Innovation in Emerging Markets

𝟳𝟱% 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝗻. In Kenya, 76% of scientific publications are co-authored by foreigners. Most of our research is funded externally, driven by donor priorities, not local needs. We're the data points. But rarely the authors. Rarely the funders. Rarely the owners. This isn't just a knowledge gap; it's a power gap. Yes, Kenya spends 0.8% of its GDP on R&D , second in Africa. But over 80% of that is donor-funded. Even institutions like KEMRI depend on billions from abroad. This is parachute science. It’s neo-colonial. And it’s unsustainable. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱? ✅ Fund local research from national budgets. ✅ Shift from token collaboration to true co-creation. ✅ Commercialize African knowledge. ✅ Make universities the engines of innovation, not donor-dependent projects. Africa must move from being studied… to being the scholar. We don’t lack genius. We lack ownership. Let’s fix that. Let’s take this conversation further, let me know your ideas on local research funding models. Let’s build a pan-African brain trust. Wavinya Makai is a historian, development scholar, Pan-Africanist, and international relations expert. She reads the world not just to understand it, but to change it. Founder of unchained conversations. #ResearchOwnership #AfricaRising #KenyaScience #DecolonizeData #FundingOurMinds

Africa’s next trillion-dollar industry won’t be fintech. It’s agriculture — rebuilt with technology, climate adaptation, and soil science at the centre. Agriculture 2.0: Africa’s Quiet Food Revolution For decades, people said Africa must “catch up.” But something far more powerful is happening: we’re leapfrogging. A new generation of farmers, innovators, and agribusinesses is building Agriculture 2.0 — a system defined by precision, resilience, and sustainability. Here’s what’s rewriting Africa’s food future: 1️⃣ Drones are becoming the new farmworkers Not replacing labour — amplifying it. From crop-health mapping to targeted spraying, drones are making data-driven farming accessible and affordable. 2️⃣ Precision irrigation is solving Africa’s water crisis Water scarcity is rising, but so is innovation. Smart irrigation now delivers exactly what crops need, reducing wastage and enabling year-round production. 3️⃣ Organic soil treatments are restoring Africa’s greatest asset After decades of depletion, soil restoration is back at the centre. Biofertilisers, regenerative inputs, and organic treatments are building long-term fertility with higher yields and lower costs. 4️⃣ Climate adaptation is no longer optional Heat-tolerant seeds, micro-irrigation, regenerative farming, and AI-powered weather tools are helping farmers survive — and thrive — in increasingly volatile conditions. 5️⃣ Water management is becoming a national priority From smart metering to micro-catchment systems, Africa is rethinking water at scale. Food security depends on it — and the shift has already begun. The result? Africa is moving from vulnerable importer… to emerging global food powerhouse. Investors are waking up. Entrepreneurs are innovating. Farmers are transforming the continent one hectare at a time. If you want to see where Africa’s next economic leap will come from, don’t look at boardrooms — look at farms. Which innovation do you think will have the biggest impact on Agriculture 2.0?

How did a little-known Chinese startup beat Apple and Samsung Electronics in Africa? In the mid-2000s, while the world’s tech giants were fighting for market share in Europe and the U.S., a little-known entrepreneur named Zhu Zhaojiang saw an opportunity no one else did: Africa. Armed with no college degree, no outside funding, and no brand name, Zhu began by selling phones out of a backpack in Lagos, Nigeria, going door-to-door to understand what African consumers actually needed. In 2006, he founded Transsion with a singular belief: the next billion mobile users would come from emerging markets - not Silicon Valley’s backyard. Fast forward to today: Transsion owns over 40% of the African smartphone market, outselling Apple, Samsung, and Huawei combined. How? 🔹 Hyper-local strategy: Transsion didn’t just sell phones—it listened. It designed phones with longer battery life for areas with inconsistent electricity, multiple SIM slots for users juggling telecom networks, and camera tech calibrated for darker skin tones. 🔹 Branding for different segments: Under its brands TECNO, Infinix, and itel, Transsion created offerings for every price point - building a product ladder that grew with its users. 🔹 On-the-ground distribution: While competitors chased online buzz, Transsion quietly built deep offline retail and servicing networks, even in rural towns, building loyalty through reliability. 🔹 Software for Africa: It launched its own OS - HiOS - with pre-installed apps and local language support, beating Western UX assumptions with on-the-ground insights. Transsion did what few others dared: It built for Africa first. In an age where startups are told to raise big, scale fast, and exit quick, Zhu’s story is a reminder that deep market focus and long-term thinking can still win. As the African digital economy continues to expand - and Transsion now explores fintech, content, and OS ventures - one question remains: Will more global companies finally start building with Africa instead of just selling to Africa? #Startups #Africa #Business

