The leadership capacity gap inside the continent’s fastest- growing companies
The continent’s most ambitious companies have become increasingly sophisticated at scaling strategy, products, systems, processes, and go-to-market engines. Yet one critical element of scale is still treated almost as an afterthought: the leaders responsible for executing those strategies. In many of the organizations I have worked with across Africa’s innovation ecosystem, the systems have scaled faster than the people expected to run them.
Over the past decade, I have worked across Africa’s innovation ecosystem in roles spanning high-growth startup accelerators, investment firms, and fast-scaling companies. I have served as Vice President in two high-growth organizations. In my penultimate role as VP of Growth at Miva University, I led the institution’s expansion from 2,500 to 10,000 students in just over a year.
Across these experiences, I have worked closely with founders, executives, and large cross-functional teams in some of the continent’s fastest-growing organizations. And when I say “fastest-growing,” I am not referring only to startups. I also mean organizations that are deeply focused on building innovative solutions, scaling across borders, driving rapid product adoption, or expanding their sphere of influence beyond traditional markets.
