If you search online for ‘African entrepreneurs’, you might find a handful of tech unicorn stories, a few celebrated founders who made it onto the global stage, or articles that frame African business through the lens of ‘overcoming adversity’. But beyond those headlines lies a vast, untold landscape of entrepreneurial leadership, millions of Africans building, creating, trading, innovating, and transforming their communities every single day.
But what about the others?
What about the woman who turned a kitchen recipe into a supply chain feeding three cities?
The young man who saw a gap in his village and filled it with nothing but resolve and resourcefulness?
The diaspora founder who left a career abroad to build something back home?
The immigrant who arrived in a new country with an idea and an unshakeable connection to the continent?
Do we know their stories?
What can we learn from their leadership, resilience, and vision?
How are they building enterprises in Africa, from Africa, and for Africa, whether they are on the continent or thousands of kilometres away?
How are these everyday African entrepreneurs reshaping economies, communities, and futures?
We want to hear your story.
For this upcoming We Will Lead Africa volume, our focus is on Entrepreneurship. We are looking for stories from African entrepreneurs who are creating, building, and leading from anywhere in between.
This call is for you if:
- You were born and raised in Africa and have built a business there, whether a tech startup, a farming enterprise, a creative studio, a manufacturing operation, or anything in between
- You have African roots, by lineage, heritage, or identity, and have created a business abroad, carrying the spirit of the continent into new markets and new possibilities
- You immigrated from Africa to another region and are building enterprises in your new home
- You are part of the African diaspora, and your entrepreneurial journey is shaped by your African identity, values, and vision for the continent’s future
- You know someone whose entrepreneurial story deserves to be told – and you are willing to help document it.
Story format
Submissions should be a personal narrative, between 1,500 and 2,500 words. We are also accepting stories submitted on behalf of others – you can help someone document a story that otherwise might not get heard, and submit it with their permission.
Your story should speak to the following:
- What’s your personal story?
- What inspired you to start/do the work you are doing?
- What was the challenge you sought to address or potential you sought to unlock?
- What did you do and how did you do it?
- What have been the outcomes and impacts of the work to date?
- What has the experience taught you?
- What do you see for the future?
You can submit a story in the following ways:
- Complete the submission form
- Talk to us about submitting stories in alternative formats.
If you are interested in submitting your contribution in an alternative format, please get in touch by email: submissions@wewillleadafrica.com. Use ‘Entrepreneurship’ in the subject line.
We believe that storytelling, an inherent part of African cultures, is a powerful tool for imagining, sparking, and driving progress. And as a way to inspire more change and shape the futures we want.
Join #WeWillLeadAfrica. Tell your story of action, change, and transformation!
About the editorial team
Memuna and Deasy are the lead editors of We Will Lead Africa: Entrepreneurship Volume.
Dr. Memuna Williams is a strategic executive and award-winning leader with a 30+ year international career that includes advancing entrepreneurship, education, and social innovation. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Empowering Sustainable Change (ESC), a mission-driven company focused on SME advisory, executive education, and thought leadership. Additionally, she serves as Co-Founder and Operations Lead for Champs for Change (C4C), a pan-African social enterprise reframing sports as a pathway for youth empowerment and industry transformation. She co-produced the Amazon #1 best-selling book, Champs for Change and We Will Lead Africa: A Sports Volume, spotlighting 40 African sports professionals.
Deasy Helena is a business operations and marketing & communications strategist with over 8 years of experience across product development, strategy, and innovation initiatives spanning 14 countries. Passionate about tech for good, youth development, and education, she works at the intersection of technology, storytelling, and impact-driven systems change. Originally from Mozambique and shaped by global experiences across Africa and North America, she currently serves as Head of Marketing & Communication at The Supply Chain Project and supports business development and operations at InkDot.
She is also building Kazi, a platform connecting students to opportunities and shaping the future of work and learning.