Made In Africa

In this episode of Made in Africa, we sit down with Offiong Isyah, Investment Analyst at Microtraction, to discuss the changing Nigerian VC funding landscape, what investors look for when evaluating startups, and what makes a venture fundable in today’s market.

We also explore why fintech continues to dominate African venture capital, how startups in other industries can attract investor interest, and what it takes to build scalable, venture-backed businesses.

Whether you’re a founder preparing to raise capital or interested in the future of African tech and venture capital, this conversation offers valuable insights.

What does it take to build thriving tech ecosystems across Africa, and how do you identify founders who are built to succeed?

In this episode of Made in Africa, we sit down with Gerald Black, CEO of XConnect, to explore his extensive experience as a tech ecosystem builder and operator across the continent.

Gerald shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey, including the acquisition of his startup, Parkit, and the lessons that experience taught him. We also unpack the differences between Africa’s various tech ecosystems, exploring how their unique dynamics shape opportunities for startups and founders.

Whether you’re a founder, investor, or ecosystem builder, this conversation offers valuable perspectives on building businesses, navigating Africa’s diverse startup landscape, and recognising entrepreneurial potential.

🎧 Tune in to another insightful conversation on Made in Africa.

What if finding a house in Nigeria didn’t have to come with exorbitant agent fees and endless middlemen?

In this episode of Made in Africa, I sit down with Laidi Jimoh, Founder & CEO of Crest, the proptech startup building a better way for Nigerians to find and rent homes.

But before Crest, there was a journey.

Laidi grew up watching his mother run a local food buka, giving him an early look at the realities of entrepreneurship. He went on to university, built a career at FirstBank of Nigeria, pursued his love for football, and eventually found his way into real estate.

It was through that experience that he began to see just how broken Nigeria’s rental market could be — from exorbitant middleman charges to the friction involved in simply finding a place to live.

Those experiences eventually led him to build Crest.

We talk about growing up entrepreneurial, career choices, banking, football, real estate, the problems with Nigeria’s rental market, and what it takes to turn an everyday frustration into a technology company.

This is more than the story of a proptech startup. It’s the story of how life experiences, unexpected career turns, and seeing a problem up close can ultimately lead you to the company you were meant to build.

In this episode of Made in Africa, Samuel Kemeshi sits down with Ikpeme Neto, Founder and CEO of WellaHealth, to explore the journey that shaped one of Nigeria's most respected healthtech founders.

From growing up in Nigeria and his brief experience as a boarding school student, to studying medicine abroad and ultimately choosing to return home, Neto shares how his passion for creating meaningful impact led him to build WellaHealth—a company on a mission to make quality healthcare more accessible and affordable for everyday Nigerians.

We also dive into his philosophy on hiring, why he believes attitude and zeal matter more than technical skills, and how he builds teams capable of solving difficult problems. Neto also makes a thought-provoking case that wealthy people have a responsibility to become entrepreneurs, arguing that their financial security puts them in a unique position to take risks and tackle society's biggest challenges.

Whether you're a founder, aspiring entrepreneur, healthcare professional, or simply interested in building impactful businesses in Africa, this conversation is packed with practical insights and fresh perspectives.

Topics covered:

•⁠ ⁠Growing up in Nigeria and studying medicine abroad

•⁠ ⁠Why Ikpeme returned to Nigeria to build WellaHealth

•⁠ ⁠The challenge of expanding access to quality healthcare

•⁠ ⁠Hiring for attitude over skill

•⁠ ⁠Why the wealthy should take entrepreneurial risks

•⁠ ⁠Building mission-driven companies that create lasting impact

In this episode of the Made in Africa Podcast, we sit down with Lois Oluwaseun Adeniji, Founder and CEO of Spur Nation Group, to unpack her remarkable journey of building a multi-vertical media and business services company—starting while she was still in her fourth year of college.

Lois shares how what began as Spur Nation Magazine, a platform focused on telling compelling business and startup stories, organically evolved into a full-fledged media and business solutions group. Driven by increasing demand from clients, Spur Nation expanded beyond storytelling into marketing, PR, growth strategy, and hands-on support for startups and businesses.

