It is a word that does not roll off the tongue, though “kakistocracy” perfectly captures the wave of frustrations many encounter at work.



Derived from the Greek words ‘kakistos’ (worst) and ‘kratos’ (rule), it refers to leadership by the least competent or most inept.



Once confined to political commentary, kakistocracy is increasingly a talking point in all types of organizations, from large corporations to small businesses, not-for-profits and community groups.



It is not that there are not enough excellent examples of well-led organizations out there.



Yet, as we start the new working year, too many organizations will continue to flounder, steered by leaders who prioritize ego over expertise and appearances over meaningful outcomes.



Kakistocracy epitomizes a leadership style driven not by progress but by personal gain, favoritism and an unfortunate embrace of ineptitude.



This result is organizations that resemble rudderless ships – unstable, directionless and destined to flounder under the weight of mismanagement.



When organizations enter a kakistocratic state, where those ill-equipped to lead occupy critical roles, decisions become reactive, priorities shift aimlessly and those aboard are left feeling adrift.



The consequences ripple outward, eroding trust, stalling progress and creating a culture of disillusionment where employees, customers and stakeholders feel trapped by poor leadership.



Understanding how kakistocracy anchors itself in workplaces begins with examining the choices made at the outset.



It often starts with a failure to prioritize leadership fundamentals in recruitment or promotions.



Those unfit for the demands of the role might rise to the surface, buoyed by charisma rather than capability.



Once in place, these so-called leaders surround themselves with like-minded allies to create an echo chamber where dissenting voices are drowned out and decision-making becomes insular and erratic.



This dynamic thrives in environments where accountability has eroded, leaving the ship rudderless.



Poor decisions carry little consequence, allowing incompetence to flourish.



Boards, stakeholders or governing bodies might fail to chart a course of accountability, valuing loyalty over results and sidestepping challenges rather than tackling them head-on.



Even glaring errors are met with a shrug, further emboldening those least equipped to lead.



Performative leadership is another factor driving kakistocracy.



In an age where visibility often trumps substance, leaders who excel at projecting confidence, spinning narratives or delivering soundbites are frequently elevated – regardless of their track record.



Leadership becomes less about steering through rough waters and more about crafting a compelling image.



The ripple effects extend beyond the organization’s walls as kakistocracy stifles innovation, creativity and morale.



Talented employees often find themselves marginalized or disengaged, their contributions overshadowed by political manoeuvring and self-promotion.



This dynamic can lead to a talent drain, with the most-capable individuals seeking opportunities elsewhere.



When this exodus occurs, the damage extends to the organization’s reputation.



The good news is history has shown that even the roughest waters can inspire change.



Poor leadership can serve as a wake-up call, forcing organizations to confront their flaws, rethink their structures and rebuild stronger, more resilient systems.



This process is not easy and underscores the importance of reimagining leadership – not as a position of privilege but a responsibility demanding expertise, collaboration and a commitment to excellence.



This year, organizations must rewrite the rules of the game.



Leadership should no longer be about who speaks the loudest but who can chart the clearest, most effective course.



The challenges of modern workplaces require leaders who can listen, adapt and unite teams towards a shared vision.



By anchoring decisions in competence, fostering accountability and encouraging collective engagement, workplaces can move beyond the tide of kakistocracy and set sail towards a future where leadership is truly fit for the challenges ahead. Only then can organizations ensure they are equipped to navigate any turbulence the new year might bring while emerging stronger and more resilient.

Mature businessman leading meeting in office

Expert-Speak: Kakistocracy And Why We Need A Leadership Reset This Year

At a time when the global automotive space is navigating an era of transformation, the country’s industry stands at a crossroads. Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) CEO and President, Andrew Kirby, recently depicted a stark yet hopeful vision for the sector.



The automotive business council of South Africa, NAAMSA, has released a report that paints a mixed picture of the country’s automotive sector. However, policies play a key role in addressing challenges in the industry and four, in particular, are worth noting.



According to the NAAMSA report, total vehicle sales in 2024 reached 515,712 units, reflecting a 3% decline compared to the previous year. Passenger car sales grew by 1.1%, but light commercial vehicle sales dropped by 12%, and heavy trucks and buses saw declines.



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With regards to this, Andrew Kirby, the CEO and President of Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) emphasized, in January, that five key market shifts would redefine the automotive landscape this year, namely:



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>A consumer-driven shift in the affordability factor</li>



<li>SUVs continue to dominate</li>



<li>The rise of in-car technology</li>



<li>The Chinese and Indian automotive surge</li>



<li>The new energy vehicle (NEV) transition</li>
</ol>



“If we look at used car sales, we’ve seen a significant increase,” Kirby explained at the time. “Consumers are prioritizing affordability, with many unable to meet financing requirements for new vehicles. This trend will persist into 2025, influencing model availability and pricing strategies.”



He added: “The in-car experience is now a decisive factor in purchase decisions… it’s not just about driving anymore; consumers want seamless connectivity between their vehicles and smartphones, creating a digital-first car ownership experience”.



In terms of theshift in the automotive power map, the following should be noted:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Chinese-made vehicles now account for 29% of global production and sales, with a 645% increase in South Africa alone over the past five years.</li>



<li>India’s automotive market share has grown by 20% globally, now making up 30% of South Africa’s vehicle imports.</li>



<li>Germany, once a dominant force, has now fallen out of the top five vehicle-producing nations globally.</li>
</ul>



The Four Policy Challenges That Must Be Addressed



A review of these challenges necessitates that, to remain competitive and stimulate a strong sector, several factors must remain at the forefront as the year advances:



1. The Stalled South African Automotive Masterplan (SAAM)



SAAM, released to the public in 2018, set ambitious targets for production volumes, employment, and local content. However, six years later, critical pillars remain unimplemented — particularly optimizing the local market and regional trade integration.



2. An Unequal Playing Field for Imports



China’s state-backed incentives and aggressive pricing are reshaping global trade. South Africa, however, lacks a fair competition framework.



The country, therefore, needs balanced trade policies that allow competition without undercutting local manufacturers.



3. An Incomplete EV Policy



South Africa’s current EV incentive structure is inadequate and Kirby had urged that, “we need a broader industrial policy that considers hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles, rather than a narrow focus on full EVs”.



4. The Early Signs of Deindustrialization



According to the Toyota CEO, South Africa is showing signs of deindustrialization, with imported vehicle sales outpacing locally built models.



“We need to create scale, increase local content, and attract investment — or risk losing our automotive manufacturing stronghold,” he has said.



5.The Road Ahead



Despite the challenges, Kirby stated that there are incredible opportunities here but they hinge on proactive policy reforms.



As South Africa stands at this defining moment, the decisions made in the next three years will determine whether the country remains an automotive powerhouse — or falls behind in the global race.

Professional Engineer Works on a Computer with a 3D CAD Software and Tests the Electric Car Chassis Prototype with Wheels, Batteries and Engine Standing in a High Tech Development Laboratory.

What Lies Down The Road For South Africa’s Auto Industry?

The fact that Africa has a shortage of clinical oncologists has been widely publicized. One international medical journal estimated that Nigeria, for example, has around 70 oncologists to serve a population of 213 million people. In South Africa – and in Johannesburg, in particular – it’s been reported that Gauteng’s health department has allocated millions to cancer care to assist the main hospitals that have become overwhelmed with patients needing critical treatment. And while there is definitely a skills shortage, Dr Duvern Ramiah, the head of radiation oncology at the University of the Witwatersrand and Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital explains that no one had really done a deep dive into what is actually holding up access to these life-saving interventions.



“The main bottleneck with radiation and oncology treatment is a lack of radiotherapy planning. That’s the irst step to patients get- ting radiation,” he says. With prostate cancer patients waiting around 5 years for radiotherapy and breast cancer patients waiting around 18 months, Ramiah came to the realization that there wasn’t just a shortage of equipment; the unit wasn’t using the equipment that it had efficiently. “The unit wasn’t creating enough radiotherapy plans for these patients to be treated in time,” he adds. When a cancer patient requires radiation, radiation is prescribed by a radiation oncologist. What happens next is that the patient is scanned and goes through the long process of radiotherapy planning. “If a patient has prostate cancer, the doctor will say (for example), this person needs external beam radiation. I’ll see him and make that call. Ater that, he’ll go have a CT scan which is done in the position that he’s going to have radiation in,” explains Ramiah.



Once Ramiah receives the CT scan, he’ll have to manually draw in all the areas that need to get radiated, like the prostate and lymph glands, as well as key areas to avoid, like the bladder. “It’s a long process, and only once that’s done, I’ll send the scan off to a dosimetrist or planning radiotherapist,” he continues. Once a plan is created, it still needs to be approved by the radiation oncologist to ensure it meets the prescription requirements.



Depending on the type, stage and biological behavior, some cancers metastasize quicker which means these plans are needed pretty quickly so that they don’t become outdated. Ramiah turned to AI to create a new process where part of this journey could be automated. “So, instead of a doctor drawing in all of those organs on scans, we’ve got a convolutional neural network (CNN) running that will contour target areas. The time a doctor is spending doing this process is very mundane when it can just be automated. It reduces the time gap massively,” he says. Another way Ramiah has reduced the bottleneck is by using remote radiotherapists in America to create a detailed radiotherapy plan that oncologists at Charlotte Maxeke can implement. What Ramiah also found is that with the planning process, there is a lot of rep- etition. A plan for breast cancer can take up to two hours but around 70% of what is needed is actually the same from one patient to the next. “So, we’re also developing a script to automate some of that,” he adds.



