects a broader lesson about building in African markets that he later made explicit: Accept your market as it is, not as you wish it to be. "There's a difference between our dreams and the market reality... We don't love [pay-on-delivery]... But we have to live with it... So, we embrace it." Watch his answer in the video below ๐๐ฝ P.S. The full conversation from 2025 is on YouTube here โ
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ23,615 views โข 2 months ago
Here's Kenya's pitch deck to investors in video form. I shared earlier that just six countries drive private capital investment in Africa: Kenya's one of them. And Kenya Investment Authority (InvestKenya) and Ministry of Investments, Trade & Industry, Kenya are now making their most sophisticated pitch yet to global capital. Here's how Kenya sells itself: โข The largest economy in East & Central Africa and the 6th largest on the continent โข Consistent ~5% annual GDP growth โข The gateway to Africa's fastest growing markets โข A global leader in renewable energy, with ~93% of electricity generated from green sources โข One of the continent's dominant fintech & mobile money hubs โข The #1 market for startup funding in Africa โข Home to over 300 multinationals and 85% of East Africa's tech startups Some of these claims need context โ but Kenya's business environment is real. And it's the result of years spent quietly assembling the infrastructure stack that many African markets are still debating: Green power at scale, functional capital markets, a mature digital ecosystem, special economic zones with real frameworks & benefits, and legal protections investors can rely on. Across Africa, the investment pitch and the infrastructure underpinning it rarely arrive together. When they do, it's more than marketing. It's a market. The question is whether capital is paying attention. โ Afridigest Intelligence โ real intelligence to win in Africa's growth markets: | Follow Afridigest on LinkedIn & Instagram
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ15,005 views โข 1 month ago
Yesterday, I shared a clip of Aliko Dangote talking about Africa being trapped in a cage of its own making. And here he is talking about what it looks like to break out of it. After 11 years of setbacks and over $20 billion invested, the Dangote Refinery is the first in the world to reach and maintain the level of 650,000 barrels of crude oil processed per day. It's officially transformed Nigeria into a net exporter of refined petroleum products for the first time in the country's history โ ending a 66-year stretch of import dependence. The IMF estimates that this single refinery will add 1.5% to Nigeria's non-oil GDP. For its founder, it's more than an industrial achievement. It's a demonstration of what belief in Africa looks like at scale. "If I don't invest my own money, I can never go to any conference and convince people that Africa is a good place to come and invest." "But right now I have a voice. Right now I have the mouth to say, 'Come and invest in Africa' โ because I have demonstrated that these things are possible." The most powerful argument for investing in Africa isn't a pitch deck. It's proof. When Africans bet on Africa, Africa wins. โ Afridigest Intelligence โ intelligence & advisory to win in Africa's growth markets: | Follow Afridigest on LinkedIn & Instagram
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ11,892 views โข 1 month ago
How did a company from Shenzhen come to dominate Africa's cell phone industry? It accepts African markets as they are, not as it wishes they were. While some companies enter African markets with capital intensive Silicon Valley-style 'blitzscaling' approaches, China's Transsion entered the continent with a 'deep-plowing' strategy What's 'deep plowing'? An intensive, long-term approach of cultivating land to grow crops. For Transsion, 'deep plowing' means starting from the bottom up with the most underserved customers, building extensive distribution networks, localizing products significantly, and investing in consumer trust to cultivate long-term market dominance: โข Customer 'deep plowing' โ While competitors focused on premium urban consumers, Transsion targeted lower-income and underserved users, especially those in rural & peri-urban areas. โข Distribution 'deep plowing' โ Transsion embeds itself in the informal retail networks that dominate electronic sales on the continent, employing thousands of agents to reach places competitors don't and establishing physical retail depth from factory to final sale. โข Product 'deep plowing' โ Transsion went beyond superficial adaptation, spent years studying local needs & behaviors, and modified hardware and software accordingly, including pioneering multi-SIM phones in African markets. โข Service 'deep plowing' โ One of Transsion's deepest 'plows' is its investment in after-sales service. While many electronics have no official repair centers locally, Transsion established the Carlcare network, Africa's largest mobile after-sales service network. โข Brand 'deep plowing' โ Transsion created a brand ladder to cover the entire income spectrum: ultra-budget itel devices, performance-focused Infinixes, and aspirational Techno phones. This allows the company to capture customers as their incomes grow, instead of losing them to competitors. Transsion didn't win Africa's cell phone market by building for the Africa of tomorrow. They won by 'deep plowing' for the Africa that exists today. h/t Miao Lu whose research on Transsion informs this post โ check out the links below ๐๐ฝ
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ21,541 views โข 3 months ago
Air travel in Africa is broken โ to fly from Lagos to Luanda, you might have to stop in London or Lisbon. As WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted at an aviation summit in Nigeria this week, governments across the continent treat the aviation sector "as a revenue source to be extracted," rather than a key enabler for business, trade, and prosperity. And that's costing the continent billions. Poor flight connections, sky-high ticket prices, and hostile visa rules hinder the exchange of people, goods, and ideas: โข The same distance that costs $175 for a roundtrip flight in Europe can cost nearly $2,000 in Africa (i.e., Athens-Berlin vs. Lagos-Freetown) โข Average air taxes in Africa are twice those of the Middle East โข Flights within Africa operate at ~75% capacity on average, the lowest of any region worldwide And "despite the high ticket prices," Okonjo-Iweala noted, "African airlines earn less than the global average in terms of profit per passenger." The full cost structure โ and the individualistic mindset behind it โ needs to change. Africa's economic future depends on leaders and citizens thinking not just big, but continentally. --- ๐๐ฝ Afridigest Intelligence โ real intelligence to win in Africa's growth markets: | Follow Afridigest on LinkedIn & Instagram
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ13,474 views โข 2 months ago
Jamie Dimon, CEO of @JPMorgan, America's largest bank, on how Africa can attract more private investment: "Capital goes to where it's taken care of... For capital to flow, you need sustainable policy." It's a good reminder of how damaging uncertainty can be over the long run ๐
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ24,669 views โข 1 year ago
Keep being paranoid That's one of many lessons founders can learn from Tosin Eniolorunda, Founder & CEO of Nigeria's largest business payments platform Moniepoint Group He shared a lot of wisdom in our conversation about how he built the company Watch it here:
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ28,610 views โข 2 years ago
"We don't have a problem of entrepreneurship in Africa... We have not put in place the ecosystem to support startups." That's billionaire businessman Strive Masiyiwa at the @WEF in Davos last week His argument: Founders in Africa need more capital & support Agree or disagree?
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ17,757 views โข 1 year ago
Africa's startup & VC ecosystems were built on different core assets ๐ฐ๐ช Kenya โ NGO funding ๐ฟ๐ฆ S. Africa โ govt support ๐ณ๐ฌ Nigeria โ raw talent Future Africa's Iyin Aboyeji argues that this path dependence explains a lot of what we see across markets today Agree or disagree?
Emeka Ajene โ๐ฝ12,214 views โข 10 months ago
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