The Bold New Normal

What kind of leadership will it take to transform Africa?For Patrick Awuah, Founder and President of Ashesi University, the answer begins with education, but it certainly does not end there.In this episode of The Bold New Normal Podcast, Lucy Quist sits down with one of Africa's most influential education leaders for a wide-ranging conversation about leadership, institution-building, culture, economic development and the future of the African continent.Patrick shares the deeply personal moment that helped set him on the path to founding Ashesi: the birth of his first child shortly after the Rwandan genocide, at a time when much of the news coming out of Africa painted a deeply troubling picture of the continent's future.Inspired partly by the transformation of Asian economies such as South Korea, Singapore and Japan, he began asking a bigger question: What would it take for Africa to experience its own transformation?That question ultimately became a mission to educate a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial leaders.But this conversation goes far beyond Ashesi.Patrick and Lucy explore why technical competence without ethics is insufficient, how institutional culture shapes behaviour, why African leaders must move beyond command-and-control leadership, and what Patrick learnt when Ashesi came within weeks of running out of cash.He also shares a compelling philosophy of leadership: great ambition must be accompanied by great humility.And as Africa's young population continues to grow, Patrick makes the case for an economic transformation in which African countries move beyond exporting raw materials, build productive enterprises, trade more with one another and create prosperity for their own people.This is a conversation about what becomes possible when we stop simply accepting the systems we inherited and start deliberately building the institutions, leaders and economies Africa needs.

What will it take to truly transform Africa?

For Rev. Albert Ocran, the answer is not another inspiring speech, another brilliant plan or another ambitious vision. It is execution.

In this powerful episode of The Bold New Normal Podcast, Lucy Quist sits down with Rev. Albert Ocran, author, pastor, coach and co-founder of the Springboard Road Show Foundation, for a wide-ranging conversation about leadership, transformation, accountability, resilience, inclusion and the systems required to turn possibility into progress.

Drawing from decades of developing leaders across Ghana and beyond, Rev. Albert challenges one of our most persistent habits: identifying what is wrong without building the disciplines and systems required to change it.

He shares his four-part transformation framework of Awareness, Conviction, Practice and Identity, and explains why inspiration alone cannot transform a person, organisation or nation.

The conversation also explores the importance of developing young people, creating opportunities for women and persons with disabilities, learning from failure, celebrating what is working in Africa, and building leaders who genuinely want the people behind them to surpass them.

And in a deeply practical final reflection, Rev. Albert makes the case for the African church as one of the continent's most powerful, and perhaps underutilised, platforms for transformation.

This is more than a conversation about leadership. It is a challenge to every African who believes things can be different to ask:

What am I actually building, practising and executing?

Watch the full conversation and join us as we continue imagining, and building, The Bold New Normal for Africa.

What does it actually take to build sustainable businesses in Africa?

In this episode of The Bold New Normal Podcast, Lucy Quist sits down with Gideon Brefo, CEO of HapaSpace, for a wide-ranging conversation about entrepreneurship, innovation and the ecosystem Africa needs to turn ideas into enterprises that create jobs, solve real problems and scale.

Gideon’s entrepreneurial education began long before he entered the formal innovation ecosystem. Growing up around Suame Magazine and Kejetia Market in Kumasi, he watched his parents and relatives trade, solve problems, train apprentices and build livelihoods.

Today, through HapaSpace, he helps early-stage entrepreneurs move from ideation to market entry, providing business development support, mentorship and connections to investors.

But this conversation goes beyond Gideon’s story.

Lucy and Gideon interrogate some of the structural and cultural barriers facing African entrepreneurs: our tendency to undervalue locally made products, expectations that friends should provide their services for free, gaps between academia and industry, limited local investment, fragmented government support and the pressure to build businesses without an enabling ecosystem.

They also explore a provocative question: What if some of the models Africa needs to build thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems already exist within our own communities?

From Suame Magazine's apprenticeship culture to nnoboa, collaboration, local capital and the enormous opportunity presented by the African market, this is a conversation about building an entrepreneurial ecosystem designed for African prosperity.

In this episode:

• The difference between livelihood businesses and innovative entrepreneurship
• Why founders don't always need money first
• The cultural barriers affecting Ghanaian businesses
• Why government, academia, corporates and innovators need to work together
• How African founders can access more local capital
• Why failure should be treated as information
• What Suame Magazine can teach us about building ecosystems
• Why African entrepreneurs must build for standards and scale
• The opportunity presented by the African continental market
• Why collaboration may be one of the greatest competitive advantages available to African entrepreneurs

If Africa is going to prosper, we need more than people starting businesses. We need an ecosystem capable of turning African ideas into real enterprise.

Subscribe to The Bold New Normal Podcast for conversations exploring the ideas, systems and people shaping a more prosperous Africa.

