Building businesses in Africa can humble even the smartest people.
Honestly, founders here are some of the most resilient people I know. Many people outside entrepreneurship see successful businesses, funding announcements, export deals, warehouses, farms, trucks, shops or social media posts and assume everything is moving smoothly.
What they don’t see are the hidden scars behind the scenes.
The sleepless nights.
The near collapses.
The painful lessons.
The silent recovery process after things go wrong.
I once heard someone say:
“Doing business in Africa is like being a Japanese Samurai. You must be mentally prepared to collect your own share of shege.”
At first I laughed.
But over time, I realized how true that statement is.
Years ago, a colleague went into agricultural commodity export. They secured a buyer in Vietnam and borrowed money from local cooperatives to finance the transaction.
Everything looked promising.
But by the time the goods arrived at their destination, more than 80% had gone bad.
Just one deal.
One operational failure.
One bad outcome.
That single incident destabilized his life for years.
Till today, the financial and emotional effects are still there.
One thing I have observed over time is this:
A lot of businesses do not collapse because people are lazy.
Many collapse because of weak risk management.
Especially in industries like agriculture, logistics, exportation, manufacturing and trade, optimism alone is not enough.
You must think critically.
You must constantly ask:
“What can go wrong?”
“What happens if prices crash?”
“What happens if logistics fails?”
“What happens if quality drops?”
“What happens if the exchange rate changes?”
“What happens if regulation changes overnight?”
If you are not a critical thinker, good planner and efficient anticipator of “what-if scenarios,” this environment can humble you very quickly.
Things will genuinely look like film trick.
Another thing entrepreneurship teaches you is humility.
This is one environment where graduating from Harvard University does not automatically give you an advantage over the local so-called “illiterate” trader.
Some of those guys understand survival, negotiation, pricing, timing, trust and risk better than many people with polished presentations and beautiful spreadsheets.
If you are not careful, they will eat their cake and yours too.
That is why understanding your unit economics deeply is extremely important.
You must know your numbers properly.
You must understand cash flow, margins, operational risk etc
You must understand human behavior.
And emotionally, you need crocodile skin.
Because disappointments will come.
Losses will come.
Embarrassing moments may come.
Unexpected shocks will come.
But somehow, the resilient ones keep standing up again.
Honestly, I respect entrepreneurs building in difficult environments.
Many people will never fully understand the level of endurance required to excel here.
I come in peace
Honestly, founders here are some of the most resilient people I know. Many people outside entrepreneurship see successful businesses, funding announcements, export deals, warehouses, farms, trucks, shops or social media posts and assume everything is moving smoothly.
What they don’t see are the hidden scars behind the scenes.
The sleepless nights.
The near collapses.
The painful lessons.
The silent recovery process after things go wrong.
I once heard someone say:
“Doing business in Africa is like being a Japanese Samurai. You must be mentally prepared to collect your own share of shege.”
At first I laughed.
But over time, I realized how true that statement is.
Years ago, a colleague went into agricultural commodity export. They secured a buyer in Vietnam and borrowed money from local cooperatives to finance the transaction.
Everything looked promising.
But by the time the goods arrived at their destination, more than 80% had gone bad.
Just one deal.
One operational failure.
One bad outcome.
That single incident destabilized his life for years.
Till today, the financial and emotional effects are still there.
One thing I have observed over time is this:
A lot of businesses do not collapse because people are lazy.
Many collapse because of weak risk management.
Especially in industries like agriculture, logistics, exportation, manufacturing and trade, optimism alone is not enough.
You must think critically.
You must constantly ask:
“What can go wrong?”
“What happens if prices crash?”
“What happens if logistics fails?”
“What happens if quality drops?”
“What happens if the exchange rate changes?”
“What happens if regulation changes overnight?”
If you are not a critical thinker, good planner and efficient anticipator of “what-if scenarios,” this environment can humble you very quickly.
Things will genuinely look like film trick.
Another thing entrepreneurship teaches you is humility.
This is one environment where graduating from Harvard University does not automatically give you an advantage over the local so-called “illiterate” trader.
Some of those guys understand survival, negotiation, pricing, timing, trust and risk better than many people with polished presentations and beautiful spreadsheets.
If you are not careful, they will eat their cake and yours too.
That is why understanding your unit economics deeply is extremely important.
You must know your numbers properly.
You must understand cash flow, margins, operational risk etc
You must understand human behavior.
And emotionally, you need crocodile skin.
Because disappointments will come.
Losses will come.
Embarrassing moments may come.
Unexpected shocks will come.
But somehow, the resilient ones keep standing up again.
Honestly, I respect entrepreneurs building in difficult environments.
Many people will never fully understand the level of endurance required to excel here.
I come in peace