Today, Spur Nation Group operates multiple subsidiaries, including DreamLab, its technology arm focused on MVP development, and Avocado Publishing, its publishing company—bringing Lois closer to her vision of building a one-stop shop for startup and business needs.

In this episode of Made in Africa, I speak with Omolara Olarerin, Founder and CEO of PocketFood, about her journey from trading books in secondary school to building a funded food-tech startup.

She shares how her early hustle evolved into building her first app in university—a platform that connected people with trusted service providers like plumbers and electricians. Though that venture ended after graduation, it laid the foundation for her next big idea.

Born out of her struggle to find lunch while working a 9–5, PocketFood has since raised over $100,000 and continues to grow across Nigeria’s food delivery space.

A story of grit, insight, and turning everyday problems into lasting solutions.

In this episode of Made in Africa, I sit down with Moses Babatunde, popularly known as OgaHR—an HR consultant and founder of The African Work Summit.

Moses started his corporate career in insurance sales. But a pivotal moment came back in his 300-level days during an interview where the panel told him he’d be exceptional in HR. That comment stayed with him, and years later his MD at AXA Mansard offered him an internship in the HR department—where he started with minimal HR tasks before fully transitioning into the field.

We also dive deep into demystifying HR in Nigeria, from what HR truly does to the power dynamics between employers and employees. Moses breaks down the realities of the modern workplace, why many Nigerians misunderstand HR, and what both founders and talent need to get right. This is a must-listen for anyone navigating or building within the African workforce.

In this episode of the Made in Africa Podcast, Samuel Kemeshi interviews Philips Olajide and Solomon Ogunbowale, co-founders of KorinAI, Africa’s first AI music lab.

They share how their childhood experiences taught them independence and problem-solving early on—skills that now shape their approach to building technology.

Both founders originally planned to become medical doctors, but setbacks within Nigeria’s tertiary education system pushed them to pivot. That pivot led them to software development—and eventually to each other.

Philips, trained in music technology, also faced repeated challenges in his music career, especially the high cost of production. His search for simpler, more affordable tools sparked the idea that became KorinAI. Solomon later left his role at Goldman Sachs to join him in building the platform.

This episode dives into their journey, their vision for AI in Africa’s music industry, and what it takes to build world-class products from the continent.

In this episode of Made in Africa, host Kemeshi Samuel sits down with Jennie Nwokoye, founder and CEO of Clafiya, Nigeria's innovative healthcare platform that's making quality healthcare accessible and affordable across Africa.

From working at the Secret Service and CIA interviews to building a healthcare startup in Nigeria, Jennie shares her unconventional journey into entrepreneurship. Learn how a Georgetown University project on community health workers evolved into Clafiya after going viral on TechCabal in 2021, attracting investment from Microtraction.

In this episode, we explore:

—Why African healthcare needs sensitization as much as infrastructure
—How Clafiya combines health savings accounts (earning 10% interest) with telemedicine and pharmacy services
—The challenges of building healthcare infrastructure in Nigeria's reactive healthcare culture
—Navigating the 2021-2023 funding boom and managing startup expectations
—Strategic partnerships with Adidas, MedPlus, and Synlab
—The reality of founder mental health and setting boundaries
Why most male customers use the platform despite appearing women-focused

Jennie candidly discusses the hard lessons of managing people, the difference between being nice versus kind, and why founders must prioritize self-care to build sustainable companies.

In this episode of the Made in Africa podcast, I sit down with Paul Akolade and Raphael Abayomi, co-founders of Vant, one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing fintech startups offering an all-in-one finance and operations management platform for SMEs.

We dive deep into their childhood experiences growing up around older people, and how that early exposure to maturity shaped their worldview, discipline, and ambition. Raphael, CTO, began writing code in university while already building software solutions for brands and businesses. Paul, on the other hand, built a solid foundation in corporate roles in MTN, BedMate among others before their paths crossed through a shared project that sparked the idea for Vant.

Paul shares the inspiring story of how Vant started as a small POS shop — funded by a ₦50,000 loan from his mother-in-law — and how relentless focus, teamwork, and vision helped them scale to over ₦1 billion in processed payments on the Vant platform.

If you’re passionate about fintech, startup growth, and the resilience behind African innovation, this episode is a must-listen.