Intelligence LENS

our own food and prosperity
__Africa's talented young entrepreneurs in action!

I have always believed that Africa's greatest resource is not the land itself. It is young people like many of you on this platform and the GoGettaz entrepreneurs in these photos. Visionary dreamers who have the courage to launch, build, and grow innovative businesses and social enterprises across Africa.

Some of you will recognise these young GoGettaz entrepreneurs and know they are young founders of a variety of businesses in Africa's agrifood industry. Two pictured here were the inaugural GoGettaz grand prize winners from back in 2019. Both Bonolo Monthe and Isaac Sesi went on to get Master's degrees in "Business Creation" at the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business. Others in the photos are grand prize winners and finalists from earlier years.

! As far as I'm concerned, they are ALL winners, and I want to see you amongst them! [I never serve as a GoGettaz judge myself, but I surely know that some of you have what it takes to make the finals].

When we launched the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize in 2019, Svein Tore Holsether of Yara International and I both shared a strong belief that the future of Africa's food security must be built by Africans and especially its young entrepreneurs, not by aid.

The application deadline this year is 28 June 2026. Don't wait for perfection! Our continent needs you to be bold, even if you don't feel "ready". [Few entrepreneurs ever feel 100% ready!]

You can apply here, and also find the link to the GoGettaz official website: https://gogettazafrica.com/

It is our people from across Africa who must grow and prosper from the fruits of our rich soil and what lies beneath it, not only the international businesses focused for centuries on extracting Africa's wealth, often loading it onto trains, ships, and planes, and transporting it across the world... where OTHERS along the supply chain make all the big money!

We must change course, including with our food systems. How can Africa still be importing billions of dollars of food each year!?

I've written about the GoGettaz competition each year since it began, but this year I believe the "conditions" are such that Africa's food security and self-sufficiency have never been more important. At such times, as all times, we as entrepreneurs must not fear to fight IN the conditions.

__Let's continue to support and celebrate all our young African entrepreneurs who are resiliently launching and scaling businesses with local innovative solutions to feed our own people and grow our OWN prosperity.

If you are an African business founder between ages 18 and 35, from anywhere across Africa's 55 member states, or living in the African diaspora, with your agrifood business operations in Africa, I am inviting you to apply if you are eligible. There are no entry fees.

And if you know someone who should see this, whether an entrepreneur, a local university department focusing on agriculture, an agriculture extension project, or maybe an innovation hub, please help me by sharing. We want everyone to know about the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize opportunities, including our agripreneurs who aren't often on social media platforms.

To apply, your business doesn't actually have to grow food. In this competition, agripreneurs include founders and co-founders of many different types of agrifood business. Many solutions are tech-driven, but definitely not all of them.

When you go to the GoGettaz website you can study the winning businesses from the past seven years and be amazed at the innovations our young entrepreneurs have come up with, some using both renewable energy and AI!

During the competition, judges will first review your online applications, then conduct interviews [if you make it to the semi-finals], and then grill you with questions after you pitch your business for about three minutes live on stage [if you make it to the finals in Kigali, Rwanda].

Every year the selection criteria are similar. I will put them in the Afterthoughts.

In short, judges will be evaluating your , , and . And also your .

So far I've heard the 8th Annual GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize organisers have already received applications from thousands of entrepreneurs from 52 African nations [this must be a record!] but... not all have finished filling out their applications yet. Some still need to hit the button!

If that's you, what are you waiting for? If you haven't got started, you have about two weeks left.

Every one of you can simply plant one seed, nurture it, and help it grow. But those of you who have been on this platform with me for a long time can do a lot more than that.

Think about it. What human need is right in front of you? Whether you decide to apply or share this opportunity, remember: Every great harvest begins with someone who decided to plant.

Image caption: Winning pitch in progress by Samuel Muyita, 2025; Top 13 GoGettaz finalists at the 2025 awards ceremony; GoGettaz MC, Sherrie Silver; AGRA President Alice Ruhweza with 2025 grand prize winners Samuel Muyita [Uganda] and Naglaa Mohammad [Egypt]; GoGettaz at the 2025 pitch competition, giving moral support; inaugural 2019 GoGettaz grand prize winners also in Senegal last year.

: Recovering from your failure
__"By endurance we conquer" - Ernest Shackleton

Many of you over the years have written to me asking me what you should do when the business is failing or fails completely. Given that 70% of all start-up ventures fail within the first year [a global phenomenon], the chances are high that I’m speaking to a lot of people who have faced failure or know someone facing failure.

I’m not just here to speak to you about the glory of success and its fruits. If that was my interest I would use Twitter [X] and Instagram and tell you what I had for breakfast! I’m also not here to tell you it is going to be easy.

Entrepreneurship is very hard. Chances are very high you will hit some speed bumps and suffer a real smash-up. But “chill” if you can. It has happened to all great entrepreneurs, even if you don’t see it in their lives today.

