– Professor Sikochi, Epstein H’21 , Mbaabu H’20, Aboyeji H’10
The annual gathering of the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance – Harambeans Global Summit – was held February 24-26, 2022 in the wine valley of Franschhoek. As customary, Alliance members reaffirmed our pledge to “work together as one” to build Africa’s future. The Summit served as an opportunity to assess the progress of market-creating innovation, share learnings and best practices pioneered by leading entrepreneurs and investors in the Alliance and to strengthen partnerships in the growing coalition of market-creating innovators. With three Harambean unicorns in six months and a Harvard Business School case study chronicling the 15 year journey of our Alliance, there was much to celebrate during the 4-day gathering, which was attended by Harambeans and the Alliance’s guilds of investors, partners and policy makers.
The theme of the summit was ‘The end of the Beginning’. Founder and Chairman of Harambeans, Okendo Lewis-Gayle, in his opening address reflected that the regal assembly of Africa’s leading entrepreneurs and investors in the Harambean Republic of Franschhoek was a vivid reminder of the maturity of the now and was why the Harvard Business School considers the Alliance to be the crown jewel of the African start-up ecosystem. “Our Alliance is 348 Harambeans strong, we have three unicorns in Go1, Flutterwave and Andela and a fragrant potpourri of success stories. As the maturity of our ecosystem becomes apparent, we must not rest on our laurels, for as a Harrovian once observed “this is not the end, not even the beginning of the end, but it is perhaps the end of the beginning.” At a moment when Africa and the world are in dire need of innovators, it is time for our Alliance to embark on ever bolder ventures” said Lewis-Gayle.
Purpose-Driven Partners
The Summit was generously supported by a coterie of partners that share in the values and spirit of the Alliance. The US Consulate General in Cape Town, the Bureau of African Affairs of the US Department of State and Prosper Africa hosted a cocktail reception at the US Ambassador’s residence to reflect on the growing flow of capital from US investors into startups across Africa. The Richard Branson Center of Entrepreneurship welcomed the partners of the Alliance at a lunch on Richard Brandson’s wine farm, Mont Rochelle, to celebrate the appreciable impact of entrepreneurs across Africa, while the Rupert family wined and dined the Alliance at the closing banquet in their private residence at L’Ormarins Wine Estate to recognize those who embody the Harambean commitment to servant leadership. Michael Jordaan, former CEO of First National Bank, Oppenheimer Generations Philanthropy, Eric Schmidt Futures, Naspers Foundry and the Allan and Gill Gray Philanthropy also lent their support to the Summit.
Harambeans Supporting the Summit
In an eloquent demonstration of Harambean collaboration, several Harambean-founded ventures were also partners of the Harambeans Global Summit. Naadiya Moosajee H’16 hosted the Welcome Dinner for Harambeans at her Saray restaurant at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. The dinner was also sponsored by Lungisa Matshoba H’14, co-founder of Yoco. Velani Mboweni H’18, co-founder of LULA, shuttled Harambeans and Guilds with his ride service throughout the Summit. Zachariah George H’19 and Janade Du Plessis H’18, Partners at Launch Africa also supported the Summit and shared their insights on fundraising with their fellow Harambeans.
Harambean Oppenheimer Fellows
The Summit also welcomed three cohorts of Harambean Oppenheimer Fellows for the first time, providing an opportunity for Jonathan Oppenheimer and his team at Oppenheimer Generations to nuance their understanding of the challenges and opportunities confronting innovators. Over three years, the Harambean Fellows have collectively raised more than $21 million in capital, made over 70 key hires, secured more than 40 key strategic partners and engaged in over 500 hours of leadership development.
Guild Sessions: Our Hindsight, Your Foresight
Several Guild Sessions aimed at recycling the insights of experts within the Alliance took place on day three of the Summit. Harvard Business School’s Professor Sikochi, one of the co-authors of the HBS case study titled Harambe: Mobilizing Capital in Africa, moderated the session titled ‘Scaling at the Speed of Trust’. During this session, he drew Harambeans and Guilds into a conversation that focused on stories from their Harambean experiences and how the trust-based relationships forged in the Alliance enabled their ventures to “scale at the speed of trust” and accelerate their path to Unicorn status.
The second Guild Session, ‘Enduring Gains I Transient Exuberance’, was moderated by Ms. Sneha Shah, Managing Director of the Business Accelerator at the London Stock Exchange Group. She was joined by three Harambeans who gave their perspectives on how entrepreneurs could leverage the current exuberance in Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem to deliver tangible value to their customers and investors and not be distracted by arbitrary valuations and ephemeral fundraising headlines.
The third Guild Session was titled, ‘Quantity versus Quality – do we need thousands of Harambeans?’ This session was moderated by Garikai Matambo H’15 and Guild Member, Madeline Garnett from Concordia who facilitated a conversation around the above-mentioned question, which was raised by Lord Hastings and Jonathan Oppenheimer in the HBS Case Study. “I would like to see a future that holds thousands, if not tens of thousands of Harambeans. The African economy is about 2% of global wealth, despite Africa having 1.2 billion people. We need tens of thousands of Harambeans to shift the economic boat,” said Lord Hastings. Mr. Oppenheimer expressed a similar sentiment, noting, “We need such extraordinary success in Africa to begin to face the challenges of population increase, urbanization, the expansion of the African challenge, that we don’t need three or five or seven Harambeans, we need thousands of Harambeans.”
Inaugural Aboyeji Medal for Servant Leadership
Iyinoluwa Aboyeji H’10, is a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded not one but two of Africa’s most influential unicorns and is the embodiment of what it means to be a servant leader, one of Harambe’s most cherished values. Those who know him will agree that his greatest value is not the combined valuation of his ventures, but his authentic and wholehearted commitment to servant leadership. “To us, your Harambean family, you are the very north star of our shared desire to serve,” said Lewis-Gayle. In a new tradition announced at the Rupert banquet, The Alliance will celebrate authentic displays of servant leadership with the Aboyeji Medal of Servant Leadership. The Inaugural recipients were Velani Mboweni H’18, Nela Duke Ekpenyong HD’21 and Idris Bello H’11.
Malaika Breakfast Pledges of Support
Per tradition the Summit concluded with the inspiring Malaika Breakfast during which Summit delegates spontaneously initiated a round of generous pledges of support to one another. Harambeans offering to facilitate introductions to fellow entrepreneurs. High network individuals pledging to invest in funds founded by Harambeans. Harambeans and Guilds alike committing to make donations to the Alliance .
In his closing address, Mr. Lewis-Gayle reminded the gathering of the wise words of Confucius. “If you plan for a year, plant rice. If you plan for ten years, plant trees, but if you plan for one hundred years, educate children.” Paragraphing Confuscius Mr. Lewis-Gayle concluded by saying “and if you’re planning for an African century, invest in a fellow Harambean!”