OpenAI will soon be more valuable than Walmart. Yes, Walmart, with its nearly $1 trillion in annual revenue, a market cap of around $500 billion, over 10,000 stores and 2 million employees. Less valuable than an AI company with fewer than 3,000 employees and just 9 global offices. The direction of influence is shifting from the physical economy to the digital future.

I’m reminded of the time African Presidents were packed into a bus, like kindergarten kids, at Elizabeth's funeral. You might know Elizabeth as the late Queen of the United Kingdom and a symbolic figurehead of colonial rule.

They said it was a logistics necessity.
But for me, it was symbolism.

It was a symbol of how Africa is seen, managed, grouped, and treated as an afterthought in global affairs.

A visual reminder of how far we are from being treated as equals on the world stage.

We are getting bused to perdition, like sheep being led to the slaughter.

And what’s worse? We keep celebrating invitations we never extended. Smiling in rooms we were barely allowed into. Applauding recognition from systems that once exploited us and still do.

The longer we ride in buses we didn’t charter, headed to destinations we didn’t choose, the more we forget that we were meant to be drivers and arbiters of our destinies.

Africa can no longer afford to be polite about its place in the global economy.

And the African entrepreneur has a role to play. To rebuild what was neglected, to reimagine what is possible, and to realign Africa’s future with its vision, not the Western roadmap.

Recent events have further fueled my sense of disappointment with African leadership on the global stage. One such instance this year was the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of five West African nations.

It was not a meeting but a carefully staged public humiliation of African Presidents, our Presidents.

During the so-called meeting, the African leaders wooed Trump with banal platitudes, giggly humming praises of his perceived peace efforts. This occurring against the sponsored hostilities in the Middle East is an insult to humanity!

Yet I couldn’t even be angry as I felt the helplessness.

There are entrepreneurs whose export businesses are now at risk due to the U.S tariff regime. There are public hospitals and clinics running out of resources, places that once depended on USAID funding and donated medicines.

Real people are getting hurt.

So I felt the pain behind the handshakes and smiles of the African Presidents as they paraded like clowns in a colonial theatre, strutting for pictures in the Oval Office, where nothing fertile was birthed.

This is not about politics.

This is about power and how Africa keeps giving it away.

This month, the U.S slapped a 30% tariff on South African goods, crippling major sectors like agriculture, steel, and automotive parts.

In 2024, South African exports to the US stood at US$8.21 billion. It’s quite a big number, but not big enough to be a death sentence. Especially when you look at South African exports to SADC, which so happens to be its biggest trading partner.

^{(Source: United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. 2024)}

SADC, not the United States, is South Africa’s largest trading partner.

Pause for a moment and let that sink in.

Yet somehow, we chase after markets that treat us as disposable, while ignoring those with cultural proximity, logistical ease, and untapped potential.

South Africa, and Africa at large, face a strategic dilemma: align with US industrial policy or forge independent competitiveness.

And we, African entrepreneurs, must wake up to the reality of dependency. If you’re building a business that relies entirely on American or European supply chains, customers, or aid, you are vulnerable.

The ripple effects of geopolitics will always reach your doorstep.

We cannot build businesses that collapse every time Trump has a tantrum.

We must:

For so long, and for so little, we exported raw materials. We chased the dollar and neglected the kwacha, the pula, the rand, the naira.

We turned our back on regional integration because it was harder work. Because it didn't look glamorous on the foreign media portals like BBC and CNN.

Now we’re paying the price.

If we don’t trade with each other, grow with each other, and stand up for each other, we’ll always be one policy away from crisis.

Maybe it’s time we all learned a thing or two from Namibia. A few months ago, many predicted doom for Namibian tourism after the country imposed travel visa requirements on citizens from the U.S. and the EU.

The critics said it was economic suicide. They said tourism would collapse.

But guess what?

Just four months later, Namibia has welcomed over 70,000 visitors.

Sometimes, standing your ground doesn’t hurt your position; it strengthens your sovereignty.

Namibia made a decision rooted in reciprocity - we pay for visas to come to you, so pay to come to us.

There’s a lesson there for African nations and us, African entrepreneurs, alike.

Many African entrepreneurs are held back by the belief that they can’t start without funding. DJ Sbu, entrepreneur, media personality, and founder of MoFaya Energy Drink, disagrees.

In a recent conversation, DJ Sbu shared a story about two young hustlers who approached him with a bold vision to start a property company: Ekasi Noble Properties.

They had no money, no land, no formal background.

What they did have was belief, clarity, and commitment.

Their pitch was so compelling that DJ Sbu backed them. Today, they run a successful multi-development property business.

The experience reaffirmed this truth: "It’s not capital that gets you started, it’s clarity, confidence, and conviction."

Your vision is your seed. Start planting.

By 2055, Africa will have the largest child population in the world, over 1 billion children.

31 million children under 5 could die between 2018 and 2030 if current healthcare gaps persist.

Millions more teachers and health workers are needed by 2030 to meet demand.

This is not a government problem alone. It’s a market opportunity and one of the most urgent, impactful ones of our time.

Africa needs new institutions. This is the time to build public-private partnerships (PPPs), social enterprises, and scalable infrastructure businesses in:

If you want to build a billion-dollar business in Africa, solve for the next billion kids.

QuickBooks

Manages accounting, invoicing, payments, and cash flow.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Nedbank Top Empowerment Conference, which was themed - Bold Transformation.

Here are the takeaways:

The conference foregrounded the message that businesses can and must be both profitable and inclusive. It emphasised that Africa’s historical legacy of deliberate exclusion continues to shape economic structures today. Yet, we must build future pathways grounded in both remembrance and innovation.

By Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson

Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business.

Some Insights:

Here’s DJ Sbu’s no-BS framework for building from nothing:

If your vision is clear, people will follow, even if your bank account is empty.

Which African country was the first to adopt a national digital currency?

Are you building a business that restores the planet? The Youth Ecopreneur Programme 2025 is your gateway to global recognition, expert support, and funding.

Deadline: 14 September 2025

Here’s what’s in it for you:

A joint initiative by the International Trade Centre and G20 Global Land Initiative, the programme is open to entrepreneurs under 35 with a green business or land-restoration business.

Apply here

Prioritise speed to market over perfect planning

Avoid fully fleshed-out early business plans; be ready to pivot as you learn from market and user feedback.

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Fatima Tambajang leads Developer Relations for Startups and VCs across Africa and the Middle East at NVIDIA. She supports developers and startup ecosystems by providing access to tools, training, and partnerships to build impactful AI solutions.

Her work has been featured in TIME, BBC, Forbes, and Copenhagen Fintech Week.

Before NVIDIA, she managed a global accelerator working with startups in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.

Fatima holds a Master’s in Economics and Global Development from the University of Copenhagen.

By 2050, 1 in 4 people in the world will be African, and by 2035, more young Africans will enter the workforce each year than in the rest of the world combined.

Identify one data or digital tool you can integrate into your workflow.

Knowledge that is not acted upon is like a seed left in the dry ground.