With the help of AI, Ramiah has cut Charlette Maxeke’s two-month waiting time for radiotherapy plans down to between 48 and 72 hours. One of the most important parts of this AI journey is that the technology system Ramiah is piloting at Charlotte Maxeke is vendor-agnostic. So, because it isn’t tied to a specific brand or model of radiotherapy machine, it could potentially be implemented in any healthcare facility anywhere in the world.



“You can go to any unit in Africa with this solution, regardless of their technology infrastructure,” he says. “Unfortunately, within cancer, we get stuck in a lot of innovative things like gene therapy, which is a million-rand treatment but not accessible to everybody. What’s interesting about AI tech is that it increases access. It’s an enabler, which is why I push so hard for it in my department.”

Medical technology, doctor use AI robots for diagnosis, care, and increasing accuracy patient treatment in future. Medical research and development innovation technology to improve patient health.

AI Innovations: What This South African Doctor Is Making Possible

Progress is uncomfortable. It demands defiance — the audacity to stand firm when the world insists you do not belong. It is lonely, yet never solitary, for this is the story of a collective. Women who refuse to wait for permission, who step into rooms never built for them and take up space. When those before them whispered of revolution, the world muttered its doubts. But today’s African women know better. Be they young, older, youngest, they do not seek approval; they prepare — arming themselves with knowledge, strategy, and unwavering resolve — to counter power’s unease with an unshakable presence, knowing that discomfort cuts both ways.



Soft power, hard message: we came to win



When Dede Ayite became the first Black woman to win a Tony for Best Costume Design of a Play in 2024, she proved that not all revolutions announce themselves with a roar — some move with quiet certainty, reshaping the world before it even realizes it has changed. This is the essence of soft power: influence that seeps in, undeniable yet effortless, cloaked in art, culture, and innovation. It is the subtle but firm assertion of dominance, the kind that does not beg for recognition but commands it. African women are rewriting the limits of possibility, not through force, but through undeniable excellence. South Africa’s Tyla, the youngest African singer-songwriter to win a Grammy in 2024. Ayra Starr, the first woman in 16 years to claim the MOBO Award for Best African Music Act. Kenya’s Ruth Chepng’etich, the first woman to shatter the 2:11 and 2:10 barriers in marathon history, clocking a staggering 2:09:56 at the Chicago Marathon.



The list — proudly, defiantly — goes on. But this is no sudden uprising. This audacity is inherited, this excellence is ancestral. Miriam Makeba, the first African to win a Grammy in 1966, her voice carrying not just melody but the weight of a continent’s power. Alek Wek, the South Sudanese-British model who redefined beauty on her own terms, forcing the world to expand its gaze. Ama Ata Aidoo, the literary giant who wielded her pen like a weapon, chronicling the struggles, triumphs, and unapologetic strength of African womanhood. You see, their victories were more than personal achievements; they were declarations.



The innovators: rule&#8211;breakers, history&#8211;makers



They call them African problems — we call them blueprints for innovation. The barriers meant to limit us have become the launchpads of our ingenuity. We do not endure adversity; we transform it. This is more than resilience — it is economic mastery, the audacity to build, shape, and lead on our own terms.



This instinct is ancestral. Our great-grandmothers were entrepreneurs before the word existed —traders who moved goods across vast terrains, innovators who turned raw resources into wealth, visionaries who sustained entire economies from the corners of their markets. That same spirit fuels today’s architects of Africa’s future.&nbsp;Charlot Magayi&nbsp;revolutionizes clean cooking with eco-friendly charcoal briquettes.&nbsp;Violet Amoabeng&nbsp;harnesses Ghana’s rich resources to build a pan-African skincare brand. The&nbsp;Shea Butter Boom, a billion-dollar industry, is powered by African women whose hands extract not just shea, but wealth, ownership, and legacy.



In one sweeping generation — defined by both legacy and emergence — Africa boasts two formidable women shaping the global economic stage.&nbsp;Bogolo Kenewendo, a trade and economic powerhouse, rises on the continent, while&nbsp;Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Oorganization, commands the world stage. One at home, one abroad—both leading with defiance, proving that leadership is not granted, it is taken.



The age of Africa’s renaissance: taking every lane



They say courage writes history, but history belongs to those who refuse to ask for permission—the rule-breakers, the system-shakers, the shift disruptors — the ones who turn struggle into strategy and problems into power.



This is not a moment. It is a reckoning. A Renaissance. Africa’s women are not waiting or knocking on doors never meant to open. We are architects of a new order, commanding space and designing structures that cannot be dismantled.



A salute to our foremothers, whose grit paved the way. A call to our sisters — rise, push, take every lane.&nbsp;



Without apology. With audacity. Unstoppable. And the world will see us.

Beautiful african women

Expert-Speak — Without Apology, With Audacity: We’ve Always Been Here

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The 2nd Annual Over 30 Under 50 List: The Power Women Redefining Success

Our smartest technology just might be accelerating environmental challenges rather than solving them.



If you&#8217;re finding that you’re using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) more and more to search for things online, you’re not alone. There are a growing number of people who are ditching traditional search engines like Google for large language model (LLM) chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. And it makes a lot of sense. Instead of paging through lists of links hidden in-between ads, you get a direct answer to your question (with sources). It sounds brilliant but there’s a catch – running AI models (especially LLMs) require a lot of computational power. They also rely on massive data centers that can consume the same amount of electricity as a small city. And the more popular AI becomes, the more power these large-scale operations will need, with McKinsey &amp; Company predicting AI power consumption could reach up to 219 gigawatts by 2030 — that’s supposedly enough electricity to power more than 163 million (average) homes.



The hyperscalers, large cloud service providers like Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft, are all scrambling to secure renewable and low-carbon energy supplies. Both Meta and Microsoft are betting big on nuclear to bolster electric grids. Microsoft recently signed a 20-year power deal with Three Mile Island, an infamous nuclear plant in Pennsylvania that shut down in 2019.



“A lot of the energy plans that the big cloud providers and data centers have is focused on sustainable energy. Nuclear is not renewable but at least we are not burning fossil fuels,” says Chris Wiggett, Head of AI and Data Analytics at NTT DATA Middle East and Africa.



“Connecting to a grid is expensive,” adds Emad Mostaque, a British entrepreneur and the former CEO of Stability AI. “The human brain uses 20 watts. When ChatGPT first came out, it used over 1,000 watts for every influence, every query.” Now, every time someone puts in a prompt into ChatGPT,



it uses around 2.9 watts of energy, every hour. The energy use may be lower but it’s still nearly 10 times what it takes for a single Google search.



“We’re looking to build Africa’s largest interconnected hyperscale data center, but we need to be as efficient as possible in our design and operation,” says Finhai Munzara, ADC’s interim CEO. “Data centers are big capital and come at a high cost to operate. We do use a lot of power so it’s important to ensure that we take some of the burden off the grid and generate as much on-site as we can.” Munzara is also looking into what happens if they overproduce solar power – whether they will be able to bank that excess energy into the grid and then offset it against some of their other emissions elsewhere. “It’s not just about delivery capacity. It’s about how we are going to power it in the most sustainable way.”



Hugging Face – an open-source hub for AI – has over a million models in their library. The platform’s CEO, Clément Delangue, wrote that a new model is created every second on the platform. A Harvard report found that the training process for a single AI model, like an LLM which is what GenAI models are based on, can consume thousands of megawatt hours of electricity.



But Wiggett believes that as AI models evolve, there’s also a chance that they will consume less power. Open-source AI models, which are often collaborative, can be lower in energy consumption compared to a closed, proprietary AI model owned by a business. Wiggett also explains that algorithm solutions require less compute power than their AI counterparts.



A  great  example  is DeepMind’s AI model, AlphaGo, which was built in 2015 to master the ancient Chinese game of Go (a complex board game of strategy, creativity and ingenuity.) “AlphaGo was the first model, and it took a very long time and massive compute power to perform at the level it did. If you look at the subsequent models, they are all algorithm-based yet they outperform the first models,” says Wiggett. “If we look at the evolution of AI, we have to go heavy compute, and then over time, the evolution will involve going lesser compute. From a technology perspective, it will get better over time.”



You can already see a shift in how data centers consume water. Despite Amazon, Microsoft and Google all reporting that their water usage has escalated due to AI demands, the hyperscalers have plans in place to become water-positive in the near future.



Amazon Web Services (AWS) is funding over 20 worldwide water replenishment projects. In other words, they’re giving communities water instead of taking it away. In late 2024, Microsoft launched a new data center design that optimizes AI workloads and consumes zero water &nbsp;&nbsp;for cooling.



“Zero water means that until a data center is built, all the water pumped into the tanks is circulated in a closed loop,” explains Munzara. “The water is cooled with ambient air.” Water usage efficiency (WUE) is a metric that has been tracked since the first generation of data centers. To cut water costs, data centers are often built in icy areas to take advantage of natural cooling. Microsoft has even conducted experiments to see if underwater data centers could work and now, an American company called Lonestar, is looking to put data centers on the moon.



