From Scarcity to Scale

What a Korean Entrepreneur Learned After a Decade in Africa | Yuha Jin

Daniel Maloba — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 21:23:49 GMT

Yuha Jin has spent more than a decade building businesses connected to Africa, moving between Korea, East Africa and the wider global startup ecosystem. Her experience gives her a rare perspective on what changes when founders and investors operate in African markets rather than in the conditions that produced the Silicon Valley venture model.

In this episode, we discuss what Yuha learned from building TELLA, creating hundreds of jobs across East Africa, navigating cultural differences, raising capital, working with government-backed startup ecosystems and coaching African founders.

We also explore why Africa is not a smaller Silicon Valley, which startup principles remain universal, which assumptions break under different market conditions, why grant dependency can create “zombie businesses”, how trust shapes business relationships, and why investors may need different capital models and exit expectations when investing on the continent. Pasted text Pasted text

Later in the conversation, Yuha reflects on South Korea’s economic transformation and what African economies can learn from its investment in human capital, entrepreneurship, industrial capability and coordinated resource allocation — without assuming that African countries should simply copy Korea. Pasted text

Chapters

00:56 Introduction to Africa's Tech Landscape
06:04 Yuha Jin's Entrepreneurial Journey
10:54 Africa vs. Silicon Valley: A Comparative Analysis
15:33 Principles and Assumptions in Startup Ecosystems
20:19 Funding Challenges in African Startups
21:42 The Role of Government in Startup Ecosystems
26:10 Navigating Funding Challenges in Startups
30:58 Trust and Business Relationships in Africa
36:19 Lessons from Korea's Economic Transformation
52:35 Key Takeaways and Future Collaborations

Connect with Yuha Jin

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuhajin/

Email:
yuha@afrikocorp.com

Connect with Daniel Maloba

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmaloba/

From Scarcity to Scale

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@FromScarcitytoScale

From Scarcity to Scale explores how founders and investors build in markets where the assumptions behind conventional startup and venture capital playbooks do not always hold.

The podcast also contributes to the research behind Daniel Maloba’s forthcoming book, From Scarcity to Scale: Building and Backing Ventures in Africa.

Music Licence

Music licensed through Soundstripe.
Code: 2TBWZK9LD7A1IQGR, NXIAWGRDVP3CSNRZ

#FromScarcityToScale #YuhaJin #AfricaBusiness #AfricanStartups #AfricanEntrepreneurship #SiliconValley #StartupEcosystem #VentureCapitalAfrica #InvestingInAfrica #KoreaAfrica #EmergingMarkets #StartupFunding #AfricanFounders #Entrepreneurship #BuildingInAfrica

Turning Used Cooking Oil Into Cleaning Products | Sabrine Chennaoui, MONSAPO

Daniel Maloba — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 07:29:19 GMT

In this episode of From Scarcity to Scale, I speak with Sabrine Chennaoui, founder of MONSAPO, about what it takes to build a circular-economy hardware company from Tunisia.

Sabrine started MONSAPO from her kitchen, producing natural cleaning products from used cooking oil. The business later evolved into SapoCircle, an automated system that enables hotels and other commercial customers to turn used cooking oil into professional cleaning products on site.

We discuss customer trust, competing with better-funded businesses, the shift from cleaning products to hardware, funding deep tech in Africa, prototyping, regulation, international incorporation, expansion strategy and what creates a defensible moat.

Sabrine also explains why founders should focus less on selling the sophistication of their technology and more on the outcome the customer is actually buying.

Chapters

00:25 Introduction to Sabrine Chennaoui and MONSAPO
02:04 The Journey of Entrepreneurship: From Kitchen to Business
04:24 Overcoming Challenges and Competitors
07:09 Building Trust and Community Engagement
11:12 The Shift from Cleaning Products to Hardware Solutions
17:59 Navigating the Hardware Landscape in Africa
23:13 Challenges in Hardware Startups
27:17 Investment Landscape for Deep Tech
30:31 Navigating Regulations and Market Dynamics
34:40 Expansion Strategies and Market Focus
37:16 Building a Competitive Moat
38:10 Empowering the African Startup Ecosystem

Connect with Sabrine Chennaoui
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabrinechennaoui/

Learn more about MONSAPO
Website: https://monsapo.com/

Connect with Daniel Maloba
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmaloba/

From Scarcity to Scale

YouTube: / @fromscarcitytoscale
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033MvCM...
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id...
Book pre-order: https://forms.gle/ZzFWzWSKT5EwsE5Z7

Music Licence
Music licensed through Soundstripe.
Code: A4QCUUUERHGGYJGL

#FromScarcityToScale #SabrineChennaoui #MONSAPO #CircularEconomy #UsedCookingOil #DeepTech #HardwareStartup #ClimateTech #AfricanStartups #Entrepreneurship #Tunisia #AfricanInnovation

How to Build Precision Agritech That Farmers Actually Use | FG Adriaanse

Daniel Maloba — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 06:02:59 GMT

What does it take to build agritech that works in the realities of farming — not just in a pitch deck?