Africa is NOT a Country And Treating It Like One Could Cost You Millions. Last week I said it, and I’ll say it again: the biggest mistake investors make is thinking Africa is a monolith. This infographic from Afridigest is the perfect explanation for why that mindset is so dangerous. If you are building or investing in Fintech, you are navigating FOUR market archetypes. You cannot copy-paste a winning strategy from Lagos to Nairobi. The infrastructure dictates the product: ➡️ Banking Bastions (South Africa, Morocco): Compete with entrenched banks; products must inspire trust.  ➡️ Mobile Money Mavens (Kenya, Ghana): Telcos are gatekeepers; if you don’t integrate mobile money, you’re invisible.  ➡️ Transformation Titans (Nigeria, Egypt): High-velocity fintech frontiers; startups shape the economy in real-time.  Now, this doesn't mean we should ignore the push for unity. The AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area) is the most ambitious project on the continent. With the rollout of the Digital Trade Protocol and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), we are finally building the pipes to connect these 54 markets. The reality: AfCFTA is the goal; Afridigest’s map is the starting line. Bottom Line for 2026: To win in African Fintech today, you need a "Dual-Track" Strategy ✅ Respect the Archetype: Build for the specific infrastructure of the market you are in now. ✅ Prepare for Integration: Ensure your tech stack is ready for the cross-border interoperability that the AfCFTA promises. Capital alone isn’t enough. Context is everything. Don’t wait for a unified Africa to start building, but don’t build so narrowly that you’re trapped when the borders finally open.

Rethinking Africa’s Connectivity Model: From Scarcity → Abundance 1️⃣ First: Listen to the Market. Africa is Not a Monolith. Nigeria ≠ Ghana ≠ Kenya. The continent is connected, yet deeply local. Look at Nigeria: Despite income levels, our aspirational culture pushes early adoption. It’s why we embraced mobile data and GPRS before many expected. Look at Ghana: SIM penetration has exceeded 100% since 2013 because people have used multi-SIM lifestyles to solve network frustration. Look at West Africa last year: A single subsea fibre cut took down half the region, proving how connected we all are. How we need redundancy, resilience, and continental-scale infrastructure thinking. Africa is connected—just not equally. 2️⃣ Build Infrastructure for African Realities This next phase will require more than the old formula of “government over here, private sector over there.” The future is co-creation, joint risk, and hybrid infrastructure financing. We did it before: Africa leapfrogged fixed lines and built one of the most powerful mobile ecosystems in the world— with mobile operators holding bigger agent networks and cash flows than many banks. We can leapfrog again. 3️⃣ Innovate Business Models… Not Just Technology If we want to connect the next 800 million, we can't keep using the old playbook. It might be time to explore: Sponsored access → Browse free after watching an ad. Device-as-a-service → Smartphones paid monthly via Ajo / Esusu model. Community networks → Local infra owned by local cooperatives. Micro-payments for micro-access → Not everyone needs unlimited bundles. If Africa’s consumers are creative, our business models must be too. 🔚 In Closing: Shift The Narrative The real mission is not just connecting the unconnected. It is empowering the under-connected. It is ensuring that digital prosperity reaches every home, every school, every community, no matter the latitude or socio-economic bracket. This is how Africa builds abundance. This is an excerpt of the paper I presented at the IEEE CTU-EMEA Summit 2025 What is one new or interesting business model you think can work for connecting our rural or underserved areas?

𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮’𝘀 $𝟭 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 – 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁-𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 🔥 ➊ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 Oui Capital’s brand new deep dive pegs Africa’s total (formal + informal) remittance pool at US $329 billion by 2025 — and on a 12 % tear to ≈ US $1 trillion by 2035 ➋ 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 (𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘄) Formal flows into Sub-Saharan Africa were US $53-54 billion in 2022, but informals account for 35–75 % of the real volume; a reminder that suitcases of cash and hawala networks remain stubbornly sticky ➌ 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 • 781 million registered wallets in 2022 (+17 % YoY) processed US $837 billion — 66 % of global mobile-money value • Cross-border transfers over those rails hit US $16 billion, up 22 % YoY, showing diaspora users will switch when UX and pricing line up ➍ 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗮𝗽 = 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹’𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 • Average fee to send US $200 into Africa via banks: ≈ 8 % (and over 12 % in many Southern corridors) • Fintech & mobile-money channels now land around 3.5 %, saving migrants US $4-5 billion every year and inching toward the UN SDG target of 3 % ➎ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝘀? • Only 55 % of African regulators allow full e-KYC, forcing repeat checks and paper trails • Reliance on offshore USD/EUR clearing adds ~US $5 billion in needless FX costs • Fragmented mobile-money networks mean a Kenyan wallet can’t always talk to a Ghanaian one - an API gap crying out for builders. ➏ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝘅𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 PAPSS and other real-time, local-currency rails could claw back that US $5 billion in correspondent-bank fees - and every 1 % drop in remittance costs frees up ≈ US $6 billion a year for African households Big question: 𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙨, 𝙋𝘼𝙋𝙎𝙎, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚-𝙘𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙘𝙮 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙨? 🔗 Full analysis in Oui Capital’s “Africa’s Cross-Border Payment Landscape” report. Highly recommended reading for anyone building or investing in the rails of tomorrow. Thoughts? Drop them below ⬇️ Oui Capital Joseph Cleetus Dmitri Navaratnam Amar Sinha #crossborderpayments #remittances #payments #wallets #distuptions