“The moon has no weather, no climate change, no atmosphere and it has a perfect view of Earth rotating underneath it,” said Lonestar’s CEO, Christopher Stott, in an interview. In the meantime, while AI workloads continue to strain data center resources, other eco-friendly cooling options to manage energy efficiency will have to do.

Specialist technician professional engineercontrol drone checking top view of installing solar roof panel on the factory rooftop under sunlight. Engineers holding tablet check solar roof.

Power Tussle: The Hidden Climate Costs Of AI

Access to vaccines remains a significant challenge across Africa, but technology is emerging as a key to breaking decades of relying on other nations for vaccine development- and to thereby stop the spread of disease much, much faster.



In 2021, Africa’s 1.3 billion people had to wait months for the Covid-19 vaccine. More than 40 million doses had reportedly been administered in wealthier countries hoarding the vaccine compared with just 25 doses given, in total, to one of the lowest income countries in Africa. 



The world was, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), on the “brink of a catastrophic moral failure”. It was a stark and unpleasant picture painted by lack of access, limited funding, and supply chain complexities. It’s also not the first time Africa has been left behind. The treatment for HIV/Aids took six years to become accessible to Africans who were among the hardest-hit by the disease, vaccines were hard to come by during the 2009 swine flu pandemic, and in 2023, there was a shortage of cholera vaccines when an Indian manufacturer stopped making the vaccine during an outbreak. 



The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has stated that over 200 disease outbreaks were reported in 2024. And they all have a direct impact on education, economic development, security and health. Yet, Africa remains reliant on vaccines produced in other parts of the world reportedly producing less than 1% of the world’s vaccinations. Out of the 54 countries in Africa, only eight have the capacity to produce vaccines – South Africa, Tunisia, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Algeria, Egypt and Ethiopia.



Today, Mpox is a growing threat in Africa. In 2024, the Africa CDC declared its first Public Health Emergency of Continental Security and WHO issued its Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), one of its highest global health alerts. Across Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa and, more recently in 2025, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mpox cases totaled more than 50,840 as of November 2024.



The continent’s leadership isn’t sitting still. The African Union and the Africa CDC committed to the ideal of Africa producing 60% of its own vaccines by 2040, signing two Memorandums of Agreement (MOUs) and forming partnerships with key organizations like Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, who were instrumental in ensuring Africa received Covid-19 vaccines. But, with the continent expected to now produce 1.5 billion doses a year – 73 times more than what’s produced locally today – technology has become an essential tool to supporting vaccine development and distribution in Africa.



It sounds expensive, but as Arthur Salaün, partner at Boston Consulting Group, tells FORBES AFRICA, “Vaccines are considered one of the most cost-effective global health interventions – for every dollar you invest in vaccines, you get $20 return across economic and societal gains.”



Technology can play into the limited supply of vaccines on the continent. For example, as Michael Mynhardt, CEO and co-founder of MMH &amp; Partners Africa, explains, data can provide rapid insights into where hotspots are forming, giving healthcare providers more time to react. “You can use data to pinpoint and track outbreaks, allowing for teams to develop more effective vaccination strategies.”



He also raises one of the most significant challenges when it comes to managing vaccinations in Africa – the supply chain. There’s a growing need for solutions that can manage the cold chain efficiently while delivering vaccines to remote and hard- to-reach areas. “Drones and autonomous delivery solutions are able to access rural areas quickly and at a lower cost,” he adds.



In Kisumu, a city in Kenya, Zipline drones are being used to deliver rabies post-exposure prophylactics, malaria vaccines and measles vaccines to children. Zipline has also ensured the distribution of more than one million vaccines in Ghana, while the DRC has invested in drones to deliver yellow fever vaccines to out-of-reach locations.



Then there is the role technology is playing in the delivery of the vaccine into the human body itself. As Professor Willem Hanekom, co-national principal investigator for the M72/ AS01E TB vaccine candidate trial in South Africa, explains to FORBES AFRICA: “Most vaccines are delivered by injection – it’s practical and we know how to do it, but what if we developed patches instead? There are trials going on globally to try and convert vaccines into patches but it’s not a simple transition. They have to be safe to use and easy to deliver, and there are a lot of regulatory steps that can take years.”



Patches would be easier to manage, more cost-effective to transport, especially if using UAVs, and less intimidating for children, but their development is lengthy thanks to safety and regulatory challenges. Hanekom takes the conversation back to the supply chain and the critical need to ensure that every vial and vaccine has remained at the right temperature throughout transportation. “Technologies are coming into play that make this more efficient, for example, markers on every vial that can show whether or not there has been an interruption in the cold chain,” he says.



Dr Meg Schaeffer, EdD, MPH, MPA, an infectious disease epidemiologist and National Public Health advisor at SAS Institute in the United States, adds: “Real-time field monitoring tools ensure vaccines retain their efficacy as they move through the delivery process, but another critical factor is more of an interplay on the epidemiology side using a regional model. Technology can help us to consistently monitor where disease outbreaks are occurring and then model and potentially forecast different scenarios to assess which populations will be affected next, and to what extent. It helps us to determine where to position our resources quickly. This is the next critical frontier for Africa – using technology to deploy vaccines exactly to where they need to be so we can stop the spread of disease much, much faster.”



Finally, of course, there’s artificial intelligence (AI). AI is helping organizations reduce the time to discover a vaccine and put it on the market, allowing developers and healthcare systems to react far faster than today. “We see a future for vaccines where instead of 10 years, they will take a few months which means that when you have an epidemic, you can react far quicker than in the past,” he says. “AI-discovered drugs have a success rate of 80%-90% in phase one which is way higher than traditional drugs. The hope is that it will help Africa develop vaccines for local, daily diseases that are of no interest to global pharmaceuticals and change the narrative on the continent.”

Doctor fills syringe with medicine from vial. Vaccination and immunization

The Next Critical Frontier: Vaccine Development In Africa

Chinese brands are gaining momentum and igniting a new era in South Africa’s automotive landscape. Whether it’s a sleek new SUV rolling off a Chinese assembly line or a locally produced vehicle designed to compete on the global stage, the industry is speeding with potential and possibilities.



A Few Decades Ago, South Africa witnessed the rise of Japanese automotive brands like Kia, Hyundai, and Suzuki, which boldly entered the market to challenge well-established mass volume players like Toyota, Volkswagen (VW) and Nissan. Over time, these brands not only carved out significant market shares but also won the hearts of South Africans with their affordability, innovation and reliability. Today, a similar story is unfolding – this time with Chinese automotive brands rapidly making their mark on South Africa and the broader African continent. Brands like Great Wall Motor Company (GWM), Haval and Chery have already secured spots in the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa’s (NAAMSA) top 10 sales charts. Meanwhile, newer entrants such as GAC, Jetour, LDV and Dongfeng are aiming to steadily build momentum. With 2025 promising a wave of exciting new launches, these brands are poised to redefine the automotive landscape and spark a new era of competition.



Vision for Growth



Jay Jay Botes, General Manager of Chery South Africa, reveals that the company has ambitious plans to introduce multiple new energy vehicles (NEVs) to the South African market in 2025. While the idea of establishing local manufacturing facilities is under consideration, Botes emphasizes that Chery is still in the feasibility study phase.



On the other hand, BYD – one of China’s largest electric vehicle (EV) producers – is entering the South African market with bold intentions. As BYD celebrates 30 years, the brand is leveraging its expertise in industries like rail transit, renewable energy and electronics to disrupt the automotive industry. Steve Chang, General Manager of BYD South Africa, highlights the company’s long-term vision: building trust in a competitive environment by prioritizing customer relationships over short-term profit margins.



BYD’s upcoming launches, including the Sealion 6 plugin hybrid and the Dolphin mini, underscore its commitment to innovation. The brand’s focus on R&amp;D, with 10% of its global workforce dedicated to it, ensures that its vehicles are not only technologically-advanced but also tailored to meet the needs of diverse markets like South Africa.



The BRICS Connection



The rise of Chinese brands in South Africa is closely tied to the country’s membership in the BRICS bloc. Since joining in 2010, South Africa has seen a significant increase in automotive imports from BRICS countries, with China playing a central role. However, this growth has also sparked debates about balancing the interests of legacy automotive manufacturers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, VW, Isuzu, Nissan and Toyota – many of which have invested heavily in local production facilities – and the influx of competitively priced imports.



Mikel Mabasa, CEO of NAAMSA, acknowledges the complexities. “The disruption caused by Chinese imports is a topic of concern, but any potential interventions must align with the South African Automotive Masterplan 2035 and the second phase of the Automotive Production Development Programme (APDP2),” he explains. Mabasa emphasizes that while competition is intense, it ultimately benefits consumers by offering more choices at competitive prices.



Competing on Value



In a fiercely-competitive market, Chinese brands have positioned themselves as champions of affordability and innovation. Their focus on SUVs – one of the fastest-growing segments globally – has struck a chord with South African consumers. Equipped with advanced features and cutting-edge technology, these vehicles offer exceptional value, making them highly appealing in a market where 66.3% of vehicles sold in 2023 were priced below ZAR500,000 ($26,787).



