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Pricing, Profitability, and Playing in Broken Markets: A Reflection from an African Entrepreneur

For the past 12 years, Iโ€™ve been building businesses across the African continentโ€”creating platforms, services, and programs that I knew had value. And yet, one question kept echoing through every boardroom, brainstorm, and budget meeting:

โ€œWhy arenโ€™t we making enough money?โ€
โ€œWhy arenโ€™t we sustainable?โ€
โ€œWhy isnโ€™t this working?โ€

Between Inspiration and Paralysis: What Travel Teaches African Leaders โ€” and Why Itโ€™s Not Enough

Over the past few years, Iโ€™ve witnessed this conversation bubble up online โ€” often concerns around Malawian politicians and their frequent international travels. One user asked (genuinely, I think), โ€œDonโ€™t they come back inspired? Donโ€™t they want to make things better after seeing how things work out there?โ€ Itโ€™s a fair question. One Iโ€™ve asked myself many times โ€” not just about politicians, but even about myself.