🔴 In Africa, Uber lost to the boda driver with a phone number you can actually call. That's not a failure of technology—it's a masterclass in what truly drives financial inclusion. In a recent FS i-Hub session with Hugo Pacheco - The Barefoot Economist and Rob Sanford, CEO of SafeBoda (mobility fintech super app), revealed something profound: in markets where 80% of workers are informal and trust is scarce, embedded finance isn't about APIs—it's about understanding people. The conversation cut through the hype: 📍 Platforms aren't just apps—they're economic infrastructure 📍 Financial wellness comes before financial growth 📍 Trust beats speed in low-trust environments ‣ Rob's insight hit home: "Traditional banks can't underwrite a boda driver—but we can, because we know their work, income patterns, and ambitions." SafeBoda doesn't just move people. It embeds insurance, vehicle loans, land credit, and same-day payouts directly into daily work. Drivers repay loans through rides, build credit histories through activity, and move from instability to asset ownership. This is what financial inclusion looks like when it's designed from the ground up—not imported from the top down. Key insights from the session: • Local platforms win because they build trust through human support, not just technology • Embedded finance works when it's lived daily, not layered on afterward  • Africa needs 12 million new jobs yearly—platforms are filling the gap that formal systems can't • Smart regulation should enable platform innovation, not strangle it Hugo brings us conversations that challenge conventional wisdom and spotlight what's actually working in African fintech—not what sounds good in boardrooms. Because the future of work and finance in Africa won't be written by those chasing global playbooks. It will be built by those who understand local realities. 👇 Read the full insights from the session  🎥 Watch the replay (link included in the article) What's your take? Can global platforms ever truly compete with locally-rooted solutions in emerging markets? #Fintech #Africa #superapp #FSiHub

After reviewing more pitch decks these past few days, I see African fintech founders are still flogging the dead horse that is "banking the unbanked" as a lazy fundraising pitch. From Yaounde to Cape Town, it’s the same story, another mobile wallet, payments app, another promise to bring financial inclusion to the masses. Truth is: most Africans are not unbanked because they lack access; they’re unbanked because they lack income. A new app won’t change that. The Brutal Truth Lack of Disposable Income – People don’t need more fintech solutions; they need more money. Without increased economic productivity, most “financial inclusion” solutions remain useless. Broken Unit Economics – Many fintechs rely on unsustainable VC fueled growth, acquiring “users” who don’t generate revenue. Regulatory Capture & Infrastructure Gaps – Governments protect banks and telcos dominate mobile money. The real bottlenecks are systemic, not just about "access." Startups often underestimate how slow, expensive, and political it is to scale across markets. Real Problems & Better Solutions Income-Generating Fintech – Instead of just moving money, fintech should help people make money. Platforms enabling gig work, SME financing, and export-focused businesses can drive real financial inclusion. A fintech that helps informal traders access larger markets, rather than just helping them "save." Decentralized Credit & Alternative Lending – Traditional credit models don’t work in Africa. Instead: Use supply chain data, mobile behavior, and transaction flows to build more dynamic credit models. Integrate fintech into cooperative lending structures like tontines or village savings groups, where trust already exists. B2B Payments & Trade Infrastructure – Cross-border trade needs work, killing SME growth. Fix it: Build better escrow and invoice financing tools that help African businesses transact across borders securely. Verticalized Fintech in High-Impact Sectors – Fintech should power real economic activity, not just payments. Agritech fintech: Give farmers access to dynamic pricing, supply chain finance, and better insurance. Healthcare fintech: Enable embedded payments and credit for medical services, helping people afford care without predatory loans. Logistics fintech: Provide financing for truckers, warehousing solutions, and real-time supply chain support. Infrastructure-First Fintech – If power, internet, & ID verification are problems, solve those first. Payments without stable connectivity? Build USSD-based financial services. Weak credit infrastructure? Build platforms that help lenders pool risk and share credit data across borders. The era of cheap fundraising gimmicks is over. African fintech must shift from vanity metrics to real impact, solving income generation, trade inefficiencies, and credit access at scale. I'm tired of saying this, founders who build with these in mind won’t need to beg for funding; investors will come looking for them.