It also happens every single day in some of the biggest, most robust companies in the world. They downsize, shut down factories, close outlets, stop poor-performing product lines and services, and shut down whole companies.

__These are the difficult decisions an entrepreneur has to make. It is difficult, full stop.

So, when you hit a speed bump (which you will), what do you do? You have to calmly and courageously manage the process, quickly, efficiently, and with as much empathy as possible.

Keep talking to people, even if they are being aggressive and unreasonable. You feel down and low. So do others, believe me. Show grace.

It may feel like it, but it is not the end of the world. A new chapter will come to pass in due course. Never allow yourself to see it any other way.

Don’t beat up on yourself or sink into low self-esteem. Welcome to entrepreneurship! Failure will always be part of the game. That is why “risk” and “entrepreneurship” are words you always find together.

As you dust off, here are five things to keep in mind:

#1. First things first:
Remember what one of my mentors said: “Humility is the most important quality”. Show humility and practice it as best you can with all stakeholders.

#2. Protect the root:
Remember the story I told you about the vine farmer [the guy who grew grapes]. Remember the old man? As the fire raced straight toward their vineyard, he told his son: “Protect only the root!”

You must know what is the core element of your entrepreneurship. It might be a small handful of people. I remember when we had to leave Nigeria in 2003. Whilst the reason for our departure was outside my control, since that was not the outcome I wanted, it was a harsh failure for me. I felt chastened and yet I had clarity of mind, and was fierce in battle!

Other than the Bible which I read daily, I also read a small book called "Shackleton’s Way" over and over again because of its unique insight of leadership in extreme conditions.

Even as we left Nigeria shaken and badly bruised, I knew where the root of our business was and I kept it carefully protected. It was a core team of loyal diehards who would have trusted me to get them out of Antarctica. Even those who got retrenched saw it was a temporary thing, and most of them were back with me in a few short years.

“Chief, we believe in your vision, even if we have to leave for a while.” We celebrated every small victory as though we had won the World Cup!

Africa, at its worst, can be a tough place. I had to deal with challenges that were totally existential from both Zimbabwe and Nigeria at the same time.

#3. Keep the vision:
Don’t lose sight of what you wanted to achieve but stay solidly grounded to reality. Fight each day’s battles with passion. Have a plan for each day. Remain flexible, adaptable, and above all don’t give way to the debilitating emotions of anger, bitterness, or shame.

And remember! Only fools lash out and vent on social media when they read negativism about themselves or their company's challenges. It's part of what happens these days. Handle with grace and care.

They go low, you go high. You have not failed. The venture has failed, but YOU have not failed! Stay away from those people who make you want to feel like you have failed.

#4. ReEnergize your batteries:
Take time out. Take the kids out. Visit your grandmother. Go to the gym or take a long walk. Pray. Read. Stop thinking and thinking about it. Watch the sun rise with a notebook in hand.

Be like a professional football player after a loss. Those guys lose a World Cup that they worked for and dreamed about for eight years. Now they are out. But within a few weeks, they are back at their club, as though nothing happened. They will always tell you they learnt a lot.

#5. Tend the root:
Keep an eye out for the first green shoots of the root from the old vine. It always comes, and that is the faith of the entrepreneur!

You are about to become a great entrepreneur. Yes, you.

then go back and play with all you have.

What did you learn so far?

Image credit: With thanks to photographer Eric Baccega. Baringo Lake, Kenya.

Innovation series (Part 4)
__Every crisis should result in an innovation explosion from entrepreneurs

“Who is the best person you want around you in the midst of a crisis?”

In a book about the founder of OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, there is a funny comment made by someone about him which goes something like this:

“If you leave Sam Altman on an island full of cannibals, he will manage to convince them not just to spare his life, but also to be their leader!”

Jokes aside, this is just to say that there are people who have a knack for turning even the worst crisis into an opportunity. Whatever you think about Sam Altman, whom I have met several times, he is an amazing entrepreneur.

I have my own favourite entrepreneur’s mantra which you all know by now: “We work IN the conditions, not against them.”

Take this fuel crisis caused by war in Iran. Oil is the feedstock for transportation, fertilisers, and plastics, to name just a few things. If you push up its price, everything else goes up!

The whole world, particularly the poor nations, is facing a total tsunami of inflationary pressures. And in many instances, the tsunami has not yet even arrived fully.

Are you taking steps to ensure that your business is not washed away when it does fully hit the shores of your economy? You should already be on the move, carefully assessing the potential impact and how to mitigate it.

For you as an entrepreneur, it is a waste of time simply to complain or vent on every social media platform you can find. Does this pay the bills or help you meet the payroll?

Instead turn your attention to look at opportunities created by the crisis. I do not mean opportunities to exploit others, but innovative opportunities to develop or pivot your business for growth. And also reach out and meet a human [or environmental] need with your innovative .

