\"Either leave Africa alone or come with a sustainable business model in mind.\"
Maya Horgan Famodu is the founder and CEO of Ingressive Capital, a venture capital fund focused on Africa. She raised over $10 million dollars for her first fund in 2020 and has since gone on to raise over $50 million for Fund 2. Maya wrote an article earlier this year called \"The Hidden Benefits of Trump's Aid Policy for Africa\" for the website TechCabal. Claude talks to her about how foreign aid encourages corruption, dependence, weak governance. And they discuss a different paradigm for Africa, one where investment fuels innovation, employment, self-reliance and some of the most successful start-ups the world will ever see.
Plus: Why start-up founders would never join Boko Haram.
🌟 IN THIS EPISODE:
2.20 How Maya ended up launching a $10 million venture capital fund
5.10 Why scrapping USAID could be a good thing
10.40 Westerners' different attitude to foreign aid
15.50 How African businesses are self funding from launch to exit
17:50 The staggering amount of money lost to corruption in Africa
18.10 The staggering amount of money generated by VC in Africa
21.45 Why it takes a village to raise an African start-up
25.00 Why Africa could be a safer space for your money
26.35 How to defeat Boko Haram
💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:
\"The aid cuts are going to influence and pressure African nations to work together to improve accountability and financial discipline.\"
\"The majority of the pushback that I received from that article came from foreign individuals, not Africans.\"
\"From our own portfolio of 26 companies, likely half will exit.\"
\"It's the Wild West and it's an interesting place to do business\"
🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:
Learn more about Maya's story and her view on the African VC scene in Season 2: https://trueafrica.co/article/limitless/it-wasnt-just-an-overnight-thing-seeds-were-planted-maya-horgan-famodu/
The Hidden Benefits of Trump's Aid Policy for Africa in TechCabal https://techcabal.com/2025/03/14/trump-aid-africa/
🌍 ABOUT LIMITLESS AFRICA
The podcast that asks how Africans and Americans can work together for shared prosperity
Every Monday: 15-minute episodes that dive into an issue that matters to Africans
Every Thursday: extended interview with someone unlocking Africa's limitless potential
➕ WANT MORE?
Yellowstone actor Denim Richards on launching a media empire in Botswana https://trueafrica.co/article/limitless/the-quickest-way-to-solve-unemployment-in-africa-for-me-is-through-entertainment-actor-denim-richards-on-the-african-film-industry/
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Instagram: @_trueafrica
Website: https://trueafrica.co/
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Limitless Africa is sponsored by the US Department of State and the Seenfire Foundation.
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