Stagione 1
Building Customer Experience Engines and Data Infrastructure in Emerging Markets
Dismantling Structural Barriers to Empower Africa's Young Communications Professionals
Across Africa, businesses are talking to more customers than ever, on WhatsApp, SMS, Instagram, Facebook and Google. Yet many still struggle to turn those conversations into loyalty, insight and revenue. In this episode of African Intelligence, we speak with Taha Jiwaji, Founder and CEO of Beem, the Pan-African customer engagement and communications technology company operating across more than 25 African countries. Drawing from his experience building communications and data infrastructure for businesses across the continent, Taha examines a simple but pressing question: what does it take for African businesses to build customer experience engines that actually drive growth? In this episode, we explore: Why customer experience is now a revenue strategy, not just a service function. How businesses in emerging markets can manage customer conversations across multiple channels from one place. The role of data infrastructure in understanding customers and making better business decisions. What makes building technology for African markets different from building it elsewhere. How automation and AI can improve customer service without losing the human touch. What African founders and business leaders should prioritise as they scale across markets. About the Guest Taha Jiwaji is the Founder and CEO of Beem, a technology company helping businesses across Africa engage their customers through SMS, WhatsApp, social media and other digital channels. Beem's platform, Moja, brings these channels together in a single interface, helping organisations automate service, improve customer satisfaction and build stronger relationships at scale. Why are we having this conversation? Africa's growth story will be written by businesses that understand their customers deeply and serve them well. Building the systems, data and technology behind great customer experience is therefore more than an operational question. It is part of building the infrastructure through which African businesses compete, grow and tell their own story. African Intelligence explores the ideas, people and forces shaping Africa's future, and how Africans can play a greater role in shaping the narratives around that future. Watch. Listen. Engage. Follow African Intelligence on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music, or listen through our RSS feed. If you believe independent African storytelling, research, and thought leadership matter, support our work, share this episode, and help us build a stronger platform for African ideas and perspectives.
Africa has the world’s youngest population and a rapidly expanding communications industry. Yet for many young African communications professionals, building a globally competitive career remains unnecessarily difficult. In this episode of African Intelligence, we speak with Adedoyin Jaiyesimi, Chartered PR Practitioner, Co-Founder of The Comms Avenue, and author of the report Impact Beyond Borders. Drawing from her research and experience developing communications talent across Africa, Adedoyin examines what needs to change if Africa’s next generation of communicators is to compete—and lead—on the global stage. The conversation goes beyond individual career advancement to ask a bigger question: Who will build the communications talent and narrative infrastructure Africa needs to tell its own economic, business, innovation and development stories to the world? In this episode, we explore: Why African communications professionals still face barriers to globally recognised professional development. How the cost of international certifications restricts access for young professionals. Why global PR curricula need to better reflect African languages, economies, businesses and regulatory environments. The importance of African representation within international professional and standard-setting institutions. How globally certified, locally grounded talent can strengthen the way African businesses and economies are represented internationally. Why investing in young communicators is essential to building Africa’s broader narrative infrastructure. What international PR bodies, African corporate leaders and young professionals can do to dismantle these barriers. About the Guest Adedoyin Jaiyesimi is a Chartered PR Practitioner, Co-Founder of The Comms Avenue, and author of Impact Beyond Borders. Her work focuses on strengthening communications talent, expanding professional opportunities, and helping African communications professionals build globally competitive careers. Why are we having this conversation? Africa cannot fully shape the global narrative around its businesses, economies, innovation and development without investing in the people responsible for communicating those stories. Building globally competitive African communications professionals is therefore more than a talent-development issue. It is part of building the infrastructure through which Africa defines, communicates and ultimately owns its narrative. African Intelligence explores the ideas, people and forces shaping Africa’s economic future—and how Africans can play a greater role in shaping the narratives around that future. Watch. Listen. Engage. Follow African Intelligence on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music, or listen through our RSS feed. If you believe independent African storytelling, research and thought leadership matter, support our work, share this episode and help us build a stronger platform for African ideas and perspectives.
Are African corporations building long-term enterprise value, or are they simply buying the innovative infrastructure from everyone else? In this episode of African Intelligence, we sat down with serial entrepreneur and venture advocate Henri Nyakarundi to challenge one of the biggest blind spots in African business today: treating innovation as a procurement expense rather than a capital-allocation strategy. Henri breaks down why global corporate giants grow their valuations by taking strategic equity in emerging technologies. At the same time, too many African boardrooms still ask startups for "free pilots," price cuts, and 90-day payment terms. We explore how foreign investors routinely capture the value of African innovation, why corporate valuations across the continent remain stagnant, and what a pragmatic, high-impact corporate venture framework looks like in practice. Procurement vs. Ownership: Why treating innovation as an operational cost holds back corporate valuations. Breaking Startup-Corporate Friction: Overcoming risk-aversion in African boardrooms and moving past "free pilots." The Value Capture Gap: How foreign capital finances local innovation and leaves African firms paying as customers for tech built in their backyards. The Corporate Venture Playbook: Building a disciplined strategy across paid pilots, co-developed IP, minority investments, and strategic acquisitions. The Boardroom Imperative: The critical questions every board of directors must ask today to own tomorrow. Guest: Henri Nyakarundi Host Platform: Native Media | nativemedia.co.tz Follow African Intelligence: Subscribe on Spotify & Apple Podcasts for data-driven market insights from across the continent.