Stories1

Ahmed El Zeini — Managing Partner at El Zeini Group, Egypt Ahmed El Zeini (Managing Partner at El Zeini Group, Egypt) has just opened up a valuable opportunity for founders who are ready to scale. If you’re building in a high-growth sector and looking for the right early-stage capital partners, his latest call is one you’ll want to pay attention to. Here’s his message: 🚀Calling All Startup Founders!If you’re building something ambitious in *Fintech, PropTech, DeepTech, AI, AgriTech, or SaaS*, I’d love to connect with you!.I’m currently connecting high-potential founders with *Angel investors*actively deploying capital with ticket sizes ranging from…

Olusegun Joe-Alabi – Founder @MakkanInnovation | Building @MingoolAI After months of building, Olusegun Joe-Alabi has just launched Mingool AI, an AI Chief of Staff for solo founders built to read, prioritise, draft, and organise your emails for you, so you can focus on building your business instead of drowning in your inbox. It’s like having a personal assistant who never sleeps, keeping you on top of what matters most.Says Olusegun We launched on Friday and in 24 hours we had 24 signups, $0 ad spend—just pure organic growth from founders who are tired of drowning in email chaos.If you’re a…

Prosus – the power behind the world’s leading lifestyle eCommerce brands – recently gathered an audience at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for the Africa edition of the Tech Found Her awards. The startup competition finalists featured 10 founders, with 10 different stories, and one shared force. From the 1168 applications received, the 10 finalists were: ✨Farm to Feed – Claire van Enk✨Farmerline Group – Esther Kimani – WINNER✨HubPharm Africa – Tope Kareem✨@LifeBank – Temie Giwa – Tubosun✨POLLEN PATROLLERS – Margaret Wanjiku✨Pullus Africa – Opeoluwa Fayomi✨tix.africa – Folayemi Agusto✨Neotex.ai RDC – Jenny Ambukiyenyi Onya✨AI for Good category – FriendnPal (PREDICTIVE AI MULTILINGUAL…

Tosin Eniolorunda — Co-Founder & Group CEO at Moniepoint As Co-Founder and CEO of Moniepoint, Tosin Eniolorunda has spent years building financial infrastructure for millions of everyday Nigerians—especially those whose livelihoods depend on the informal economy. His work takes him into the heart of communities often overlooked by data and policy, where real economic activity happens quietly but powerfully. Below, he shares one such story: a glimpse into the life and grit of Yietovie, a fish seller in Bayelsa State of Nigeria whose determination reflects the true engine behind Nigeria’s informal sector. “Lately, I’ve been reflecting a lot on Nigeria’s…

The winners of the 2025 AWIEF Awards have been announced! Held in Cape Town, South Africa, the glittering awards gala celebrated outstanding women entrepreneurs and leaders driving innovation, sustainability, and inclusive growth across the continent. Congratulations to the 2025 AWIEF Awards Winners: Young Entrepreneur Award: Norah Kimathi – Zerobionic, Kenya Empowerment Award: Mampho Sotshongaye – Golden Rewards 1981, South Africa Energy Entrepreneur Award: Nidal Tafah – MIRRIAH, Morocco Creative Industry Award: soraya da piedade – Soraya da Piedade LDA, Angola Social Entrepreneur Award: Farana Boodhram (PhD) – MiDesk Global, South Africa Agri Entrepreneur Award (Sponsored by OCP AFRICA): Linda Davis,…

Sand to Green co-Founders – Benjamin Rombaut, Gautier de Carcouët, and Wissal Ben Moussa  Moroccan AgriTech company, Sand to Green, was recently awarded the 1st Prize (€25,000) at the Orange Social Venture Prize Africa & Middle East 2025, for its pioneering work in regenerative agroforestry. Sand to Green’s model combines high-tech and ecology: the startup designs and implements agroforestry systems on degraded or arid lands, turning them into productive, carbon-sequestering, biodiversity-rich ecosystems. Their approach helps landowners and agricultural investors transition to sustainable, resilient systems that deliver returns and restore the environment. By winning, Sand to Green not only receives the…

Vanessa Kuhlor – Events & Experiential Growth Manager at Rilla This year, software development company Rilla made its debut appearance at the Dreamforce flagship annual conference in San Francisco – a gathering of Dreamforce’s global community of customers, partners and developers for learning, networking, innovation and fun. Without a doubt, Rilla made its presence unmissable, thanks to a simple but impactful Guerrilla Marketing campaign that painted the city yellow. Sebastian Jimenez (Founder & CEO, Rilla) explains: It started pouring at 3PM in San Francisco today. By 4PM, 700 people at Dreamforce were walking around with bright yellow Rilla umbrellas.Two days…

Kafilat Adedeji – Founder, Ufarmy Organics Serial entrepreneur and agripreneur Kafilat Adedeji continues to make her mark on Nigeria’s SME and agrifood landscape with the relaunch of Ufarmy Organics’ Umami Spice Blend Family — a reimagined line of all-natural seasonings crafted to transform everyday Nigerian cooking. Her latest innovation — six unique mushroom-infused Umami spice blends — eliminates the need for artificial cubes or MSG, offering Nigerians a nutrient-rich, flavourful alternative that’s 100% natural and proudly made in Nigeria. From the Umami Jollof Spice Mix to the Pepper Soup Spice Blend and Multipurpose Seasoning, each variant celebrates authentic Nigerian tastes…

Lumi Mustapha – General Counsel & Strategic Advisor at Pareto Mosca Elite Advisory Nigeria’s real market isn’t 200 million — and that’s its strength In a sharp, data-driven reflection, Lumi Mustapha challenges one of Nigeria’s most persistent economic assumptions — that the country’s population automatically translates into a 200-million-person consumer market. Drawing insights from NIN, BVN, GSM, and broadband penetration data, he argues that only about 30 million Nigerians are truly income-active and digitally connected. Far from being a crisis, this reality, he says, is an opportunity to build smarter, more resilient “Camel economies” — grounded in real revenue, sustainable…

Tayo Oviosu – Founder & CEO at Paga Paga, Nigeria’s pioneering mobile payments and financial services company, has officially launched operations in the United States—marking a bold step toward transforming how the African Diaspora moves and manages money. For many Africans living in the U.S., basic financial services such as opening a bank account or sending money home are often costly and inaccessible. Paga’s new platform allows diaspora users to open and manage U.S. bank accounts using only valid identification and a U.S. residential address. The rollout begins with the Nigerian community in the U.S., which has grown significantly over…