Business & founders stories across Africa
Section
Businesses that grew, then struggled or closed, and what builders can learn.
Launched in Nigeria and Pakistan in January 2013, the online marketplace expanded to 35 countries. The business lesson is about breadth, and what happens when a…
Founded in 1971 with 50,000 outgrower farmers, Mumias Sugar produced sugar, electricity and ethanol. Falling output and an audit led to a decade of trouble.
Established in 1961 as the carrier for francophone West and Central Africa, Air Afrique declined from the 1980s and was liquidated in early 2002.
Founded in Lagos in 2012 with 20 staff, Konga became one of Nigeria’s best-known online retailers. After laying off over half its staff it was acquired…
Founded as Commercial Air Services in 1943, Comair launched South Africa’s first low-cost airline in 2001. It entered business rescue in 2020 and was liquidated in…
A retail group founded in 1929 grew to ten brands, then carried heavy debt and too much leased floor space as shoppers moved to cheaper imports…
Founded in 1975 by three state-owned firms, Uchumi has been through receivership, a government-led rescue and a return to profit. A business lesson in turnarounds.
A Kenyan supermarket group that anchored most of the country’s big malls ran out of cash in 2016 and 2017. A business-focused look at what happened…
Never miss a founder story. Get a notification when we publish something new.