Despite this influx, locally-produced vehicles remain strong contenders. In 2023, eight of the top 10 selling models in South Africa were manufactured locally, showcasing the resilience and adaptability of the country’s legacy OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). Mabasa notes that the presence of Chinese brands has spurred local manufacturers to innovate, offering aggressive marketing, attractive financing options, and new model launches to stay competitive.



The NEV Revolution



As the global automotive industry pivots toward NEVs, South Africa stands at the cusp of a transformative shift. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcements at the SA Auto Week in 2024 highlighted the government’s commitment to fostering NEV adoption through policy support and incentives. However, NEVs remain a niche segment, accounting for just 1.45% of total new vehicle sales in 2023.



Chinese brands like BYD are well-positioned to accelerate this transition. By offering affordable EV options, they could drive broader market adoption and pave the way for local production in the future. Mabasa believes that a combination of demand-side incentives and hybrid vehicle inclusion in the APDP2 framework could catalyze this growth. “The affordability of Chinese EVs makes them a key player in addressing the high costs that currently hinder NEV adoption,” he says.



A Continent Alive with Possibilities



The rise of Chinese automotive brands in South Africa is not an isolated phenomenon. These brands are also making inroads across sub-Saharan Africa, leveraging the continent’s growing appetite for affordable, feature-rich vehicles. With whispers of potential production facilities and partnerships, their influence is set to extend far beyond sales figures.



This shift is indicative of a broader transformation within the African automotive landscape. Consumers are becoming more discerning, demanding vehicles that offer not just affordability but also quality, reliability and innovation. As Chinese brands rise to meet these expectations, they are also challenging local and global players to rethink their strategies.



Shaping the Future



The automotive industry is undergoing a seismic shift, and South Africa is at the heart of this transformation. Chinese brands, with their relentless focus on affordability, technology and customer trust, are reshaping the competitive landscape and redefining what it means to succeed in the industry.



For consumers, this means more choices, better value and the promise of a future where NEVs become a mainstream reality. For manufacturers and policymakers, it’s a call to innovate, collaborate and adapt to a rapidly changing world.



As South Africa enters this new era, one thing is clear: the automotive landscape is alive with possibilities. Whether it’s a sleek new SUV rolling off a Chinese assembly line or a locally- produced vehicle designed to compete on the global stage, the industry is brimming with potential. And at the center of it all are the consumers, whose preferences and demands will ultimately shape the future. This is not just a story about cars – it’s a story about transformation, resilience and the unyielding drive to innovate. It’s a story about South Africa, its people and its place in the global automotive revolution.

3d render of automatic car production line with robotic arms welding parts

Sparking Competition: The Rise Of Chinese Automotive Brands In South Africa

The lights have always been on inside the so-called AI black boxes. Shifting commercial expectations and increasing awareness of the technology are seemingly changing the narratives. 



What if bias is actually fundamental to AI’s ability to work in the first place? Rules are imposed to, essentially, protect people, refine results and achieve specific goals but each rule can be seen as an introduction of bias. What needs to change is the implication that it is inherently bad.



“At the end of the day, you’re building a discerning machine and in order to discern, you need a filter and that, fundamentally, is bias,” says Alix Rübsaam, Vice President of Research, Expertise, Knowledge at Singularity.



It’s also important to understand how to use bias in the right ways and ensure AI delivers results that are relevant, which means prioritizing and understanding what data has been used to train the algorithm and why.



“It’s weird that we feel so defensive when it comes to our biases because these are what help us discern. Humans have biases because it is how our brains make sense of things. And if we pretend our AIs don’t have biases, we can’t optimize them or improve their ability to discern,” she says.



One could say that an algorithm used to determine specific results must have this. If the AI rejects the CV of a six-year-old applying for the role of CEO, the bias is relevant.



As Rübsaam points out, AI solution builders need to move away from the knee-jerk response that there should be bias-free algorithms but instead own up to the ones they have introduced because it defines the accuracy of the algorithm.



This then turns the conversation towards the concept of the AI black box – the ‘darkness’ that sits within the algorithms. IBM describes it as “an AI system whose internal workings are a mystery to its users”.



“For the last decade, some of the loudest voices in the AI space have always said [this]; that they don’t know why it does what it does,” says Rübsaam.



“AI has been given the data and trained itself and is now making decisions based on motivations that they cannot discern. This is just not true because there are always ways to either go in after the fact, or to build models that tell you why an AI does what it does.”



It has been technically possible all along – expensive and time-consuming, but possible. As Rübsaam points out, isn’t that the very purpose of AI?



“When you hear a problem described as complex, time-consuming and expensive, that’s exactly the type of problems we use AI for. It has never made sense to me that the AI black box has been such a predominant narrative.”



In 2019, Rübsaam alongside Ty Henkaline, an AI and data science expert who worked with her at Singularity, developed a model that allowed users to train their own algorithms and extrapolate all the decision-making that needs to go into making an AI before it even comes into existence.



It sheds some light on how human biases distort AI. People don’t realize they’re making biased decisions until they sit down with their hands in the code or how they select specific datasets.



“This can go wrong – recently a study showed the efficiency of facial recognition algorithms which analyzed across four quadrants; the AI’s abilities to detect whether a face was present was wildly skewed towards white male faces. The dataset given to AI was not statistically representative.”



This use case underscores the importance of knowing what you’re training your AI on, and what the parameters of the dataset are. Now, transparency itself has become a commodity.



Over the past year, companies like Anthropic and Microsoft have turned the light on inside AI, reportedly finding clues to how large language models (LLMs) work for the ‘greater good’.



Mark Zuckerberg released Llama 2 which he described as an open-source model. DeepMind came out with an open weights model called RecurrentGemma based on the Griffin architecture, and then NVIDIA released a paper which indicated that they would open not just the weights, but also the training data.



In the space of about six months, notable players in the industry started to increase transparency regarding their models.



“It’s an interesting time because I think we might finally be in a place to say maybe AI was never the black box we said it was; we just didn’t take the steps to do the analysis to actually discern it,” Rübsaam explains.



“It’s key to showing the bias [and] the weights in decision-making, which means we can improve the quality of AI and move away from universally applicable AI models.



“We can start thinking about how a particular solution matches the problem we’re trying to solve,” she concludes.

Artificial Intelligence warning danger in black box on network

‘Maybe It Was Never The Black Box We Said It Was’: Bias, Analysis And Relevance In The Evolving World Of AI

African entrepreneurs abroad are returning to pursue agriculture and invest in opportunities on the continent, providing subsistence farmers with the tech tools and know-how to bring crops like Fonio And Cassava to the world’s tables.



Africa has an estimated 600 million hectares of uncultivated farmland, roughly 65% of the global total.



On a hungry planet that loses more farmland than it adds each year, Africa’s potential as an agro-gold mine serves as a powerful lure to young farming entrepreneurs returning to the continent.



From Ghana to Guinea to The Gambia to Senegal to Sierra Leone, an agro-renaissance is stirring, fed to some degree by growing demand from diaspora consumers in Europe, North America and the Middle East.



It’s also being supported by diaspora brain power, arriving in the form of skill transfers, access to finance capital and the unique knowledge expatriates share with each other when building bridges between ancient farming practices and modern markets.



Many of those expats bring strong backgrounds in business and academics — MBAs from the world’s top universities — along with intimate knowledge of how family farming is practiced at home.



Consider the pastoral scene around a tiny rural cross- roads called Mamou-Gongoré in Central Guinea.



As an autumn sun sets, men and women in flowing gowns cross a field of low grass, backs bent to the task of harvesting handfuls of seed pods from tufts that rise only to their ankles. As the men reach downward to swing their worn sickles, the women trail behind, clapping and murmuring to the rhythm of an overseer’s chants.



“This is the work of fonio now. Fonio is good. Bring in the fonio,” a tall man sings in the local Fulani dialect. He urges: “Bring It, Camara! Bring it, Diallo!” shouting out the names of the region’s leading clans.



They are harvesting a Stone Age grain that is iron-rich and gluten-free, and which has sustained Fulani households for centuries. About 60% of the world’s fonio is produced in Guinea and, until recently, was little known to consumers outside West Africa.



Today, it promises prosperity to farmers like Mamadou Balde, an elder in a village called Kouraba near Guinea’s border with Senegal. Although miles from any electricity grid, villagers here enjoy watching international soccer on giant-screen TVs, thanks to the new solar panels stretching across the roofs of their mudhewn cottages.



“Young people here prefer rice nowadays, but we oldtimers like fonio,” Balde says, adding that almost all Kouraba’s 70 farming families now are exporting their grain, thanks to Europe’s strong demand. Balde proudly displays his village’s new fonio warehouse, where freshly-harvested grain awaits shipment to Dakar, Senegal, for processing.



Recently, fonio has been in vogue as health-conscious foodies in Europe, Asia and North America have embraced the grain much as they once did quinoa from Perú and teff from Ethiopia. Celebrated by philanthropists like Bill Gates, it has garnered praise as “the drought-resistant super grain”, or “one of the world’s neglected and underutilized crops”.