What will it take for Africans to build globally competitive businesses, create meaningful jobs and transform the continent into a place where prosperity is expected rather than imagined?

In this episode of The Bold New Normal Podcast, Lucy Quist sits down with Awura Abena Agyeman, founder of Wear Ghana and Republic of Africa, for a wide-ranging conversation about entrepreneurship, African identity, productivity, ambition and the economic power of believing in what Africa can become.

Awura Abena shares how a degree in Agricultural Economics, a corporate career and an unexpected fascination with Ghanaian fashion eventually led her to leave banking and build Wear Ghana.

But this is not simply a conversation about fashion. It is a conversation about what happens when Africans deliberately build businesses that employ Africans, use African resources, retain value within African economies and prove that globally competitive brands can be built on the continent.

Lucy and Awura Abena explore the structural barriers facing African entrepreneurs, from production and distribution to infrastructure, productivity and access to capital.

They discuss the promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area, the economic power of the African diaspora and why African businesses must begin thinking beyond national borders.

They also tackle a more uncomfortable question: Does Africa have an ambition problem?

Awura Abena argues that productive people are often driven by ambition, and that Africa needs to cultivate a generation that genuinely believes prosperity can be created here.

This is a conversation about business, yes. But even more, it is about identity, belief, dignity, leadership and building an Africa whose prosperity changes how Africans are perceived everywhere in the world.

In this episode:

• Why Awura left corporate life to build Wear Ghana
• Building global brands from Africa
• Fashion as a vehicle for identity and economic empowerment
• Why local production matters
• The challenges of scaling African businesses
• Africa's productivity problem
• Why ambition matters for prosperity
• The economic multiplier effect of buying locally
• Why AfCFTA needs to deliver tangible results
• Africa's creative industries as economic and cultural power
• The role of the African diaspora
• Why African prosperity matters to Black people globally
• Building businesses with purpose beyond profit
• Leadership, self-belief and the future of Africa

The Bold New Normal is a platform that advances the ideas, conversations, and actions needed to build a prosperous, self-actualised Africa.

Subscribe for more conversations with the people building Africa's bold new normal.

What if Africa's next economic transformation isn't hiding beneath the ground, but inside our laboratories, universities and 1.4 billion minds?

In Episode 6 of The Bold New Normal Podcast, Lucy Quist sits down with Dr Yaw Bediako, immunologist, entrepreneur, Co-founder and CEO of Yemaachi Biotech, and Dean for Research and Innovation at Ashesi University, for a powerful conversation about science, entrepreneurship, intellectual property and the future of Africa.

Yaw's journey takes us from helping Ghana understand COVID-19 through genomic sequencing to building an African biotech company tackling one of the biggest gaps in global medicine: the severe underrepresentation of African populations in genomic research.

But this conversation goes much further than healthcare.

Why does Africa continue to export raw materials while others capture the value?

Why are less than 1% of sequenced genomes from people living on the African continent?

Can Africa build globally competitive biotech companies?

What would happen if we moved from consuming knowledge to producing and owning it?

And perhaps most importantly: are we allowing the limitations of our environment to determine the size of our ambition?

Yaw makes the case that Africa's future prosperity will depend not simply on what we possess, but on our ability to create knowledge, protect intellectual property, build globally competitive businesses and create the high-value jobs that allow African talent to flourish on the continent.

In this episode, we explore:

• How Ghanaian scientists contributed to sequencing COVID-19
• Why African genomic data matters to global medicine
• The story behind Yemaachi Biotech
• Why Africa must stop exporting its "raw" intellectual assets
• The relationship between research, intellectual property and economic prosperity
• Why African scientists need industry, not only academic funding
• What it really takes to build biotech businesses from Africa
• Why Africa's young talent needs high-value jobs, not simply more training
• How education and enterprise must work together
• Why African ambition needs to become bigger
• The role of excellence, exposure, mentorship and perseverance
• Why Africa must move from knowledge consumption to knowledge production

This is a conversation about biotech.

But it is also a conversation about something much bigger: what becomes possible when Africans stop asking what can be achieved within today's limitations and start building what could exist tomorrow.

Subscribe to The Bold New Normal Podcast for more conversations with the thinkers, builders and leaders shaping a prosperous new Africa.

