How we made it in Africa

Founded in 2018 as a single clinic with just one employee – its founder, Dr Matlhogonolo Mongwa-Mouwane – Botswana-based Kalafhi Medical Center has since grown into a diversified healthcare business. Today, it runs a day hospital, five clinics, and pharmacies, while also offering physiotherapy, dental care, and aesthetic services. Mongwa-Mouwane now has her sights set on an even bigger milestone: taking the company public on the Botswana Stock Exchange. How we made it in Africa editor-in-chief Jaco Maritz spoke to her about the journey of building Kalafhi Medical Center and the lessons learned along the way.

South Africa: 10 rand (50 US cents) coffee idea grows to 65 stores In 2016, two South African entrepreneurs launched Xpresso Café - The Franchise Group, a takeaway coffee chain built on a simple concept: every item on the menu cost just 10 South African rand (or just over 50 US cents). Today, Xpresso has grown to 65 stores across South Africa, selling over 50,000 cups of coffee daily. While the price has since increased to 14 rand per item, it remains significantly cheaper than most other coffee chains. Watch a clip from our interview with Xpresso co-founder Nicolene Elhadad: https://lnkd.in/dpj66pwW #SouthAfrica

Investment-banker-turned-entrepreneur Yonas Ademassu Alemu is the founder and managing director of Lovegrass Ethiopia Ethiopia, a health food company making a variety of items from teff and other Ethiopian grains. Its products include pasta, breakfast cereal, pancake mixes, powdered beverages and snacks. Lovegrass has a factory on the outskirts of Addis Ababa and sells both internationally and within Ethiopia. Jaco Maritz?spoke with Yonas about his business journey. Watch here: https://lnkd.in/dd-32DPX -- To access our 1000s of interviews with African entrepreneurs and investors, become a How we made it in Africa Member. Our LinkedIn followers get 15% discount with voucher code LINK15. Become a Member here: https://lnkd.in/d4P9KaQ

At the end of 2024, Rwandan company Paniel Meat Processing Ltd went public on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius, listing on its high-growth board. Yet, less than a decade earlier, founder Herve Tuyishime had lost his family home after the business failed to repay a bank loan. Today, PMP is Rwanda’s second-largest chicken processor and third-largest beef distributor, with exports across the continent. How we made it in Africa editor-in-chief Jaco Maritz spoke to Tuyishime about his business journey.

"At the heart of Africa’s entrepreneurial success lies a powerful yet often understated force: African Intelligence. It is the deep well of cultural knowledge, lived experience and adaptive problem-solving that defines how business is done across the continent," writes Zahra Baitie-Boateng, Managing Director, Africa –?Africa's Business Heroes Initiative. Read the article: https://lnkd.in/drvcZq9p #ABH2025 #ABHSummit2025 #ABHGrandFinale6 #ABHGrandFinale2025

"The best way to understand Africa’s business landscape is by learning from those already operating on the ground. That’s exactly what?How we made it in Africa?offers." Thanks Wimbart for the interview! -- To access our 1,000s of interviews with African entrepreneurs and investors, become a How we made it in Africa Member. Our LinkedIn followers get 15% discount with voucher code LINK15. Become a Member here: https://lnkd.in/eXgtFvw

How we made it in Africa's Members are from all over the world (see countries in red). To access our 1,000s of interviews with African entrepreneurs and investors, become a How we made it in Africa Member. Our LinkedIn followers get 15% discount with voucher code LINK15. Become a Member here: https://lnkd.in/dDiEu_jz

Mina Shahid is one of the Top 10 finalists of the Africa's Business Heroes Prize Competition. Mina is the founder of Numida (YC W22), a company that provides convenient and unsecured working capital loans to financially excluded and semi-formal micro and small businesses in East Africa.

Xpresso Café - The Franchise Group is a takeaway coffee chain that started with a simple idea: every item on the menu cost just 10 South African rand. Watch our interview with co-founder Nicolene Elhadad

“You're building an agriculture entity in Africa. It's not somewhere like the United States where you have billions and billions of subsidies going out into the agriculture sector. You're on your own in agriculture in Africa ... So all of the problems you think should be solved by government or government bodies, it's you to solve them." So said Ugandan agribusiness entrepreneur TMS Ruge in a recent interview with How we made it in Africa. Watch the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/dYrHAn6R Raintree Farms Limited