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Where it all started 

Dear Reader,

9th March 2005 - Where it all started…

The opening of this newsletter holds a personal significance. On this day, the 9th of March, it will have been exactly 19 years since I made the life-changing move to Europe with my family. This date marked a significant milestone for us, as it symbolized a fresh start after my mother tirelessly worked for five years to reunite our family. 19 years later, I’ve had access to so many opportunities that wouldn’t have been possible without this move, and I'm grateful to my mother for affording me an improved chance at succeeding in life.

Happy 19th anniversary of living in Europe for me 🎉 

Reflections of Africa Tech Summit

I’ve attended the African Tech Summit since 2022, and it’s undoubtedly the largest gathering of tech founders building for Africa and its diaspora. I’ve attended ATS in Nairobi, Accra and London and enjoy learning from and connecting with the builders of the African tech ecosystem. Every year, I gather observations, and this year, I observed the following five things:

• Most founders I spoke with are raising funds, and very few investors are investing. 

• Investment collectives are disappearing. I’ve spoken with very few collectives at this year’s ATS compared to previous years.

• AI isn’t as hot in Africa as in other parts of the world.

• 99% of founders are building tech-enabled solutions. This isn’t a new phenomenon in Africa. Now and again, I come across novel technologies that can revolutionise a particular industry. At ATS Nairobi, I met the founders of KaFresh, and it looks like they are building something unique for smallholder farmers and exporters. Check them out.

• There are still way too many mixers. I’d like to see something change here in the coming years. I still enjoy attending the mixers though 😊 

Thanks to the ATS team for putting together an outstanding event in Nairobi, and see you in London in June. 

Supper Club by ogoisfooding

Since moving to London, I’ve been on a quest to discover as many restaurants and food spots as possible, and I can confirm that there are a lot of them! Last month, I attended a supper club organized by Michelle Ogwilo. The food was outstanding! I’m salivating as I write this. Check out her website for future editions of her supper club https://www.ogoisfooding.com/.

On the topic of food in London, did you know that two African restaurants just got their first Michelin star? I haven’t been to either, but I would love to go soon. I’m so excited about African food finally getting the recognition it deserves. When you go, let me know how the food tastes.

Akoko Chishuru

HoaQ Monthly AMA 

At HoaQ, we host an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on the last Thursday of each month and we hosted Caleb Maru for the Feb 2024 edition. Caleb and I happened to be in Nairobi, so we decided to do this in person. We found a studio (thanks to Launchpad Nairobi) and after a couple of trials and errors, we got the recording and spoke about many things around the African ecosystem, Tech Safari, Caleb’s media business and many more. You can check out the recording below:

You can follow Caleb on LinkedIn and learn more about Tech Safari on his website. 

People you should know 

Moe Odele

Moe is a tech and startup lawyer based in Lagos and supports lots of startups and tech businesses with all their legal needs. We briefly caught up in Nairobi, and we spoke about a ton of things. It’s always a pleasure hearing about the African tech ecosystem from a legal prospective. Moe is also an avid traveller and actively documents her trips across the world.

You can find out more about Moe’s legal firm at vazilegal.com 

Mentorship work

I’m thrilled to be mentoring the first cohort of Tanzanian Business Angels accelerator currently going through the Tanzania Angel Academy program. While I don’t think I have any tangible advice to give, I plan to share my experience with the cohort, and hopefully, it would be useful to them.

Learn more about the program - https://tanzaniaangels.com/

Music 🎶 

I love music. I really do. So much so that I tried my hands at music management between 2015 and 2018. This month, one of my closest friends released a banger (literally), and she performed the song on the Late Late Show!

Find out about all things Tolu here.

Listen to Mind & Body below:

Property Syndicate

My friends and I are working on a property syndicate. We are looking to purchase property in a couple of key cities across Africa, starting with Nairobi and Cape Town. We are leveraging PLTFM for the syndicate. Drop me a mail if you want to learn more - [email protected].

Until next time,

Joe