AfricaX Podcast

In this episode meet Chukwuemeka Ndukwe, co-founder of Cofundie, a real estate platform operating in Ghana and Nigeria. When we interviewed Emeka back in 2019 they were just about to fund their first project and deliver their proof of concept for crowdfunding real estate projects implemented with alternative materials such as rammed earth.

In the interview Emeka shares:

• Why traditional real estate investors in West Africa aren't meeting the housing need and why he moved back in with his parents after college
• How he combined becoming an entrepreneur and formal skill acquisition and how that has helped his company
• And why before launching Cofundie he interviewed and talked with about a thousand people about what they wanted to do

We also talked about what his advice for young Nigerians is and why helping others to generate more income was a key takeaway he had learned that helped him to build Cofundie.

Of course, since our interview Cofundie has come a long way and expanded its services from crowdfunding property deals to managing units across marketplaces such as Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia as well as property management services.

There is a lot of gold in this interview from the beginning times of Cofundie and I hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did.

And now, without further ado, enter Emeka.

In this episode, meet  Nosa Oyegun and Folayemi Agusto, the Co- Founders of EatDrinkLagos, a food website that allows residents and visitors in Lagos to find places to eat and drink, and find information about Nigerian food, including restaurant reviews and articles.

Eat Drink Lagos also organizes food festivals  in Lagos and Abuja that promote culinary talents such as mixologists, bartenders, professional and hobby chefs and they created an event ticketing system called tix.africa that is specifically tailored for small businesses after they noticed how cumbersome it was to sell tickets for their events.

In the interview Nosa and Folly share:

1. How they transitioned from 9 to 5 into running their own business
2. How the business has evolved from a simple media website, to an event business and then an event tech company
3. And what challenges they faced on their journey.  

They also talk about the strategies that they used to  finance their venture and what their advice for young Nigerians is. 

There is a lot of gold in this interview and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 

In this episode, meet Chima Ezeokoye, co-founder at WeMove Technologies, a Tech Startup Building Solutions for Mobility and Transportation in Nigeria, including the possibility to hire agricultural equipment, cars, busses, trucks etc.

In the interview Chima shares...

• What his personal learning journey was from his first beginnings in business to becoming co-founder of the startup.
• How the idea for WeMove Technologies was piloted by his co-founder after a friend requested transport from him to move family to another state for a wedding
• What challenges the business faced and overcame

And what his advice to young Nigerians is.

He also shares why he describes himself as the guy that goes around, shakes peoples hands and smiles and how pricing happens on the WeMove platform.

There is a lot of gold in this interview and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. And now without further ado, enter Chima Ezeokoye.

In this episode meet Zamaswazi Mfusi the founder of IndiLang, a platform for delivering indigenous content tailored to African children.

In the interview we did with Zamaswazi Mfusi, she shares:

• what inspired her to create content for children on the African continent
• what challenges she faced in launching her project
• and what her advice to young South Africans is

She also shares how she tapped into her network for support and enlisted the help of the talent within her community to get momentum. We hope you enjoy this interview and now, without further ado, enter Zamaswazi Mfusi. 

In this episode, meet Bjorn Wiedow, the co-founder of ROBOT School Namibia. So at the ROBOT school Namibia the from about eight year olds are being taught the the curriculum from university in software, coding, design, robotics and digital fabrication.

In the interview Bjorn shares:

- How the Robotschool business model works and how they came up with the idea

- How they launched the business

- And why he would prioritize practical experience of a university degree

He also shares how they marketed the idea differently to parents and teachers vs. the kids and what his advice for young Namibians is.

There is a lot of good stuff in this interview and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. And now, without further ado, enter Bjorn Wiedow.

In this episode, meet Sizwe Cele, the co-founder of Khomba, a startup tackling the optimization of transportation with mini busses in South Africa. More than anything Sizwe seems to love to build products and solutions for all sorts of problems he comes across.

In his early twenties, he built a product to lend out heavy machinery that sits idle. He built an app for schools. And a host of other things. Even though he was excited about these products, getting someone to pay for them or use them often proved a challenge. So for some time he dedicated himself to building a digital agency before going back to building tech solutions.

In the interview Sizwe shares:

• Why in his mid twenties, he downgraded, moved back in with his parents and refused to do anything except things he was passionate about
• How him and his co-founder started working on Khomba and developed a deep understanding of the complexities of the mini bus transportation market in South Africa
• How to attract amazing talent to your startup or project

...and what his advice for young South Africans is. He also shares about how he gets to work and connect with anyone he wants to work with and how he manages his time, working on several projects in parallel.

We hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did. And now, without further ado, enter Sizwe Cele.

In this episode, meet Selly Wane, the founder of SWANE-Design, an upcycling business transforming trash into furniture and creating an ecological and social impact in the process.

As a child Selly had always been fascinated by people who were transforming trash into something useful. And being interested in sustainability but also design, it comes as no surprise that her interests eventually led her to start a business that would combine these two passions.

In the interview Selly shares:

• How she kicked off her upcycling business in a time when the term wasn't even known to people.
• How she overcame her fear of failure and dealt with the pressure after she had taken out a loan to ship her first container full of upcycled products
• How she worked with distributors to clear her stock and why she eventually set up her own cafe and show room

and what her advise for young people in Senegal is.

She also shares why in crucial moments she didn't take 'no' for an answer and the reasoning behind yet another venture of hers: An incubator for civil society initiatives.

Today Selly spends a lot of time between Germany and Senegal building bridges and connecting creators, entrepreneurs and artists.

There is so much gold in this interview and I hope you enjoy hearing from Selly as much as I did.

And now, without further ado, enter Selly Wane. 

In this episode, meet Kaveto Tjatjara, the Founder of Worldview Technology.