McDonald's failed in Iceland. Uber struggles in Germany. Amazon got iced out in Australia & South Africa. 😬🥶 What did they miss? The fundamental truth that a proven business model is only proven for the specific market it was built in. The relentless pressure to scale globally often leads founders to copy and paste a strategy that's completely out of sync with local realities. It's a quick path to failure, built on a dangerous lie: that all markets are created equal. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙙𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙥 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 - Mangrove 💚🌱 We learned this lesson perfectly from a simple observation: a cold drink in an emerging market can often cost more than a full meal. Think about the Tao Bin vending machines in Thailand. Starbucks saw a market and thought, "We'll build a café." But Tao Bin saw a different need. They realised that in a crowded, traffic-heavy city, the core value wasn't a comfortable cafe; it was instant, affordable convenience. They didn't compete with cafes; they provided a different kind of value, a high quality drink for 50% cheaper, instantly available in office buildings and hospitals. That's the core of operational resilience: understanding that true localisation isn't about fitting in; it's about providing a fundamentally different kind of value based on local pain points and behaviours. It's about building a business that's not just durable, but deeply relevant. Resilience is a framework for global growth. Here are some of the pillars we use at Mangrove to build businesses that can thrive in any market: 🕵 Core Identification: You must define your essential services. M-KOPA, an African fintech platform, didn't just sell solar panels. Its core offering was affordable, accessible energy via a pay-as-you-go model that matched customers' daily financial habits. They were selling a solution to a problem, lack of reliable power not just a product. 🗺️ Resource Mapping: Know your assets! When Uber launched in Germany, it faced legal challenges because its model of using non-licensed drivers clashed with local laws. They failed to map out the regulatory landscape, which became a major roadblock. A resilient business would have identified this early on and adjusted their model. 🤓 Continuous Learning & Adaptation: Build feedback loops. A company like Canva shows how this works on a global scale. They don't just translate their app, they create region specific templates and content based on local user feedback. A holiday card for Japan looks completely different from one for Brazil because they continuously adapt to cultural nuances. These aren't just survival tactics... they are your growth engine in disguise! By building a business around deep market understanding, user journeys and a flexible framework, you can become mission-focused and future fit. Let's start designing to thrive! #buildbetter #scalefaster #failless

What can a grandmother teach us about solving one of Africa's biggest healthcare challenges? Quite a lot, as it turns out. In a recent episode of the Unlocking Africa Podcast, "The Grandmothers Helping Solve Africa's Mental Health Crisis," I sat down with Esther Tumbare, CEO of Friendship Bench Zimbabwe, to explore how a simple idea developed in Zimbabwe is increasing access to mental healthcare not just across Africa, but around the world. One statistic from our conversation really stood out. Zimbabwe, a country of around 16 million people, has fewer than 20 psychiatrists. Rather than waiting decades to train more specialists, Friendship Bench asked a different question: What if trusted members of the community could deliver evidence-based mental healthcare? The answer has become one of Africa's most recognised healthcare innovations. By training community grandmothers, integrating services into existing public healthcare systems, and grounding everything in rigorous scientific research, Friendship Bench has supported hundreds of thousands of people while creating a model that is now being adapted across multiple countries. As Esther explained: "The grandmothers are kind, they're empathetic, they are wise and they have the time." But what struck me most was that this conversation wasn't just about mental health. It was about how African innovation can solve complex challenges by working with communities, building on existing systems, and designing solutions that are affordable, evidence-based, and capable of reaching millions. We also discussed: ✅ Why mental health should be viewed as an economic development issue, not just a healthcare issue. ✅ Why governments have been central to Friendship Bench's ability to scale. ✅ How community-led innovation can outperform more traditional service delivery models. ✅ What it takes to adapt an African solution for countries around the world. My favourite quote from the episode perfectly captures the broader story: "We thought we were poor in Africa, but we've always had the resources that we need to be successful." It's a reminder that some of Africa's most impactful innovations don't begin with cutting-edge technology. They begin by understanding local realities, building trust, and empowering communities. The full episode is live. Link in the comments. #UnlockingAfrica #MentalHealth #HealthcareInnovation #PublicHealth #CommunityHealth