Business & founders stories across Africa
Stories
Founded in 2015, JUMO connected mobile network operators and banks to people with no collateral, offering loans and savings over USSD codes on basic phones.
Founded in 2015 by two Nigerian software engineers, Paystack processed more than half of web payments in Nigeria by 2020, and is now part of Stripe.
After nine years running Checkers from 4 stores to 85, Raymond Ackerman bought the first four Pick n Pay stores and built them into a national…
Founded in 2016, Flutterwave grew from a payments start-up into a platform licensed in 34 African countries, and in 2026 acquired the open-banking company Mono.
In January 2021 Odunayo Eweniyi and Eloho Oname launched FirstCheck, an angel platform for women-led and women-focused startups across Africa.
A co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, Sheila Johnson later started Salamander Hotels and Resorts and became a leading donor to education and women’s causes.
Born in Durban to Lebanese parents, Stephen Saad was a millionaire at 29, then co-founded Aspen Pharmacare in 1997.
The Econet founder saved 75 dollars from his salary to start a company, won a landmark Zimbabwean court ruling on telecoms licensing, and went on to…
A Nigerian-born lawyer and investment banker, Adebayo Ogunlesi founded Global Infrastructure Partners in 2006 after a career at Credit Suisse First Boston.
An American start-up whose most visible work began in Africa: delivering blood, vaccines and medicines to rural clinics in Rwanda and Ghana.
Started in 2006 while at university, Yeigo won the first Enablis Business Plan competition and was bought by a South African operator in 2009.
From a dry-cleaning business to the Rembrandt Group, Anton Rupert built a business empire that also funded education, art and conservation.
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