According to the Africa Wealth Report, there are currently 135,200 millionaires living in Africa, along with 342 centi-millionaires worth US$100 million or more, and 21 dollar billionaires. However, fewer than 2% of them are regularly interviewed, profiled, or featured in African media.

The United States has the richest people in the world. It has more millionaires, centi-millionaires, and billionaires than any other country.

But the most intriguing part is that they don’t keep their success a secret.

While in many parts of the world, including here at home in Africa, it’s common for the wealthy to retreat into privacy, shun public attention, or mystify their success behind vague platitudes, in America, it’s the opposite.

The rich are loud, accessible, and well-documented.

You’ll find millionaires on podcasts, billionaires sharing business lessons on YouTube, and TikTokers walking up to random CEOs in LA or New York asking, “What do you do for a living?” And they answer.

Success in the U.S. is not whispered in secret corridors. It’s on the feed. It’s on the bookshelves. It’s on the timeline.

But there is a haunting silence from the rich Africans.

According to the African Youth Survey, 91% of young people across the continent want to start a business. That’s tens of millions of young minds eager to build, solve, employ, and transform the continent.

But many are looking to influencers in London, motivational speakers in California, and entrepreneurs in Dubai for playbooks.

Why? Because they’re visible. and accessible.

And here at home? We have builders. Quiet ones. We have stories - untold ones. We have strategies. Locked up in closed circles.

It’s not that every successful African needs to become a content creator, podcaster, or influencer. But surely, we can start normalising openness about our business journeys.

Be visible. Be honest. Be generous.

You don’t have to be a billionaire to share what worked. You don’t need a ring light and a full camera crew to give wisdom.

The youth are watching!

If you bootstrapped your business, tell us how.

If you failed five times before your first win, show us your scars.

If you scaled with no political backing, let everyone hear that too.

If you survived a bad partnership, a corrupt supplier, or a digital fraudster, don’t just learn quietly; teach publicly.

The most important mentorship and inspiration doesn’t come from foreign voices. It comes from local voices and stories.

You may be sitting on a story that unlocks someone else's success. They’re not asking you to make them rich. They’re asking, “Show us how you did it… so that we can try too.”

Africa needs more millionaires. More visible ones. Honest ones. Present ones.

So tell us your story. Show us the blueprint. Instead of assuming that the youthful entrepreneurs want handouts, offer guidance.

And if 91% of the youth are ready to hustle, then let's not leave them navigating in the dark.

Terry Maphosa grew up in a rural village in Zimbabwe. Life was tough; he sold mopane worms to survive and studied under moonlight. After getting a degree in Political Science, he couldn’t find a job. So, he went back to the village and started raising local chickens called roadrunners.

That small project grew into KwaTerry, a restaurant and rural tourism hotspot. There, Terry serves traditional food like sadza rezviyo and game meat, with a full countryside experience: live cooking, quad-bike rides, and even fishing.

Today, KwaTerry employs over 20 people, supports youth farmers, and produces everything from organic veggies to branded chicken cuts. Terry has won major awards and even spoken at a UN summit.

His message is simple? You don’t need to leave your roots to succeed. You can build something powerful, right where you are.

While the world obsesses over tech, Africa sits on a different kind of goldmine - culture.

Entrepreneurs like Terry Maphosa, founder of KwaTerry in Zimbabwe, are proving that our heritage is a business opportunity. By serving traditional dishes like sadza reZviyo and derere in a humble village setting, Terry turned nostalgia into tourism and meals into money.

The opportunity?

Ethnic foods are projected to hit US$70.8 billion by 2030.

African cuisine is still underrepresented globally.

Diaspora communities and global foodies are hungry for authenticity.

The idea?

Turn your roots into revenue:

What’s one dish from your childhood you’d serve the world?

Want to document your journey, explain your process, or teach others how you did it, without needing fancy gear or editing skills? Loom lets you record your screen and camera at the same time in just a few clicks.

Use it to:

This book argues that life, business, and success are like a nightclub:

Find the third door. And if you have already used it, show someone else where it is.

The top reason startups fail is building a product nobody wants. A staggering 42% do this!

Deeply understand your target customers’ pain points with thorough research and customer discovery before writing code or seeking to raise funds.

Don’t rely on early excitement from friends or family; seek real feedback and market proof before investing heavily.

In Ethiopia’s Tigray region, ancient traders used stones and metal rods as currency before coins ever arrived. Africa’s legacy of trade, enterprise, and innovation runs deep; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Applications are now open for the 2025 African Union CIEFFA Online Capacity Building Training.

The training is targeted at women and men from 55 African Union Member States and the Diaspora who are interested in developing their skills and knowledge in Gender equality in and through Education, STEAM, digital literacy, financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

For More Information: Click here.

Most entrepreneurs waste time on the 90% of effort that only delivers 10% of results.

Smart entrepreneurs flip that.

Prioritise the 10% of work that yields 90% of results, and avoid over-engineering.

Ship the part that matters most, first.

Fake confidence initially, if needed, while you build skills and credibility.

In 2014, he co-founded Andela, a global marketplace of skilled technologists. Two years later, he co-founded Flutterwave, now Africa’s leading payments infrastructure company, powering billions in transactions across the continent.

Both Andela and Flutterwave are billion-dollar ventures, placing Aboyeji at the very heart of Africa’s tech boom.

Aboyeji is currently the general partner and co-founder of Future Africa, a platform that provides capital, coaching and community for mission-driven innovators.

Africa imports over 100 million metric tons of cereals alone at an annual cost of US$75 billion.

Write a post sharing ONE lesson from your entrepreneurial journey. It can be:

Post it on LinkedIn, TikTok, X, or Instagram with the #ShowUsHowYouDidIt

Tag 3 other African entrepreneurs to do the same

Success isn’t sacred. It’s shareable.

Wisdom is like fire. People take it from others.