Author: Elan

SOUK Farms’ main export markets are Europe and the Middle East.Our new book, How we made it in Africa II: Real stories of entrepreneurs turning opportunity into profit, is available here. The book was recently shortlisted for the Business Council for Africa (BCA) African Business Book of the Year Awards 2026.Entrepreneur Seun Rasheed is the founder of SOUK Farms, which supplies Rwandan-grown produce – including avocados, chillies and beans – to supermarkets in Europe and the Middle East. The company sources its produce both from its own farms and from about 2,000 smallholder farmers in Rwanda.Of Rwanda’s 10 largest agricultural…

Executive Summary Africa’s industrialisation challenge is not primarily a shortage of ideas, policy intent, or entrepreneurial energy, but a constraint in financial architecture and capital deployment. The continent’s ability to build factories, infrastructure, and value-added industries is limited by the cost, structure, and accessibility of long-term finance. Until capital markets are deepened and better aligned with industrial timelines, Africa’s development ambitions will remain difficult to realise at scale. In this sense, industrialisation is fundamentally a financial systems problem before it is anything else. Can Africa finally finance its industrialisation? For decades, Africa’s development agenda has been defined by a consistent…

For years, the Nigerian creator economy followed a familiar formula: build an audience, go viral, secure brand deals, repeat. But as the industry matures, some of the country’s most recognisable creators are beginning to play a different game. They are moving from promoting other people’s products to building their own. Having an audience and owning a business are two very different things. A creator can have millions of followers and still depend on algorithms, advertising budgets and brand partnerships for income. But when that same creator launches a skincare line, restaurant, technology platform or automobile company, the audience becomes something…

Lebara Nigeria has entered into a strategic partnership with African payment infrastructure provider Payaza to integrate advanced payment capabilities into its telecommunications ecosystem, marking another step toward improving digital connectivity and financial access for millions of Nigerians. The collaboration will see Payaza power payment experiences across Lebara’s services, enabling customers to seamlessly purchase airtime and data, manage subscriptions, and access digital services through secure payment channels. The partnership strengthens both companies’ ambition of creating a more connected and financially inclusive digital economy while demonstrating the growing convergence of telecommunications and financial technology in Africa. Bringing Fintech and Telecommunications Together As…

Shimul Sood / Android AuthorityTL;DR Google is rolling out an update for Gemini Notebooks. An “Add a source to Gemini Notebook” step has been added to automate adding sources. This feature is available for Business, Enterprise, and Education customers. Earlier this year, Google rolled out automatic Drive syncing to Gemini Notebooks. The change made it much easier to keep your sources up-to-date. Another source-related change is now rolling out to Notebooks. This change aims to take the burden out of adding sources.In a blog post, Google announced it’s pushing out an update to Gemini Notebooks. The update will add a…

Sazini Mojapelo, the first Africa-based CEO of Village Enterprise. Published on August 08, 2026 at 09:00 am (GMT +1) The bus rides through her hometown of Bulawayo became Sazini Mojapelo’s first lessons about inequality. Sitting beside her mother, she would watch cars sweep past and wonder why some families seemed to move through life with ease while hers struggled to get by. Her mother worked tirelessly, yet money was always tight, leaving the young Mojapelo with questions she could not answer. Why did hard work produce such different outcomes? Who decided who had opportunities and who did not?“I was always…

Listen to this article Tokyo is redefining its engagement with Africa, transitioning from traditional aid-based approaches to strategic venture capital (VC) investments focused on long-term partnerships, innovation and capacity building. Several Japanese private companies are making Japan’s presence felt in Africa’s VC landscape, particularly in high-growth sectors such as fintech, climate tech and mobility. Growing demand for innovative, technology-driven solutions in Africa has drawn increasing interest from international investors. VC funding in Africa rose from over US$2 billion in 2019 to a peak of US$5.2 billion in 2022. Though investment declined to around US$3.6 billion in 2023, the continent’s start-up…

Africa’s startup funding activity slowed sharply in July 2026, with 47 startups raising a combined $102.2 million across disclosed deals. Data compiled by Nairametrics shows that the funding landscape remained heavily concentrated, as the top 10 funded startups attracted $88.85 million, accounting for 86.94% of all capital raised during the month. This means nearly nine out of every ten dollars invested in African startups during the month went to just ten companies. Three startups involved in merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions did not disclose the value of their deals during the period, as the deal values were not disclosed and…

A rebuilt palace and private art: Madagascar’s new cultural offering – African Business A rebuilt palace and private art: Madagascar’s new cultural offering – African Business

cNGN, the Naira-backed stablecoin issued by private company WrappedCBDC, has launched on the Celo blockchain, opening a new channel for instant foreign exchange (FX) settlement and cross-border payments using digital tokens. The integration allows users to swap cNGN for dollar-backed stablecoins, such as Tether’s USDT, through Textile FX, a cross-chain liquidity network that said it had already onboarded 78 over-the-counter (OTC) traders and cross-border payment companies in Nigeria ahead of its launch. The move is intended to connect a naira-denominated digital asset with global stablecoin liquidity, potentially giving fintechs and payment companies a faster and cheaper way to settle international…