18/06/2025
Africa's next generation of billionaires will be innovators, like the guys at Moove...
__Solving local challenges with that go global!
A few weeks ago, I was in San Francisco walking to a dinner when I spotted a futuristic fleet of self-driving cars known as Waymo, lining up to recharge. I decided to go and check it out immediately!
It was an open area parking lot with a long line of car chargers. There were only two humans on site connecting each car, and I reached out to one of them for a chat.
"So this is the new type of Fuel Station," I thought to myself, as I surveyed the setup. "These smart entrepreneurs are setting up facilities for self-driving and other EVs. How cool is that?!"
In talking to the one guy, I quickly realized that indeed they did not actually work for Waymo, but for an independent entrepreneur who had been contracted to be a "Service Station" for EVs, similar to how people set up petrol (service) stations for traditional cars!
And little did I know at the time, two young entrepreneurs from Nigeria had very recently entered a to do this same kind of business with Waymo!
Back in 2020, those two co-founders, Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, had first launched a mobility company and digital platform. Their focus was to help finance Uber ride-hailing drivers in Lagos who wanted to buy their own cars, but didn’t have enough credit to get a traditional loan…
Called “Moove,” their business took off in Nigeria, then in other African markets. Now its global in scale, connecting like ride-hailing drivers with affordable and fair access to revenue-based vehicle finance. Check out their website to see where they've scaled globally: https://www.moove.io/
Now back to my Waymo story: A few days ago, I read that Moove has “moved” onward and upward! From its main business [which increased annualized revenues of $115m up to $360m in a year] Moove has recently partnered with Waymo to provide fleet management services to clean and charge Waymo's electric Robotaxis! Their first roll-out is the Phoenix market, then in 2026 they'll add Miami!
As its market demand and opportunities grew last year, Moove’s co-founders raised $100m in a Series B funding round that valued their company at $750m. Now they’re looking to raise an additional $300m.
This means by the next funding round in a year or so, Moove could potentially be worth more than $5bn, and by the time they do an IPO, it could be worth more than $10bn. Yes, within a decade or much less, it could place these guys to being multi-billionaires!
Shocked?!
There are several African innovators I would comfortably back to be in this position in the next three years, including the guys at Monie, Sand Technologies, Flutterwave, to name but a few.
Within 10 years, these guys and many I don't know [most likely from AI and Crypto] will top the African billionaire list, surpassing the wealth of most on that list today! These guys [men, and hopefully also women] will not struggle to raise capital, and they will be global.
As you stop and reflect on what I've written, there is something critically important that I want you to see:
__The wealth of these is not dependent in any way on governments and relationships with powerful people. They don't need access to licenses or natural resources like oil, gold… or anyone's favour.
They will come from any country, big or small. Some will be based in Africa, whilst others will be in the diaspora.
To join them, you must have a that says, "Wealth is primarily created by being an ."
__It's in every message on entrepreneurship that I have ever taught.
Some of you will , , and , great new businesses "at the edge of technology"... while others of you will remain passengers [or even drivers] of someone else’s vision.
It's really up to you.
Image caption: A few years ago, I shared with you my amazing experience of being driven around San Francisco by... No One! Now Waymo is a US$45bn commercial venture, with electric robotaxis driving customers about 1 million miles a week (250,000 trips). It’s also ranked the most innovative company in the world this year: https://www.fastcompany.com/91270760/waymo-most-innovative-companies-2025