With 54% of Namibians living without access to adequate sanitation, Worldview Technology is on a mission to provide sanitation for all, especially for the urban poor population by use of ecological, sustainable sanitation solutions.

In the interview Kaveto shares;

1. His experience with lack of sanitation while visiting across Namibia and how the lack of toilets kept him from enjoying a feast when visiting his ancestral home

2. The strategy he used to validate that indeed there was a sanitation problem and that he had a solution that could work

3. And how he transitioned from an accounting and economist career to a social entrepreneur

Kaveto also talks about how he financed his business, business challenges he faced and how even as a child, his entrepreneurial savvy helped him get through school.

There is a lot of gold in this interview. And while it was recorded back in 2019, the learnings are as relevant as ever.

We hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did and now, without further ado, enter Kaveto.

In this episode, meet Melkisedek Melkies Ausiku, founder of LEFA Transportation Services, an urban mobility startup connecting passengers on the one hand with drivers on the other, to make moving around Windhoek and Namibia more convenient and safe.

In the interview Melkies shares about his first experience using Uber in South Africa and how the idea of bringing a similar service to Namibia stuck with him. However, it was not until he lost his job as an electrical engineer that he really made the leap and turned the idea for LEFA into reality.

In the interview Melkies shares:

• How a partnership with Namibian Breweries provided the perfect launch pad for LEFA and gave the fledging business initial traction
• How he got drivers to not only join but also stay active on the app, even while initially there were only few passengers
• And how he managed to set up LEFA without reinventing the Wheel

He also shares how cultural conditioning can be a challenge when launching a business and what his advice to young people in Namibia is.

There is a lot of gold in this interview and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

And now, without further ado, enter Melkisedek Melkies Ausiku.

_______________________

YOU LIKED THIS PODCAST?

Here is how you can learn more and support...:

👉🏾 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/africaxproject/

👉🏾 Check out our Blog: https://www.africax.org/blog to listen to all of the episodes as a podcast and watch the videos

👉🏾 Donate and help us empower the next generation of young entrepreneurs and changemakers in Africa through https://www.yesfoundersfoundation.org with as little as 10 USD

👉🏾 Or last but not least GET THE AFRICAX BOOK HERE... and follow the epic adventure of Dulcie Mativo and Thomas Jakel as they travel the African continent overland with an electric motorbike, to interview over 100 inspiring changemakers in 20 countries, from Morocco and Mauritania to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and many more... Get access to the the charge map for the electric motorbike, the interviews with 100 changemakers, entrepreneurs and social innovators and our 10 'secrets' to travelling the African continent electric.

Here some of the 5 Star reviews of the book:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Now this adventure and story telling is something else!!! I’m now in Ghana. Completely grateful for Abo as well. Liberia was the epic best disaster." - a reader

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Such an amazing read. Probably the first book I’ve read in a year - since 2020 I’ve mostly been doing audio books ; but this is so worth it. It’s made me crave a good read again, thank you." - a reader

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "A wild and captivating read that combines both a unique adventure as well as inspiring accounts about Africa's young leaders and social entrepreneurs. If you are into travel and inspiration, this book is for you. Thumbs up."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "I started reading into this book without high expectations but then got really pulled into the story. So much so, that I found it hard to put the book down. It is a wild mix of pure adventure, fun storytelling that has you on the floor laughing, the inspirational vibe with all the interviews with African entrepreneurs and then the zen attitude this couple gives off, even when they are stuck in the mud between borders or lose their support vehicle. Great read. Can only recommend."

In this interview, meet Sebastian Patel, co-founder of Franc, an investment app in South Africa with the aim of promoting financial inclusion by removing minimum investment amounts and taking the complexity out of putting your money to work for you.

In the interview we speak about:

• How the business was born and how they financed the launch
• What makes Franc different and why financial inclusion is so important
• And what the teams biggest challenge was starting up

Seb also shares about his transition from working at an investment company to entrepreneur and what his advice for young South African entrepreneurs is.

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did. And now, without further ado, enter Seb Patel.

_______________________

YOU LIKED THIS PODCAST?

Here is how you can learn more and support...:

👉🏾 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/africaxproject/

👉🏾 Check out our Blog: https://www.africax.org/blog to listen to all of the episodes as a podcast and watch the videos

👉🏾 Donate and help us empower the next generation of young entrepreneurs and changemakers in Africa through https://www.yesfoundersfoundation.org with as little as 10 USD

👉🏾 Or last but not least GET THE AFRICAX BOOK HERE... and follow the epic adventure of Dulcie Mativo and Thomas Jakel as they travel the African continent overland with an electric motorbike, to interview over 100 inspiring changemakers in 20 countries, from Morocco and Mauritania to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and many more... Get access to the the charge map for the electric motorbike, the interviews with 100 changemakers, entrepreneurs and social innovators and our 10 'secrets' to travelling the African continent electric.

Here some of the 5 Star reviews of the book:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Now this adventure and story telling is something else!!! I’m now in Ghana. Completely grateful for Abo as well. Liberia was the epic best disaster." - a reader

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Such an amazing read. Probably the first book I’ve read in a year - since 2020 I’ve mostly been doing audio books ; but this is so worth it. It’s made me crave a good read again, thank you." - a reader

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "A wild and captivating read that combines both a unique adventure as well as inspiring accounts about Africa's young leaders and social entrepreneurs. If you are into travel and inspiration, this book is for you. Thumbs up."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "I started reading into this book without high expectations but then got really pulled into the story. So much so, that I found it hard to put the book down. It is a wild mix of pure adventure, fun storytelling that has you on the floor laughing, the inspirational vibe with all the interviews with African entrepreneurs and then the zen attitude this couple gives off, even when they are stuck in the mud between borders or lose their support vehicle. Great read. Can only recommend."