Fonio, available in specialty shops in the United States (U.S.) for $6 per kilo, has begun to replace rice in Tokyo sushi and barley in several specialty brews, appealing not only to the health-conscious but also to alruistic diners who target food budgets towards sustainable agriculture or “impact” investments.



And that’s where the diaspora comes in.



The fonio harvested in Gongoré belongs to a cooperative, Groupement des Producteurs de Fonio au Foutah (GPFF), whose 85 members are being nurtured by a constellation of corporate allies in Europe and the U.S., mainly led by African expatriates who have banded together to help subsistence farmers bring fonio to the world’s tables.



One player, Terra Ingredients, is based in Minneapolis in Minnesota, the U.S. Another, Telli Ventures, is based in Tromsø, Norway. A third, Compagnie Africaine Agroalimentaire (CAA), operates in Mali, Guinea, Senegal and Paris. Each of these allies relies on highly-trained African expatriates.



Osman Diallo of Telli Ventures is French, born of Guinean/Senegalese parents, who today lives in Norway. Malick Diedhiou of Terra Ingredients is Senegalese-German who works out of Amsterdam, and Laura Layousse of CAA is of Senegalese/Lebanese descent. All hold advanced degrees from European or American universities (often both). All speak at least three languages.



All have turned to fonio to advance farmers back home. Besides its nutritional qualities, the grain has other attractions for impact investors. For one, it’s grown almost exclusively in just a handful of impoverished states — Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone —which means aiding fonio cultivation puts cash directly in impoverished African households. Another reason: almost 80% of fonio production occurs on family plots, so investors are not automatically in league with big commodities’ monopolists. Another benefit: few grains on earth are cultivated with such small amounts of water, which means fonio production doesn’t require big investments in irrigation infrastructure, nor is there chemical contamination from irrigation runoff.



“It’s usually not mechanized at all,” says Diallo of Telli Ventures. “Something ‘advanced’, like having a tractor when planting seed of harvesting, can boost production enormously.”



Diedhiou of Terra Ingredients explains the average yield from cooperative members is 500 kilos per hectare, with farmers cultivating more than two hectares per harvest season. At today’s prices, EUR0.55/kilo, that comes to just EUR275 ($285) per hectare per harvest, or about 10% of Guinea’s average annual salary.



Mechanization, paradoxically, can be a money-saver for the farmer. That’s because migration — either to nearby Senegal, or else to another continent — has begun to drain Guinea’s rural workforce.



As farmers’ sons and daughters leave for easier work in the city or abroad, the rising cost of hiring outsiders as day laborers cuts into farming profits. Thus, having corporate partners who can finance the purchase of modern machinery removes the obstacle of finding cash for a downpayment. It also frees more children from laboring in the fields.



To be sure, children well enough educated to forgo farm labor then compete for jobs far from home, which extends the cycle known as the ‘Brain Drain’. This is not a small thing. Dr Akinwumi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank, recently reported the number of African professionals living outside the continent has swollen over the past 30 years to over 20 million. He noted the $100 billion now remitted annually to Africa has become Africa’s single greatest source of capital, exceeding direct foreign investment, philanthropy or local private sector investment.



While the Brain Drain contributes to rising remittance numbers, it also undermines development of core human capital that would advance Africa’s skilled talent pool or replace talent that has left. Adesina noted that 70,000 skilled professionals are leaving Africa annually.



Yet the Brain Drain has its counterpoint, what some migration experts call “brain circulation”, or the ‘Brain Chain’. As debt indicators in Africa worsen, and sovereign risks increase, many African countries may attract diaspora investors who view investment opportunities in their countries of origin through a more favorable lens than institutional investors from the Global North.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="897" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Image-by-CAA-1024x897.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64761" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Image-by-CAA-1024x897.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Image-by-CAA-300x263.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Image-by-CAA-768x672.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Image-by-CAA-1536x1345.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Image-by-CAA-2048x1793.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Group of African Black Children Holding Rice Malnutrition Starvation Hunger. Starving Hunger Symbol. Black African girls holding rice as a malnutrition symbol.</figcaption></figure></div>


That’s the hope of countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Guinea, whose outbound migration has been prolific, and yet whose expatriates are well-positioned to invest savings held abroad in African opportunities they regard as true bargains. Someone like Rashid Conteh, 54, who spent more than half his life in the United Kingdom (U.K.), starting as a student, then building a furniture manufacturing business. He returned to Africa in 2005 as a dual U.K./ Sierra Leone citizen and as an exporter of his furniture line. That effort led him to study other opportunities and ways to profit from them.



If you ask the Kingston University London graduate today which obstacles he’s had to overcome launching himself into local agriculture, prepare for a long answer. He begins with “access to affordable financing”, then adds “unreliable energy and high energy costs, access to clean drinking water, capacity building of middle management, poor road networks and a skills gap”.



He looked first at rice.



“Sierra Leone imports $250 million in rice annually,” Conteh explains, or nearly $1 million daily. Focusing on import-substitution, Conteh hoped to grow rice efficiently enough to replace what was arriving from abroad. Instead, he turned to cassava, a tuber grown in Brazil that can be milled into a pellet resembling rice, already a staple in Africa served under the names attieke and couscous in some places and as garri in Sierra Leone. “We discovered we had no competitive advantage growing rice, but plenty for garri,” Conteh continues. He cites the 5.5 million hectares of arable land in the country, of which less than 6% currently is under cultivation. Conteh’s Sierra Agro-based Industries and Services launched in 2013 with just under $1 million in investment, raised from his furniture business. Today, the enterprise has grown from three employees to 45, says the CEO, “and, indirectly, hundreds more”.



That’s because Conteh doesn’t just produce cassava. He also produces cassava farmers, training locals to improve crop yields as they improved their skills. He began leasing heavy farming machinery, not only to defray the costs of run ning his own plantation, but also to familiarize subsistence farmers with tools to produce for a global market. He decided to transform harvested cassava into cassava flour to be rendered into pasta, which he now exports to neighboring Guinea and Liberia as well as Senegal and back to the U.K.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="846" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Fonio-is-in-vogue-Image-by-CAA-1024x846.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64760" style="width:686px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Fonio-is-in-vogue-Image-by-CAA-1024x846.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Fonio-is-in-vogue-Image-by-CAA-300x248.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Fonio-is-in-vogue-Image-by-CAA-768x635.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Fonio-is-in-vogue-Image-by-CAA-1536x1270.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Fonio-is-in-vogue-Image-by-CAA-2048x1693.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Fonio is in vogue; Image by CAA</figcaption></figure></div>


“From a humble beginning,” Conteh says, “we have grown to become the largest cassava producer and processor in Sierra Leone,” with a capacity to process 16 metric tons of cassava per day.



Similarly, efforts like fonio seem safe to an outsider.



Because the scale of production is so small, risks shrink to a very manageable size.



Consider the fonio processor, operational since 2022 in Dakar, that Layousse’s CAA group installed at a cost of under EUR1.5 million ($1.55 million). It is considered the first attempt to mill this ancient grain industrially, handling 700 metric tons of fonio annually from some 1,500 farmers CAA has in its supply chain (two years ago, there were only 30 farmers shipping for processing). In effect, the cost of amortization on that initial investment was EUR1,000 ($1,038) per farmer, an input cost that drops exponentially the longer the mill is operational.



“Before we had the plant, it was all manual and we had almost zero sales,” says Diedhiou of Terra Ingredients. “Of course, we didn’t go from 30 to 1,500 immediately, but it exploded [in 2024] because fonio starts to become more sought-after in the U.S.”



Before CAA’s machinery, fonio was as labor-intensive to dehusk as it was to plant and harvest. Women used wooden mortars and pestles to pound edible grain from a hard casing — and often lost much of its volume in dusty clouds of fonio. Exporting grain for processing not only means saving lost product, it also cuts the time spent turning raw grain into food. So, larger spring plantings and larger harvest yields followed.



CAA’s success with its suppliers has encouraged at least one other diaspora enterprise, La Petite Damba, to match CAA’s investment with a fonio processor of its own in Mamou, Guinea.



Fodé Youla, the son of Guinean diplomats, attended Northwestern University outside Chicago. Since 2016, he has been operating La Petite Damba as an exporter of several Guinean farm products.



Maarouf Barry, also the son of a Guinean diplomat, is, at 27, one of the younger expats returning to pursue agriculture. A dual citizen of the U.S. and Guinea, he was born in Boston and pursued his university studies at Wentworth Institute of Technology, a Massachusetts school with a strong emphasis on social change.



Sustainable agriculture drew Barry back to Western Guinea’s Boké Region, where his late father — who had retired from the foreign service — was operating the family’s palm oil plantation. Barry’s vision was to bring low-impact farming techniques to his neighbors, training them in new methods of cultivation. He also demonstrated new financing opportunities most local farmers had never imagined: U.S. vehicles like GoFundMe, Close Farming and MassChallenge.



Barry spotted an opportunity in the diaspora itself: that there are affluent Africans who no longer live in Africa, but who represent a potentially lucrative market for African exports. “I saw in Boston there was a need for authentic palm oil,” Barry explains. “It’s like Italians with their olive oil. People abroad want the authentic item.”



The effort is beginning to pay off. In 2024, he says Eleis Farm was a candidate for a $450,000 target grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), money Barry must match with other sources to access the entire grant.