#TheBoldNewNormal #AfricanInnovation #BiotechAfrica #AfricanEntrepreneurship #AfricaRising #AfricanScience #Genomics #Innovation #IntellectualProperty #FutureOfAfrica

What if the biggest obstacle to African innovation isn't talent…...but the way we've been taught to think about entrepreneurship?In this fascinating episode of The Bold New Normal Podcast, Jewel Thompson joins Lucy Quist to challenge many of the assumptions shaping entrepreneurship across the continent.Together they explore why Africa cannot simply copy Silicon Valley, why culture is an often-overlooked driver of innovation, and why entrepreneurship must be rooted in context if African businesses are to thrive globally.They discuss:• Why entrepreneurship should be driven by purpose, not just unemployment• Why culture influences how businesses are built• The differences between community-focused businesses and scalable enterprises• Why African investors need a different lens• The role of education in producing future entrepreneurs• Why women entrepreneurs still face structural barriers• Why policy alone cannot transform economies• How African innovation can compete globally without losing its identityOne quote captures the entire conversation:"African innovation isn't behind. It's been mismeasured."If you're passionate about entrepreneurship, innovation, investment, leadership or Africa's future, this conversation will challenge how you think.

What does it take to build a globally competitive African technology company?In this powerful episode of The Bold New Normal Podcast, Moses Baiden joins Lucy Quist for a masterclass on enterprise, innovation, identity systems, education, sovereignty, and the future of Africa.From studying both arts and sciences in school, to becoming a lawyer, to building one of Africa’s leading identity technology companies, Moses shares the mindset, systems thinking, and long-term vision required to solve real problems at scale.This episode explores:Why identity infrastructure matters for Africa’s futureHow technology can reduce corruption and improve governanceWhy Africa must stop importing systems that don’t solve African problemsThe mindset required to build globally competitive businessesThe importance of process, governance, and partnershipsWhy mentorship and asking the right questions matterEducation, nationalism, and building institutions that outlive usThis is a conversation about prosperity, sovereignty, leadership, and purpose.Also, Moses Baiden will be speaking at The Bold New Normal UK Conference on the 13th of June, 2026. 🎟️ Early bird tickets are now available at tbnncuk.theboldnewnormal.com

What does it really take to build, scale, and sustain a business in our context?In Part 2 of this powerful conversation, Cecil Senna Nutakor goes beyond the origin story and into the real work behind building one of Africa’s leading EdTech platforms.From a pivotal strategy reset in 2019 to navigating the unexpected surge during COVID, Cecil shares what it means to prepare for opportunity before it arrives, and why execution matters more than hype.But this episode goes even deeper. It challenges how we think about:💡Startups and the pressure to scale too quickly💡Why copying Silicon Valley models doesn’t work in our context💡The reality of building with limited investment💡What true product-market fit looks like💡And how education must evolve to solve real-world problemsOne of the most powerful shifts in this conversation is this: Education should not just produce graduates. It should produce problem-solvers.Cecil introduces a new way to think about learning, built on three pillars: Desire. Imagination. Feedback.If you’re building a business, leading a team, or thinking about the future of education, this episode will challenge you to rethink what success really looks like.Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, innovation, and building the future.

From being labelled as stubborn and academically unsuccessful, to creating one of Ghana’s early edtech solutions, Cecil’s story is a powerful reminder that potential cannot always be measured by conventional systems.

This conversation explores:→ education beyond exams,→ misalignment between students and systems,→ innovation born from personal pain,→ the power of community and persistence and,→ what it takes to keep building when the environment is not yet ready.

This is Part 1 of a 2-part conversation.

Share, and subscribe for Part 2 next week.

You can also watch full episode on YouTube#TheBoldNewNormal #LucyQuist #CecilSennaNutakor #eCampus #EdTech #Education #Innovation #AfricaRising #Leadership #entrepreneurship

What does it really take to become a CEO, and stay grounded through success, loss, and reinvention?

In this powerful episode of The Bold New Normal Podcast, Lucy Quist sits down with Uche Ofodile, CEO of MTN Benin and Chairperson of MTN Mobile Money, for an honest conversation about leadership, ambition, grief, resilience, and building a career with real impact.

Uche shares the deeply personal story behind her rise, from writing down a vision for her future, to navigating profound personal loss, to becoming one of Africa’s most respected business leaders.

This is not just a conversation about titles or success. It is about becoming, leading with substance, and understanding that real leadership is built in both visible wins and private battles.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Why chasing titles alone is a mistake

How writing your vision down can shape your future

What grief taught Uche about strength, support, and perspective

Why impact matters more than position

What aspiring women leaders need to know about becoming CEO

Why curiosity, adaptability, and a deep toolkit matter in leadership

If you are building your career, leading teams, navigating change, or asking bigger questions about purpose and impact, this episode is for you.

Watch, listen, and join the conversation.

Leave a comment with your biggest takeaway, subscribe for more bold conversations, and share this episode with someone building toward their next level.

For more conversations on leadership, business, Africa, and transformation, explore more from The Bold New Normal.

#BoldNewNormal #UcheOfodile #LucyQuist #Leadership #CEO #CareerGrowth #WomenInLeadership #AfricanBusiness #PurposeAndImpact #Podcast