Yonas Alemu, founding father of meals firm Lovegrass Ethiopia
How we made it in Africa editor-in-chief, Jaco Maritz, picks his 5 favorite interviews from 2024.
1. Entrepreneur turns Nigerian superfood into a worldwide export enterprise
Timi Oke is the co-founder and CEO of AgroEknor, an organization exporting dried hibiscus flowers grown in Nigeria to international markets, together with the US, Mexico and Europe. He secured his first agricultural buying and selling deal by means of LinkedIn whereas nonetheless working at a financial institution within the UK. Watch the full interview
2. Why this German invested in Tanzania’s first business apple farm
Whereas fruits like pineapples, bananas, and mangoes thrive in Africa’s equatorial area, apples usually don’t, as they favour cooler climates. Nevertheless, German-born entrepreneur David Runge noticed a chance in apple farming in East Africa. He invested in Tamu Tamu Tanzania, which claims to be the area’s first business apple farm and apple tree nursery, positioned 540km west of Dar es Salaam. The corporate has performed in depth analysis and improvement to establish and domesticate apple varieties that may thrive within the equatorial local weather. Watch the interview
3. The businessman who bought Ethiopian teff pasta to Italians
Teff, a tiny grass seed native to Ethiopia, ranks among the many world’s most historic cultivated crops, having been domesticated between 6,000 and 4,000 BC. For hundreds of years, Ethiopians have used teff flour to make ‘injera’, a flat, spongy sourdough bread that may be a staple of their diets. Celebrated as a superfood, teff is gluten-free and wealthy in vitamins reminiscent of iron, magnesium, manganese, calcium, zinc, and nutritional vitamins B and C. Ethiopian elite runner Haile Gebrselassie has even credited teff as a consider his athletic success.
Funding-banker-turned-entrepreneur Yonas Alemu is the founder and managing director of Lovegrass Ethiopia, a well being meals firm making a wide range of objects from teff and different Ethiopian grains. Its merchandise embrace pasta, breakfast cereal, pancake mixes, powdered drinks and snacks. Lovegrass has a manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Addis Ababa and sells each internationally and inside Ethiopia. Watch the interview
4. Funding adventures in Africa’s frontier markets
Dutch investor Barthout van Slingelandt, managing associate of XSML Capital, shares his experiences of backing firms within the DRC, Uganda, and Angola. Read the interview
5. Zambia: The entrepreneur who bought her home to construct a fintech enterprise
Chilufya Mutale is within the enterprise of lending cash to underserviced folks in Zambia and past. Because the co-founder of eShandi, a Lusaka-based firm previously often called Premier Credit score, she has overseen the disbursement of over $11 million in loans since 2019. Beginning as a small operation in Zambia, eShandi has expanded into Zimbabwe, Kenya, and South Africa, whereas diversifying its choices to incorporate cost options and value-added providers like life insurance coverage. Watch the interview