He’s making progress. Eleis Farm has been exporting to a wholesaler in Rotterdam, Netherlands, who distributes Barry’s brand to 16 European markets where Guineans live. In 2024, Barry approached 100 metric tons in exports, his best year yet.



Barry and his three brothers make no secret of the fact that they had a huge head start. His father’s holdings, over 50 hectares incorporated in 2013 as Eleis Farm, offered him a platform and feedstock at practically no cost. “The land and the palm trees came free. This is the legacy my father left for us,” he says with a characteristic smile. “Now it is our turn to continue his vision.”



Operationally, he says, his efforts are profitable. But in terms of matching his father’s investment, he says, “I’m not even close.”



But success isn’t measured only on balance sheets. Eleis Farm is now part of a community of farmers who participate in 16 local cooperatives producing palm oil, cassava, salt, rice and fish for commercial sale. There are 93 farmers in total, all Fulani speakers in the same region. “We were creating a bridge between small holder farmers and the diaspora,” he says

CAA handles 700 metric tons of fonio annually from some 1,500 farmers in its supply chain; Image supplied

Advancing Agriculture: Africa’s Young Farming Entrepreneurs Returning To The Continent To Grow It

As traditional banking remains out of reach for many still unbanked and underserved In Africa, is Cryptocurrency slowly beginning to take a share of African wallets. 



The continent is anticipated to reach $2.9 billion in cryptocurrency revenue this year, and this growth is only going to grow exponentially as crypto becomes increasingly relevant to a digital-savvy population that’s distrustful of traditional banking services. In 2022, the World Bank reported that well over 50% of adults in 16 economies across 36 surveyed have a bank account. While account ownership has increased, the continent remains a financial playground where innovative solutions and transformative approaches to money management flourish.



Mobile money, says the World Bank, has redefined financial inclusion in countries like Kenya – M-PESA, for example, is the continent’s biggest success story and the lingo around its transactions has crept into local dialect.



And cryptocurrency, says the 2024 Geography of Crypto Report by Chainalysis, has equally found its footing in developing economies where millions opt into alternative banking and financial management solutions. The report found that sub-Saharan Africa is currently in the lead for decentralized finance (DeFi) adoption because people are craving accessible financial solutions and while the region only accounts for 2.7% of global cryptocurrency transaction volumes, Nigeria comes second in global cryptocurrency adoption while Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa made the top 30. Middle East and North Africa (MENA) account for 7.5% of global transaction volumes and was the seventh largest crypto market in 2024.



In these markets where crypto opens up doors often held shut by traditional banking systems, these digital assets have evolved to become essential to economic survival. No longer just for use by wealthy investors exploring crypto’s potential on a digital playground, these currencies are being adopted by digital-savvy users from informal sectors who want to bank, invest and spend within a trusted and accessible ecosystem.



As Frank Leonette, Founder and CEO of AFRIDAX, tells FORBES AFRICA: “It’s not the white-collar individuals who are driving crypto, it’s people from informal sectors. They’re using their mobile devices to transact in crypto because the beauty of this technology is that it is peer-to-peer. It doesn’t need a bank or intermediaries. If I send you 10 bitcoins, you will receive them immediately on your device and it removes the barrier-to-entry significantly.”



Instead of proof of address – a challenge in most rural areas – and identification and other complex paperwork hurdles, crypto users can move into the market easily.



Leonette highlights how Zimbabwe was a superb example of how bitcoin transcended the challenges of local currency because it was so easily transactable in the country.



“Cryptocurrency also makes it easier to do cross-border transactions and send money home – users don’t have to pay the astronomical fees associated with legacy systems nor do they have to wait three to four days for money to clear. It’s an instantaneous transaction.”



Financial institutions are paying attention to this shift.



In South Africa, Auguste Claude-Nguetsop, Partner and Southern Africa Head of Financial Services at KPMG, tells FORBES AFRICA that digital banks like Bank Zero and TymeBank have evolved to meet the needs of the unbanked population, structuring their costs and services to deliver what these users need. However, he believes that while cryptocurrencies do lower the barrier to entry with regards to access, cost and borders, they aren’t that easy to use or understand.



“We have a growing digital banking sector which is now also experimenting with crypto, especially as it’s attractive to those looking for cross-border payments,” he explains. “However, the complexity of crypto makes it a barrier for a large part of that market.”



He’s right. Cryptocurrencies aren’t simple – there are multiple types, different levels of performance, an abundance of crypto exchanges and the increasing risks around fraud and cybersecurity.



Thomas Lobban, Tax Legal Specialist at Latita Africa, tells FORBES AFRICA that while the walls have come down regarding crypto and it has become increasingly easy to use and access, there are dangers, and it isn’t quite as useful as perhaps pundits would have you believe.



“People aren’t abandoning their bank accounts in favor of crypto because what you can purchase is still limited, even in areas that have a primarily informal economy they prefer cash, which has a tangible value to it in their hands, as opposed to crypto which is still volatile,” he says. “Where you’ve really seen an explosion of crypto is in places that have hyper-inflationary currencies. If your local currency isn’t going to hold its value between today or tomorrow, crypto becomes an incredibly attractive prospect.”



This is exactly one of the reasons why crypto has found its feet in countries like Zimbabwe and Turkey. According to Kaiko Research, Turkey’s inflation and currency devaluation alongside bitcoins growing value has led to the country’s rapid adoption of cryptocurrencies to offset this financial instability. These digital assets are being further enhanced by the fact that in 2024 there was a swathe of regulatory changes that have shifted the narrative around crypto. Standardized regulations and licensing are building more secure and trusted digital financial environments – South Africa was the first African nation to introduce licensing for crypto exchanges which, the Crypto Council for Innovation calls a “significant leap forward”.



Perhaps crypto’s expansion in Africa is less about the unbanked and more about finding smart ways of managing money across the financial solutions that best fit the environment. In Kenya, mobile money remains king, in Nigeria and Turkey, crypto is gaining significant traction, while in South Africa, regulations are placing crypto firmly in the investor space. That said, however, there are still challenges around regulations in Africa that are inhibiting uptake and that may yet put the brakes on the digital currency’s growth aspirations. As Claude-Nguetsop concludes: “Regulators are potentially not fully comfortable about the size of the risks and the instruments are not very liquid, but it’s worth noting that things are changing, and Africa isn’t left behind. The U.S., which is quite sophisticated, only allowed listings in January 2024. It will all be allowed on the continent; it’s just a matter of time because crypto is here to stay.”

Young Asian man managing finance and investment online, analyzing stock market trades with smartphone and laptop. Making financial plans. Banking and finance, investment, financial trading, mobile banking with technology concept

Africa’s Crypto Cred: Transacting With The Future

Heard of catfishing? Disturbing trends from the world of online dating and how these dangerous scams are on the rise. Watch out for the red flags.



A 19-year-old university student from South Africa, Tom Harris (name changed to protect identity), is urging people to be more cautious when it comes to social media scams. After being caught last year, he says “more and more of my friends are being catfished [online romance scams]”.



He claims even amongst teens who know what to look out for, the number of those getting caught out by unscrupulous scammers is on the rise. This could be more amongst older populations who might not be as savvy online. It’s a growing global problem and perpetrators are using advancing technologies to stay one step ahead.



Interpol’s African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2024 estimates there’s been a 23% year-on-year increase in the number of weekly cyber-related crimes in Africa, including catfishing and ‘pig butchering’ – a scheme that combines aspects of catfishing and cryptocurrency investment fraud, where scammers use fake online identities to build trust with victims before convincing them to invest in crypto-currency scams and then disappearing with the funds.



Many of the fraudsters are reportedly from West Africa. The ‘Ghana scam’ is a well-known tactic to deceive victims into believing they are in a relationship. Once trust has been built, the tricksters manipulate victims into sending them money. South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Cameroon are also home to cybercrime syndicates, the losses of which are estimated in hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars. In Nigeria, the rise in scamming is largely due to a boom in cybercafes, a series of economic crashes from the 1980s, and the resulting joblessness amongst young people. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, ‘Nigerian Prince’ emails became infamous. As per online reports, they “typically involved someone claiming to be royalty and asking for money they promised to pay back with a hefty commission added”. The ‘Nigerian letter’ followed – a type of computer fraud “that aims to underhandedly get access to a user’s bank account or to extort money from them in a different way”. According to the United States’ Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud reports have skyrocketed, with attempts to steal nearly $9 billion from American financial institutions since 2016. Here, the scammer uses email to trick someone into sending money or divulging confidential company information. The culprit poses as a trusted figure, then asks for a fake bill to be paid or for sensitive data they can use in another scam.



Then there’s the ‘419 scheme’, named for the violation of Section 419 of the Nigerian Criminal Code. It combines “the threat of impersonation fraud with a variation of an advance fee scheme in which a letter, email, or fax is received by the potential victim”.



The syndicates work across the continent. Shane Theunissen, Managing Director of private security company, Special Ops 99, in Johannesburg, says the groups rent apartments in affluent areas. “Ten guys rent one unit and work out of it. We’ve arrested a lot of them and confiscated a lot of laptops with regards to 419 scams,” he tells FORBES AFRICA. “All these guys do is sit at home all day. They all drive fancy cars. They never go to work. That raises suspicion.” Theunissen says after his static security teams monitor strange activities in neighborhoods, his security teams pass the information on to the company’s tactical task team that then works closely with commercial crime units and crime intelligence to investigate. Confiscated laptops are sent to forensics for processing.



