How Ashish J. Thakkar Built Mara Group Into a Pan‑African Powerhouse
Ashish J. Thakkar built the Mara Group from a $5,000 startup into a pan‑African multi‑sector business present in more than 20 countries, empowering youth entrepreneurship.
Ashish J. Thakkar built the Mara Group from a $5,000 startup into a pan‑African multi‑sector business present in more than 20 countries, empowering youth entrepreneurship.
At the beginning of 2026, Africa’s best quality-of-life scores highlight what residents experience daily which include access to healthcare, education quality, public safety, and well-planned cities moving beyond economic size.
Sim Shagaya founded Konga to prove that large-scale digital commerce could work in Africa, building logistics, payments, and trust across fragmented markets.
At the start of 2026, Africa’s highest cost-of-living pressures are driven less by income levels and more by structural prices, import dependence, and currency exposure.
Strive Masiyiwa built Africa’s largest independent fiber network, laying over 110,000km of cable to connect the continent and transform landlocked nations into digital hubs.
Demographics increasingly shape Africa’s military potential. In 2025, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the DRC led the continent in the number of people reaching military age annually, highlighting strategic and security implications across regions.
Ashraf Sabry dismantled Egypt’s reliance on physical cash by building Fawry, a digital payment giant that now processes millions of transactions daily and serves as a core financial utility for over 50 million users.
Across Africa’s post-independence history, secessionist movements have challenged inherited borders and forced states, regions, and institutions to confront the limits of unity.
Mitchell Elegbe built Africa’s most important payments infrastructure, turning Nigeria’s fragmented, cash-heavy system into a high-volume digital network processing trillions of naira and supporting over 100 million Verve cards across Africa.
Despite the 2025 USAID ban, Ethiopia, DRC, and Nigeria led U.S. aid distribution in Africa, highlighting strategic, political, and humanitarian priorities shaping assistance flows.
Africa’s urban transport is evolving, with BRT systems easing congestion and boosting mobility. Some cities lead in coverage and innovation, reshaping city transit.
Africa’s most visa-open countries in 2025 are reshaping regional mobility, trade flows, and diplomatic leverage through policy choices reflected in measurable openness scores.
Tesh Mbaabu built MarketForce into a commerce engine that digitized informal retail, linking neighbourhood merchants to inventory, credit, and payments across multiple African markets.
Juliet Anammah led Jumia Nigeria’s evolution into a full digital commerce platform, helping position Jumia as the first African tech company listed on the NYSE.
Africa’s corporate landscape in 2025 shows a shift toward stable earnings, governance depth, and cross-border expansion revealing which firms now hold the highest market value.
The 2025 Africa Country Instability Risk Index shows a widening gap between fragile and resilient states, with Southern and coastal West Africa anchoring the continent’s lowest risk scores.