I find myself lately in A LOT of conversations about Africa’s prosperity. A few days ago, I had the most incredible chat with Iggy: a Tanzanian Entrepreneur, and Engineer also interning with Microsoft this Summer.
“I found someone doing similar work to you!” said Emerson (another Microsoft intern + new friend). He introduced us, and I was most delighted to meet and have a chat with Iggy about his work, and how we can collaborate for mutual growth of our ventures. We later caught up over tea, and he got to introduce me to the work of TekSafari.
Prior to relocating from Lansing to Redmond my summer internship with Microsoft, I sat down with Professor Tawana Kupe at the gorgeous Haraz Coffeeshop (the most beautiful coffee shop in Lansing), and we spent a few hours discussing Africa’s possible futures.
Prof. Kupe is an esteemed academic — former Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria; and former Chairman of the Africa Alliance Partnership at the Michigan State University. He is a visiting scholar with MSU, as he works on his books, and has extensive knowledge and experiences in youth skilling.
I was honoured to have met him when we were both invited as speakers in the Africa and the World class by Professor Upenyu Majee. We shared perspectives on what pathways do, and need to exist for African youth.
HELLO FROM THE TECH CAPITAL
In my recent newsletter, I go into depth about my summer MBA Internship with Microsoft — and how I prepared to succeed this summer. Be it that we are in week 3 of the internship, I am already at the quarter mark of the experience, and what a journey, already.
1,400 of us join Microsoft as Interns this summer. Now that I am here — at the intersection of technology and opportunity, at the table where strategy for billions is shaped — I am realizing something fundamental:
Africa’s future will not be built by importing infrastructure alone. It will be built by exporting capacity. We must export our youth to gain (and bring back) diverse experiences, almost at the same rate we are importing global infrastructure. Failure to do so will result in us importing systems that our human resource fails to manager / undermanages, and we will continue to write lengthy evaluation reports about why we have SO MANY white elephants.
The world has long asked, “How do we bring technology to Africa?” But I think the better question is:
“How do we bring Africa to technology?”
And I believe the answer lies not in aid, not in hardware, not even in access — but in human resource pathways.
A TALE OF TWO FUTURES: GHANA AND SOUTH KOREA
Prof. Kupe, in the Africa and the World class posited an example that has since stuck with me:
In the 1960s, Ghana and South Korea had nearly identical economic profiles — with comparable GDP per capita figures. For instance, in 1960, Ghana’s GDP per capita was approximately $179, slightly higher than South Korea’s $156 (in 2010 US dollars) . By 1970, both countries had similar living standards, with South Korea’s GDP per capita at $260 and Ghana’s at $250 .
However, over the subsequent decades, their economic trajectories diverged significantly. South Korea implemented strategic policies focusing on export-oriented industrialization, substantial investments in education, and robust government-business collaborations. These initiatives propelled South Korea into becoming a global economic powerhouse. By the 1990s, South Korea had skyrocketed into the global elite — with a per capita income over $9,000, massive industrial output, and a thriving export economy. Ghana, meanwhile, remained largely stagnant, with per capita income under $400.
Today, South Korea’s GDP per capita surpasses $30,000. In contrast, Ghana faced challenges such as political instability, overreliance on primary commodities like cocoa, and underinvestment in infrastructure and education. These factors contributed to a more modest economic growth, with Ghana’s GDP per capita reaching around $2,300 in recent years.
This stark contrast underscores the profound impact of deliberate policy choices and investments in human capital on a nation’s economic development. It highlights the importance of creating robust human resource pathways to foster industrialization and prosperity in Africa.
What changed?
There are many factors to consider, but I think a key one that we need to deeply consider is human capital strategy.
South Korea deliberately invested in its people — not just with schools, but with skills, systems, and pipelines. It trained engineers, mobilized youth, and aligned education with industrial goals. It built pathways, not just infrastructure.
Ghana, like many African nations, was bogged down by policy instability, commodity dependence, and weak industrialization. And while education expanded, it rarely connected students to opportunity.
THE LESSON: PEOPLE BUILD ECONOMIES
Africa is home to the youngest population in the world — over 70% under the age of 30.
This for a while has been named a burden. I see it quite differently: I think Africa’s youthful population is the world’s greatest untapped asset.