Tracing these criminals across borders is not easy.



Theunissen says his company works with international tracing agents and task teams, but the culprits are not easy to catch because they use sophisticated methods to cover their tracks. These include burner phones that can’t be traced, as well as VPNs. These are secure private networks that use encryption to hide their location. While they’re not foolproof, in many cases, criminals can continue their ruse for sometime as the VPN essentially sends out false location information.



The Nigerian ‘Yahoo Boys’ have been quick to exploit deepfake technology in their romance scams. Similar to traditional catfishing, they begin by luring victims through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter). These initial contacts are usually made through direct messages, where the scammers use manipulation to gain the victim’s trust. As the conversation progresses, they move the interaction to messaging apps like WhatsApp, making the communication feel more personal and frequent.



The crucial next step in their scheme is video calling. Here, the scammers employ deepfake technology to alter their appearance and voice in real time, allowing them to present themselves as the person depicted in the photos from earlier interactions. Victims, believing they are truly speaking with the person they have come to trust, continue to build the emotional connection.



Once the trust is established, the scammers implement the final part of their plan: defrauding the victim of money. By then, the victim is deeply invested in the relationship, making them more likely to fall for requests for financial help. Many of these techniques are reportedly borrowed from Chinese romance scams. Increasingly, scammers are turning to crypto to bypass safety checks. Hacked Facebook and Twitter accounts are bought with crypto or cash and then 15- and 16-year-olds are hired to generate content and create a profile. Sometimes a full persona is set up using Clip Art or photos from other social media accounts.



Building trust can take months.



When the money comes, the boss gets 60% and the young men take home the remaining 40%.



So how do we protect ourselves against these fraudsters? South African Harris found himself caught in the dangerous web of catfishing and blackmail after he met a woman named “Chloe” on Instagram. What began as seemingly innocent messaging soon spiralled into a nightmare when Chloe, who had convinced Harris to share intimate photos, threatened to expose him unless he paid her a fee.



Based on how catfishing works, it’s fair to assume that Chloe didn’t even exist. She threatened to send Harris’ intimate photos to his friends and family if he didn’t comply. He paid, hoping the nightmare would end.



“I was terrified,” Harris recalls. “She said she’d post my pictures everywhere, send them to my friends, my family… I thought paying her would make it stop. But that wasn’t the case.”



Chloe demanded more, and more money.



Emma Sadleir, South Africa’s leading expert on social media law, advised him to stop all communication, deactivate all social media accounts, and refrain from responding to any further messages. Sadleir notes that paying an extortionist only fuels the situation and encourages further demands. The best course of action, she says, is to block the perpetrator, gather evidence, and, if necessary, report the incident to the authorities. “Honestly, I thought I was going to be exposed. I thought she would send the photos out. But it didn’t happen. Maybe it’s because I blocked her and shut everything down. I don’t know for sure, but I’m relieved it’s over,” says Harris. Sadleir tells FORBES AFRICA: “What I’m finding more and more is that it’s just such a difficult crime to deal with because people are so very embarrassed to come forward. They often feel ashamed that they’ve sent these nudes to people they don’t know.” Among the red flags to look out for: scammers often make unsolicited contact; they may quickly express deep feelings; create emotional bonds, or fabricate sob stories like medical emergencies or family crises to ask for financial help; poor grammar and spelling; urgency and pressure to push you into making quick decisions; and background that cannot be verified. While the stakes are high, the cost of giving in can be higher.

Love scam and romance fraud with fake profile online. Dating website catfish. Scammer man with phone. Money deception with stolen identity on internet.

Falling Hook, Line And Sinker: Have You Been A Victim Of Catfishing?

The policies of all powers are inherent in their geography.



The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) of the European Union (EU) refers. A tool to put a fair price on the carbon emitted on goods entering the EU. The EU would have us know.



Climate change is a&nbsp;globalproblem that needsglobal&nbsp;solutions.&nbsp;



Although caused by the indiscriminate few, it’s disproportionately affecting the innocent many.



‘Carbon leakage’ allegedly occurs when EU companies move carbon-intensive production to countries with less-stringent climate policies or when EU products get replaced by them.



So, African economies in dire need of rapid industrialization and accelerated energy access have to tread carefully lest they run foul of this policy.&nbsp;



There is an inherent risk of arbitrary application. As the policy is ‘to ensure the carbon price of imports is equivalent to the carbon price of domestic production’.



It bestows an ability to unilaterally decide the price to be paid for embedded carbon emissions and perhaps elegantly neutralize genuine competitive advantages.&nbsp;



Suave and smooth.



CBAM does not apply to electricity generated in the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of EU member states. Such electricity&nbsp;“is EU origin”and thus exempt regardless of source?



Fairly convenient. Read on…



Fifty percent of all Teslas produced today are made in China. As is more than 80% of all Apple products.



Because an ecosystem of precision engineering skills exists with scale synergies.



If the iPhones were produced in the United States (U.S.), the additional cost would be $65.



Yet the political rhetoric is fever-pitched to ban China’s ‘anti-competitive’ behavior.



The Biden administration proposes to cut subsidies for vehicles that contain Chinese-made components.



How? China is the world’s leader in EV battery production accounting for two-thirds of global production.



The U.S. accounts for just 10%.



China leads the processing of critical minerals for EV batteries.



Neither sleight nor the swish of a hand will cut it even though it may get you to an oval-shaped office.



Those regulations threaten current automakers’ supply chains.&nbsp;



Enter Elon Musk, as the advisor to the incoming U.S. administration.



What do you think will happen?



Elephants will fight but compromise while the grass will suffer.



Financing commitments from U.S./EU sources into Africa come with stern warnings on ‘no China content’ and ‘only for carbon-friendly projects’. To the point of being banned otherwise.



Yet the pendulum on these swing around to the convenience of the West.



Oil companies will drill more than 40 exploration wells off Norway this year, including eight in the Barents Sea.



Deep sea mining is acceptable, marine life be damned.&nbsp;



Consequentialism (i.e. the ends justify the means) thrives.



An amoral West preaching morality has been the bane for centuries. It has led to an unrestrained narrative that the best is from the West while the rest can wait.



Indulging in unbridled hedonism to ensure a selfish future must be therefore questioned.



Hence the stirrings from the South, now backed by real money and strong economies are considered threats to the ‘world order ‘.



An order created by the few at the cost of the many.



If might is right, it’s time that becomes a fair duel?



We are grappling with global problems that have no geographical borders.



Be it the swathes of humanity swarming in for a better future to other shores. Or be it the effusions of industrial countries engulfing one and all, slowly but surely.



Time to have an equanimous response to usher in equity.



Rather than knee-jerk policies to appease your voters.



Singularly lacking is brutal action to allocate capital and knowhow from the land of plenty to the land of the needy where the majority of the youth lives and dreams.



Thus, Africa has to make its own friends and negotiate for itself collectively in this fragmented world of shallow schisms.



The good news is that it has choices.



It must exercise them well.

A Pile Of Coal By Smokestacks

Expert-Speak: Time For An Equanimous Response To Usher In Equity

A near-fatal accident could have ended it all for BANDILE DLABANTU but he quickly moved on to accomplish his dreams, setting up a biotech company transforming waste into value.



THE 2013 collision that resulted in Bandile Dlabantu’s vehicle rolling onto the opposite side of the road after being hit by a bus that lost control could easily have been fatal. Instead, it served as a catalyst for one of Africa’s most innovative waste management solutions.



“Life can end this quickly. I could have been gone in that moment…” Dlabantu recalls thinking as he emerged from the wreck with only a few bruises and a handful of glass cuts. “I thought to myself, if I can go through that and walk out, what’s stopping me from doing whatever it is that I want to do?”



That revelation nurtured a seed that had already been planted — to pioneer an alternative approach to farm feed production. The idea had fascinated Dlabantu since his days studying entomology and microbiology at South Africa’s Rhodes University when he stumbled upon a research paper from 1947 which predicted that rising fuel prices and fish feed costs would eventually necessitate alternative protein sources.



Like many other African countries, South Africa’s farming industry relies principally on fishmeal and soy, both of which are imported as not enough is produced locally. Coupled with climate change and a volatile global market, the impact filters its way down to the consumer, both financially and nutritionally.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="576" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Bandile-Dlabantu-Image-supplied-1-576x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-64651" style="width:372px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Bandile-Dlabantu-Image-supplied-1-576x1024.jpeg 576w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Bandile-Dlabantu-Image-supplied-1-169x300.jpeg 169w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Bandile-Dlabantu-Image-supplied-1.jpeg 720w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Bandile Dlabantu; Image supplied</figcaption></figure></div>


Despite a career spent predominantly in a suit and tie, Dlabantu’s upbringing amidst the farmlands of South Africa’s Eastern Cape would prove to be his most valuable role in the end. School holidays involved helping his grandmother to prepare and harvest the fields, while watching his grandfather devise creative methods for cutting down the cost of chicken feed. “He would take manure, water it, cover it with sacks, and let it sit. Then he would rake it and let the chickens go through it, because it would attract bugs to break it down,” Dlabantu explains. “I never realized that the solutions I grew up with would become the foundation of my career.”