Let me give you one example: In our mobile business, like any other mobile businesses in Africa, we consume millions of litres of diesel every month to keep the networks operating. So we are one of the worst affected right now.

If we reduce diesel usage, we degrade network quality dramatically. If we pay those prices, then it would blow away our profitability and ability to meet network expansion requirements.

So what do we do? There are short term things we can do, and there are long-term solutions. We got this!

But what about you? What are the challenges you face today? What are you doing to head them off?

Now I don’t expect you to tell us the details on this platform please. No. I just want you to quietly, efficiently, and urgently address them. And when you have addressed them, then how do you become "King of the Cannibals" in this challenge that threatens to eat you and your business alive?

- You will not be spared by sitting and doing nothing.

Image credit: Nick Garbutt, Serengeti, Tanzania. “You never know how strong (and innovative) you are until being strong (and innovative) is the only choice you have.” Adapted from Bob Marley

Building Africa's century together
__Not for you, but WITH you!

This week marked a major milestone for Africa’s digital and AI journey, as Liquid Cloud and Cybersecurity (known as Liquid C2), in partnership with Google Cloud, launched Africa’s first “Partner Experience Centre” designed to help partners, developers, and enterprises to architect, test, and scale cloud and AI solutions built for African markets.

Our state-of-the-art facility, located in Johannesburg, South Africa, will also showcase to enterprises across Africa the vast array of products and solutions on offer from Google.

Unveiled for the first time to the public, our Partner Experience Centre launch was headlined by speakers including Hon Solly Malatsi (South Africa’s Min of Communications and Digital Technologies), Tara Brady (Google Cloud President for EMEA), Maureen Costello (Google Cloud, VP for UK, Ireland, and Sub Saharan Africa), and Clayton Naidoo (Google Cloud, Director of Strategic Missions and Partnerships).

I was sad not to be able to attend in person, but was there online and in spirit, humbled and inspired by the fine work carried out by both our teams so far.

In our press announcement, Google Cloud President for EMEA, Tara Brady remarked: “…By combining our advanced AI capabilities, including our Gemini models, with Liquid C2’s localised expertise, we are not just building a facility; we are building a hub for innovation that will empower businesses, create jobs, and deliver the benefits of digital transformation to every corner of the continent.”

As a business of Cassava Technologies, Liquid C2Africa has always been at the forefront of bringing cutting-edge digital technologies to African businesses, both directly and through our partner ecosystem.

Our Google Cloud-powered, Partner Experience Centre is another landmark reflecting our commitment to partnerships that leverage Liquid C2’s wide continental footprint, serving organisations across a broad base of sectors in 30+ African countries as well as globally.

Well done and congratulations to the teams involved.

Together we are building Africa’s century. everyone!

Somewhere on this continent, the entrepreneur who will build Africa's first trillion-dollar company could be reading this right now. I hope it is you.

Here’s a link to read the full launch press statement: https://www.cassavatechnologies.com/liquid-c2-launches-africas-first-google-cloud-powered-experience-centre-to-accelerate-ai-adoption/

to Hope Joy!

Following a comment I made about a discussion with Aliko Dangote, I received this remarkable response from Hope Joy, which I consider one of the best responses ever!

Here is what I wrote:

"Afterthought 5.
I recently ran into Aliko Dangote, and he told me about his plan to build a network of oil pipelines across Southern Africa. My only response was: 'Can I also put our fibre cables on your pipes?'

As entrepreneurs, I am going to ask again: What do YOU see?"

__Here is Hope Joy’s response:

"Strive Masiyiwa - You always tell us to focus on what we know best and your focus is on technology. Dangote told you about fuel and your mind never left technology.

While everyone else heard pipeline, you heard corridor. While everyone else thought about fuel, you thought about fibre.

You didn't try to become an oil man. You simply asked one question — how does this serve what I already do?

That is mastery. Go so deep in what you do that every conversation someone else is having eventually points back to your work.

You didn't chase Dangote's opportunity. You brought your own opportunity into his".

__You absolutely nailed it in your response, Hope Joy!

It’s not about me or Aliko Dangote. It’s about YOU because I’m trying to teach you an important principle. Hope Joy [and many others] saw it, too:

# You must focus on the opportunity presented to you [personally] based on what you do, not on what others do.

When I was a child in Zambia, my mother heard there was going to be a new mine, and she rushed to ask them for permission to set up a canteen to feed the miners, because she was into fast food.

She never interested herself in mining because she knew nothing about mining. She made a lot of money in her own way!

I never step out of my lane, but use every opportunity to go faster and further within that lane.

Don’t despise what YOU do well and look for so-called “big money” in things that others are doing that THEY are good at.

Use what is in your hand and work with that; it will still take you to the big money.

I’m always asking myself, “What can I do with what is in MY hand?”

There is something very precious in your (own) hand. Use it!

Image credit: Stay focused. With thanks to photographer Mohammed Jinnah. Kruger Park, South Africa.