While Western economies are aging and shrinking, Africa is expanding — intellectually, culturally, digitally. But this demographic dividend is only a dividend if we turn people into producers and not just consumers.
And yet, African youth remain underrepresented in global tech, underutilized in local industries, and underprepared for emerging markets. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley still debates whether hiring “Black talent” is viable — while overlooking the literal continent of potential.
The opportunity isn’t to connect Africans to Wi-Fi.
It’s to connect Africans to global value chains.
MY JOURNEY: FROM MANGOCHI TO MICROSOFT
I did not arrive here by accident.
From my coastal hometown of Mangochi, Malawi, to my years with the Malawi Revenue Authority and the United Nations, to my MBA studies at Michigan State and now my internship with Microsoft Xbox — my path was paved by a rare mix of access, exposure, and relentless self-direction.
As I speak to other African youth who are here with me, they seem to have similar pathways. Most of us are here by chance, and I see in these chances a lot of responsibility. I think that these paths shouldn’t be rare; they should be replicable.
It is part of why I built the Ntha Foundation, which grows as I know. Through initiatives like the M’mawa Apprenticeship Programme and the Nyenyezi Entrepreneurship Fellowship, we support African students and entrepreneurs in transitioning from classroom to boardroom, idea to enterprise.
Through the Kwathu Kollective, we scale innovation hubs across Africa.
Through Digital Skills for Africa (DSA), we embed digital literacy in primary school, high school and university curriculums.
With Q2 Games, we plan to leveraging gamification to drive education, civic engagement, and storytelling.
And with Bien Corporation, we plan to amplify and finance African creativity into global branding.
Every venture I lead comes back to one belief:
Africa will not industrialize until its youth are industrialized — mentally, technically, and systemically. And I tell you from years of experience training (in my personal capacity and alongside my team) Africa’s youth: there is A LOT of work to be done, but IT CAN BE DONE. It is being done. I know, because I am part of the mass doing this work, and there is need for more of this work.
AFRICA’S CHANCE: BUILDING HUMAN RESOURCE PATHWAYS
When I speak of “human resource pathways,” I do not mean HR departments.
I mean systems that take a 16-year-old student in Lilongwe and connect them to global industries by age 25.
I mean:
- Digitally-enabled learning that prepares students for future-of-work roles
- Exchange programs between African institutions and global universities
- Mentorship and coaching that demystifies career pathways
- Government–private sector partnerships that align education with opportunity
- International corporate alliances that open doors to internships, remote work, and leadership pipelines
We’ve spent decades building roads and ports, albeit unsuccessfully because these things are done TO and not BY us. We execute most of our initiatives as though we are STILL doing a favour to our colonisers.
We need to build people. We need to build our own systems.
***
I guess I write, because between now and when I am wealthy enough to drive all this (sometimes A LOT OF money is truly all you need to get the job done and done well), I have words, and I commit to using them.
This is a shared responsibility — and my call is deliberate:
To Global Tech: Don’t just localize your products — localize your people strategies. Africa is not a frontier; it is a factory of talent. Hire, mentor, and invest accordingly.
To Governments: Reimagine education. Make it practical, digital, and tied to employment. Build policies that reward talent retention, not just test scores.
To Funders & Philanthropists: Stop funding one-off projects. Invest in institutions. In pathways. In infrastructure that scales people, not just programs.
To Diaspora Africans: You are the bridge. You know the system. Use your proximity to create pull factors for those coming behind you.
To African Youth: Do not wait to be discovered. Build. Apply. Learn. Fail. Pivot. Rise. You are not the future — you are the now.
NOW THAT I AM HERE: SO WHAT?
Now that I am here, I don’t just want a seat at the table.
I want to help set the table — and build a bridge for others to join it.
Because Ghana and South Korea didn’t just choose different paths — they built different systems.
Now Africa must choose. And if we choose people — if we invest in their readiness, representation, and resourcefulness — then we will no longer need to ask for inclusion. We will define the agenda.
Let’s stop asking how to bring technology to Africa.
Let’s ask how to bring Africa to the world.
And let’s begin by investing in the one thing that changes everything: our people.
with Unrelenting Hope,
Ntha
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