The process of using insects, not just as protein-rich, cost-effective animal feed, but also as a means to address the issue of organic waste, would become Khepri. The name derives from that of the ancient Egyptian deity Khepri or Khepera, who is depicted as a dung beetle and represents the renewal of life — a fitting metaphor for a bio-tech company that transforms waste into valuable resources. Khepri’s model involves deploying onsite bioconversion units to businesses, allowing organic food waste, such as vegetable offcuts and restaurant scraps, to be processed into insect meal directly at the source.



“Insects are nature’s recyclers,” Dlabantu explains.



“They can transform waste into high-value protein and fertilizer, addressing both food insecurity and environmental degradation.”



The stars of Dlabantu’s production are the Black Soldier Flies (BSF) which consume the refuse. Their short growth cycle of just 15 days allows them to be easily reared, while they come with the added benefit of generating enzymes that kill bacteria and producing short-form proteins which function as antibiotics.



“The biggest thing that you want to do as a farmer is to make sure that when you feed your animals, you are actually maximizing on the digestibility and the bioavailability of the insect meal. BSF has a digestibility   of 90%, compared to soy which is 70%.”



Learning from the failures of predecessors who focused on large centralized facilities, Dlabantu developed a more adaptable approach. The modular bioconversion units which the company has patented can be installed directly at client sites, eliminating the need to transport waste, thus making the process more efficient and cost-effective, while lowering the carbon footprint. The resourceful on-site method was actually prompted by hindrances incurred during Covid-19. The pandemic forced relocation, and the subsequent riots in July 2021 in South Africa led to the theft and vandalization of all company equipment. Just when Dlabantu considered giving up, the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) provided crucial grant fund- ing in 2022, enabling a fresh start with an even more focused vision.



Since re-establishing operations in 2022, Khepri has maintained a steady 15% year-on-year growth, currently generating an annual turnover of R2 million ($107,000) — all of which is reinvested into research and development. The trajectory is set to change dramatically in 2025, the company’s official technology launch year, through a strategic partnership with South Africa’s Mogale City that Dlabantu projects will quadruple earnings. Today, Khepri operates with a team of 12, with plans to expand to 26 employees by year-end. The company deliberately targets both unskilled workers showing potential and science graduates struggling to find employment, contributing to South Africa’s job creation efforts. While firmly rooted in South Africa, Dlabantu’s ambitions extend to Morocco, the United Kingdom, and France, though he maintains that his heart and company headquarters will always remain in Africa.



“Each setback has reinforced my belief in motion,” he says. “You keep moving until you find a way out.” The philosophy is one which Dlabantu extends to his mentorship of other entrepreneurs through the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and the Innovation Hub. “The enemy is lack of motion. Start quickly, fail quickly or succeed quickly, and move on.” It’s a lesson learned from his own journey, where waiting for perfect conditions would have meant never starting at all. Looking back, the 43-year-old wishes he could tell his younger self to “just believe a bit more”. It is advice that resonates with many entrepreneurs. But as Khepri’s journey shows, sometimes the biggest breakthroughs come after the biggest set-backs — we just have to keep moving forward.

Logo – 2025-02-15T153156.204

Farmer Fervor: This South African Is Not Going To See His Life Go Waste

The female powerhouses in FORBES AFRICA’S OVER 30 UNDER 50 list &#8211; compiled for the second consecutive year- are the business leaders, musicians, models, movie stars, innovators and entrepreneurs who have intent and impact on their vision boards, as they scale greater heights, reinvent themselves and rewrite the rules in their 30s and 40s.



Reinvention is not to be taken lightly. Just ask the women in their 30s and 40s doing just that, armed with a tote bag filled with hard-learned lessons and a playbook stuffed with life notes.



These women will tell you that their 20s were spent wearing out their heels, to be able to bring their true selves to work and confidently stride into the next chapters of their life – the thriving 30s and fabulous 40s – that they are determined to script themselves. They are defying society’s conventional definitions of success to boldly stand out from the crowd – in their pointed Manolo Blahniks. “The biggest lie we have ever been told is that we are stagnant at this stage. I am thriving; I love my 30s,” says Rawdah Mohamed, a Somali-Norwegian model and activist, to FORBES AFRICA.



“In your 20s, you think you have this deadline; you have this rush and unnecessary anxiety. And then you come into your 30s – you’re settled and you have better self-esteem. You love your life. Then you meet other women in their 30s and they’re also thriving. Life is just so much calmer and better, and there’s quality in everything.”



The Over 30 Under 50 list is inspired by formidable women, from age 30 to 49, who are reaching career peaks, in addition to fulfilling their roles and responsibilities as daughters, wives and mothers.



But the balance between the personal and professional – particularly for women with ambitious career goals and children and/or parents to look after – is often portrayed as unachievable.



“What’s interesting about that narrative is that ‘state of play’ was imposed on women in their 30s and 40s,” explains award-winning Ugandan-British actor, singer, composer, and play-wright, Sheila Atim.



“It wasn’t innate to us; what I mean by that is it’s not that we suddenly fall off a cliff and sink into irrelevance and inertia after we turn 30. It’s that certain industries had decided for us [that] they would shut us out, or decided that it was too complicated to work with women who also want to be mothers. They had their kind of arbitrary ideals about what to prioritize when it came to ‘platforming’ (placing on a pedestal) women, supporting women, and raising women. And it’s a massive conversation with so many branches.”



Lisa Z. Lindahl, in a 2024 Forbes opinion piece, queried, Is This The Age Of Women in Leadership? Lindahl found that, as of 2023, women held 10.4% of leadership positions at Fortune 500 companies. She also noted that there were a total of 52 women running businesses on the Fortune 500 list at the time – an all-time high.



“The most profitable Fortune 500 companies, according to a 2007 study, also had the highest percentage of women directors,” she writes.



However, a 2021 report from McKinsey &amp; Company, co-authored with LeanIn.org, found that only 86 women are promoted to the position of manager for every 100 men, across all industries.



In their Women in the Workplace 2024 report, they noted that women’s representation had increased at every level of corporate management over the past decade, but that progress had been much slower at the entry and manager levels.



However, equitable representation at every level is an important part of fostering growth and advancement in the workplace.



“There were few women that we could look up to as role models,” Doris Ahiati, CEO and Co-founder, of Crescendo Consult, says to FORBES AFRICA. “I set out that, by the time I was [at] age 40, I would like to be a CEO to serve as an inspiration to other women, especially girls, so that they wouldn’t feel like there’s a certain glass ceiling when you get here [and] you can’t go any further. I have this written as a goal on my performance contract, wherever I work.”



It’s much the same in the creative industry. This is according to Ana F. Borges, Co-founder and Creative Director at Itsanashow Studio, who wrote a LinkedIn op-ed and a blog online, titled, Why is there a lack of women in the creative industry, and what can we do about it? “Women are still struggling to break into the creative industry at the same rate as men, particularly in technology and video games. To break through another glass ceiling, we should work on encouraging, supporting, and creating opportunities for this next generation of working women to take leadership roles in creative industries and build equity,” Borges notes.



Surprisingly, breaking the glass ceiling is not always top of mind for the women on this list – their focus is on ensuring that they are paving a path for others.



Captain Londy Ngcobo, for instance, is Africa’s first female dredge master and passionate about unlocking the continent’s ocean economy. More importantly, she has dedicated her 16 years in the maritime industry to ensuring that she “pushes past the narrative of multiplying as a woman and that there are more youth, more Captain Londys, more little BlaqMermaids [as she is known]”.



Ntsiki Biyela, who became the first Black female winemaker in South Africa, was unfazed by the male-dominated liquor industry. She had grown up with boys so that was not the difficult part.



“The only difficult part of entering the [wine] industry was figuring out how to navigate the different culture…,” she says, “but I like introducing myself to people. I don’t like the word ‘networking’ because I like building connections and friendships.”



For the women in this age cohort, it’s about acknowledging the statistics but also following it up with concerted action. They would rather embrace the opportunity to adapt to challenges and create success stories.



“I feel like we need to stop focusing on the naysayers; people who keep saying the things that don’t make sense,” Grammy-nominated Nigerian singer, Yemi Alade says to FORBES AFRICA.



“We need to shed more light on the people who say the truth about reality and the positives, which is that ‘if you believe it, you can achieve it’. Age is not the restriction and age is not the determinant. It’s all about what is in your mind. Just go for it.”



“What Iwant women in entertainment to know is that I don’t want them to be limited by just being on screen,” says South African actor and TV personality, Minnie Dlamini. “There’s so much more in this industry. But more than that though, I want people to look at my journey and realize that I didn’t do things conventionally. I didn’t do things the same way everyone did.”



These are the resolute and resilient women gracing the pages that follow. Their stories exemplify both bravado and brilliance, and are about breaking new ground.



Editor’s note: The list is unranked and in no particular order. 



<a href="https://shop.forbesafrica.com/product/single-digital-issue-february-march-2025/">To see the full list download your digital copy NOW </a>


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Author: Forbes Africa

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA