Shows
AfricanOptimist - how we thrive against great odds#12 Dr Thebe Ikalafeng - 'The African who travelled from his small town in Kimberley, to the top of Kilimanjaro, to the rest of the continent.'Meet the founder of Brand Africa, Dr Thebe Ikalafeng.Once decked out in immaculate corporate suits, he is now a walking celebration of African creativity and haute couture, a mentor to many a young talented creative bubbling up through the entrepreneurial ranks and a passionate promoter and protector of all things branded African.Much is written and broadcast about this award-winning marketer. But now he has written a book in which he is the teller of his marketing tales and his turn away from corporate and big brand marketing towards marketing an entire continent. This...
2024-12-051h 02
AfricanOptimist - how we thrive against great odds#11 Sarah Dusek - on becoming an entrepreneur who thinks BIG, and a VC who helps African women think BIGGER#11 Sarah Dusek - on becoming an entrepreneur who thinks BIG, and a venture capitalist who helps African women think BIGGER - an insider's guide to scaling and pitching your business.Take a wild entrepreneurial ride with Sarah Dusek, entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author of Thinking Bigger, a powerful guide to growing a business, scaling a business and pitching a business for more money than most women dare to imagine. In this episode, Sarah shares tactical advice on the shift in mindset that is required to grow big businesses as...
2024-09-041h 12
AfricanOptimist - how we thrive against great odds#10 Gus Le Breton - On influencing EU law, the challenges of processing wild-harvested fruit, the future power of baobab harvesters and the need for 'courage, my son'AfricanOptimist Episode #10 Gus Le Breton - On influencing EU law, the challenges of processing wild-harvested fruit, the future power of baobab harvesters and the need for 'courage, my son' It is hard not to think of the Greek myth of Sisyphus when you listen to Gus le Breton tell the unfolding story of the production and sale of the African indigenous baobab fruit. Much like the Greek king Sisyphus who was condemned by the Greek god Zeus to keep rolling a stone up a hill only to see it roll back down again when h...
2024-06-181h 17
AfricanOptimist - how we thrive against great odds#9 Joséphine Katumba - The rise (and importance) of the Intrapreneur, jumping on rocket ships without a reserved seat and 'weighing and paying' as a retail model of the futureAfricanOptimist Episode #9 Joséphine Katumba - The rise (and importance) of the Intrapreneur, jumping on rocket ships without a reserved seat and 'weighing and paying' as a retail model of the future In this episode, you will learn a couple of things. Firstly, you will get a behind the scenes look at how you take an idea (let's face it, haven't we all had them - 'One day I will open…' 'Some day I will sell…') and turn it into reality. And secondly, how you can do this not only as an entrepreneur, but as an int...
2024-05-0256 min
AfricanOptimist - how we thrive against great odds#8 Adam Welz - why 'climate change' should be renamed 'climate breakdown', how humans have disrupted 11,000 years of relative stability, how nature is reacting to this and why we should careIntroducing naturalist David Attenborough's successor...In this episode, ecologist Adam Welz gives us a peak into the writing of his first book The End of Eden and his intentions as well as his difficulties in writing it. He explains why he chose to focus on wild species as the characters of the bigger climate change story, and how he told small stories within a bigger context, and supported by scientific research, to paint the grim picture of a planet breaking down. We delve into why he sees it as important to reframe t...
2024-04-0559 min
AfricanOptimist - how we thrive against great odds#7 Sithuli Mbeje - on mobile abattoirs, bringing processing closer to home and doing what needs to be doneIn Episode 1, disruptive thinker and author Efosa Ojomo highlighted that the potential for prosperity in Africa lies in finding solutions to persistent problems and in doing so, creating new markets.In this episode, we shine a light on Sithuli Mbeje's journey to developing a mobile abattoir - his response to the problems faced by livestock farmers across Africa when they want to convert their cows to meat. In graphic details he outlines the different steps involved in this process, both in the large industrial abattoirs, as well as his much smaller and compact roving mobile unit.
2024-03-1547 min
AfricanOptimist - how we thrive against great odds#6 Erica de Greef - on Vogue Business' accolade as one of 100 global fashion 'disruptors', using African fashion as a decolonial tool, re-imagining western 1960s dresses and Africa's 'folded' fashionIn 2023, Vogue Business named Erica de Greef and African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) co-founder Lesiba Mabitsela as part of a group of 100 'next-gen entrepreneurs and agitators' in the global fashion world, who are overhauling the current system and designing a different future. In this episode, we unpack why Vogue gave them that accolade, how Erica sees fashion as a decolonising tool, what different stories need to be told and how a different approach to fashion can tell those, what to do with White clothes collections buried inside South African and other museums, and how a single archived d...
2024-03-031h 08
AfricanOptimist - how we thrive against great odds#5 Hamza Chaham - what it takes to get AI powered tools into the hands of smallholder farmersIn this episode, we could have focused on the tech side of agriculture with Moroccan agripreneur Hamza Chaham, because it is digital technology that is really turning agriculture into an exciting scientifically based business. And his company, SOWIT, is using AI powered tools like sensors and probes, trackers and drones, in their work with farmers, government and food producers to successfully help optimize yields.For Hamza, however, this is not where the hope for food security lies.Agritech involves powerful tools, but it is the farmer who ultimately needs to use them. And given that...
2024-02-181h 01
AfricanOptimist - how we thrive against great odds#4 GG Alcock - how the informal economy can disrupt the formal economy, how humans are not dots and slashes and how we are incentivised to be successful not braveSouth African GG Alcock has made it his life's mission to help people understand how informal economies work and to relieve you of the prejudices and stereotypes you may harbour about this sector.As somebody who has a foot each in the informal and the formal economy, and because of his unique upbringing and 'first-person' understanding of Zulu culture in South Africa, he is in a unique position to be a messenger on both, to both sides.The conversation covers a wide range of topics, and includes his thoughts on the misunderstood stigma of South...
2024-02-041h 11
AfricanOptimist - how we thrive against great odds#3 Sipamandla Manqele - exploring African wholefoods, being seen as a 'fallen soldier', about African and global banquet tables and connecting conscious consumers with small-scale producersSouth African Sipamandla Manqele is a food alchemist, transforming wholesome African ingredients into delicious, nutritious - and convenient - products. She is the co-founder of localvillageafrica, whose mission it is to secure a seat for African food at the global banquet table.For more information on Sipamandla Manqele, visit her AfricanOptimist guest page. Never want to miss an episode? Visit the AfricanOptimist website and subscribe to the AfricanOptimist newsletter.
2024-01-171h 03
AfricanOptimist - how we thrive against great odds#2 Jesse Naidoo - about the most exciting time of his life, bringing an engineer's approach to waste, thoughts on Shared Value vs Shareholder ValueFormer South African engineer turned Social Entrepreneur Jesse Naidoo shares his journey to Master of recycling textile waste, explaining the opportunities that exist for a single item of clothes in a circular economy. He talks to the AfricanOptimist about the exciting new developments in waste recycling and about creating shared value among communities, not shareholder value. For more information on Jesse Naidoo and Clothes to Good, visit his AfricanOptimist guest page. Never want to miss an episode? Visit the AfricanOptimist website and subscribe to the AfricanOptimist newsletter.
2024-01-1757 min
AfricanOptimist - how we thrive against great odds#1 Efosa Ojomo - about the 'Prosperity Paradox', Disruptive & Market-Creating Innovations and Why Capital has to be patient in AfricaNigerian Efosa Ojomo, co-author of 'Prosperity Paradox', sits down with the AfricanOptimist to share insights into the power of market-creating innovations across Africa and the potential they have to lift African countries out of poverty at scale.For more information on Efosa Ojomo and his book, visit his AfricanOptimist guest page. Never want to miss an episode? Visit the AfricanOptimist website and subscribe to the AfricanOptimist newsletter.
2024-01-1449 min