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.

In this episode of Made in Africa, we sit down with Omobosola Alaka, the Founder and CEO of Hafrikplay, a fast-growing African music streaming platform empowering local artistes to earn more from their craft.

Omobosola shares her inspiring journey — from her early days as an artiste at the University of Benin (Uniben) to recognizing the major challenges Nigerian and African musicians face, particularly around music monetization and visibility on foreign streaming platforms.

Her frustration with these systemic issues led her to create Hafrikplay, a homegrown platform designed to help African creators take control of their music distribution, connect directly with fans, and earn fairly.

If you’re passionate about African music, creative entrepreneurship, or building solutions for local markets, this episode is a must-listen.

In this episode of Made in Africa, I sit down with Tobi Asu-Johnson and Moore-Dagogo Hart, the founders of Zap Africa, a platform giving users full control over their digital currency assets.

We explore their inspiring journey from their early days to building one of Africa’s most promising crypto startups. Tobi shares how running a PSP rental business in high school opened his eyes to the value of solving problems and creating opportunities, while Moore reflects on lessons learned from his time at Goldman Sachs. Together, they discuss how their backgrounds in finance, including Tobi’s internship at Ecobank, shaped their approach to building in the crypto space.

Whether you’re curious about Africa’s growing crypto ecosystem, the mindset behind building fintech products, or how young African founders are shaping the continent’s digital future, this episode is packed with insights and stories you won’t want to miss.

In this episode of Made in Africa, we sit down with Wale Oyegunle, co-founder and CEO of Vendblue, a fast-growing platform helping creators monetize their content and build sustainable income streams.

Wale shares how the idea for Vendblue was born during the lockdown when he began creating content himself and noticed a gap in how African creators could earn directly from their audience. He walks us through the early days of building the product, the thrill of landing their first paying customer, and how creators from Uganda to Brazil are now using Vendblue to power their creative businesses.

We also dive into his partnership with co-founder Chukwudiebube, exploring how they manage disagreements, make key decisions, and keep their vision aligned while scaling an ambitious startup.

In this episode of Made in Africa, we sit down with Ibrahim Gana, Co-founder and COO at Stylebitt — a platform empowering fashion entrepreneurs with tools to uncover and leverage the data and opportunities within their businesses.

Ibrahim shares how a bold decision to resign from his job as a facility manager led him to Social Media Week Lagos, where he discovered CodeLagos, a program that opened the door to his tech journey. From learning to code to co-founding a company at the intersection of fashion and technology, Ibrahim’s story is a powerful reminder of how exposure and courage can change the course of your career.

Tune in to learn about the evolution of Stylebitt, the opportunities within Africa’s growing fashion tech space, and why betting on yourself can lead to extraordinary outcomes.

In this episode of Made in Africa, we sit down with Melody Nehemiah, the founder and CEO of SongDis, a native African music distribution company reshaping how African artists share and monetize their work.

Melody shares his inspiring journey from being an artist and music producer to building a platform that solves the very problems he once faced—from unfair streaming splits to a lack of personalized support. We dive deep into his transition from the studio to the startup world, the early challenges of building a music-tech company in Africa, and his vision for the future of music distribution across the continent.

Whether you’re an artist, creative entrepreneur, or tech founder, this episode offers powerful lessons on turning personal pain points into scalable impact.