In this episode of From Scarcity to Scale, Daniel Maloba speaks with FG Adriaanse, Co-Founder of Adagin Technologies, about building precision agritech from the farm up.

FG shares how Adagin started with a simple grape-picking harness designed to solve a real labour-efficiency problem, then evolved into a broader “plant to pallet” system spanning smart scales, RFID, traceability and farm operations. The common thread is deliberately simple: technology should fit into the farmer’s existing workflow rather than create more work.

The conversation explores one of the hardest questions in hardware entrepreneurship: how do you know whether you are solving a real problem before spending heavily to build the product?

FG talks candidly about rapid prototyping, asking customers to pay, learning from rejection, co-founder dynamics, profitability, raising capital, and why founders need to distinguish between “vitamins” and genuine painkillers.

They also discuss what happens to startup moats as AI makes software dramatically easier to build. FG argues that the defensibility of an agritech business increasingly sits beyond the code: hardware, distribution, logistics, installation, after-sales service, domain expertise and the trust required to operate in a tight agricultural market.

It is also a conversation about the less glamorous work of company building — cash flow, operations, accountability, culture and making sure customers are willing to keep paying.

At the centre of it is a question that runs throughout From Scarcity to Scale: when resources are constrained, what should founders build, what should they ignore, and what actually creates an enduring advantage?

Scarcity changes the rules. Build from reality. Build to last.

Africa’s Corporate Venture Capital Gap | Nada Shaheen

Daniel Maloba — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 17:04:08 GMT

What happens when African corporates say they want innovation — but still treat startups as a risk?

In this episode of From Scarcity to Scale, Daniel Maloba speaks with Nada Shaheen, Founder and Managing Director of GB Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of GB Corp, about what it really takes to build corporate venture capital in Africa.

Nada explains that CVC is not simply corporate money invested into startups; it is meant to create strategic value through access to customers, expertise, partnerships and the parent company’s broader capabilities.

The conversation explores why more African corporates are not backing startups, how Nada had to educate and convince GB Corp before a CVC model could even exist, and why building trust between startups and corporates often requires someone who can interpret the language of both sides.

Daniel and Nada also test a broader question behind the From Scarcity to Scale book: Africa is not a smaller Silicon Valley.

Using the conventional CVC playbook as a reference, they discuss long-term thinking, tolerance for failure, venture talent, independence, incentives, and whether global CVC principles need to be redesigned around African realities. Nada argues that in Egypt, one of the first challenges is often not how to run CVC, but convincing corporates that they need it at all.

The episode also examines what CVC success actually means, why strategic alignment matters, how corporates can support startups without over-controlling them, and whether Africa needs more local corporate capital to build a more self-sufficient venture ecosystem.

Who Builds Africa’s Investors? | Mark Kleyner on Dream VC

Daniel Maloba — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 21:45:13 GMT

Mark Kleyner is the co-founder and co-CEO of Dream VC, an Africa-focused venture capital institute and ecosystem platform helping train and connect the next generation of investors across African and emerging markets.

In this episode of From Scarcity to Scale, Mark explains how venture capital really works — from the role of VCs, LPs and GPs, to fund mandates, limited partnership agreements, return expectations, power laws, and why many founders misunderstand how investment decisions are made.

But this conversation goes beyond the mechanics of VC.

Mark argues that Africa does not only need more startup funding. It needs better capital, stronger investor talent, deeper fund-building capacity, and more local and corporate participation in the venture ecosystem.

We explore why African startups receive a small share of global VC funding, why many African-focused investors historically came from outside the continent, how Dream VC is building investor capability, and why corporate venture capital could become one of the most important sources of new capital for African startups.

This episode is a deep dive into the other side of the startup equation: not only who builds the companies, but who builds the investors capable of backing them.

From Scarcity to Scale is a podcast about building and backing enduring ventures in Africa.

Because scarcity changes the rules.

Build from reality. Build to last.

---

Follow Mark Kleyner:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markkleyner/

Dream VC:

https://www.dream-vc.com/

Pre-order the book — From Scarcity to Scale:

https://forms.gle/ZzFWzWSKT5EwsE5Z7

Follow Daniel Maloba:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmaloba/

---

Listen to From Scarcity to Scale:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033MvCMpADBiJkCFvzOvT3

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id6789160442

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the channel, like the video, and share it with someone interested in African venture capital, startups, investing, fund building, or entrepreneurship.

It makes a big difference for a growing channel and helps these conversations reach more people.

#FromScarcityToScale #MarkKleyner #DreamVC #AfricanVC #VentureCapital #AfricanStartups #AfricanInvestors #VentureBuilding #StartupFunding #InvestingInAfrica

Obsessed With the Problem | Cecil Nutakor on Building eCampus

Daniel Maloba — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 11:34:03 GMT

Cecil Senna Nutakor is the founder and CEO of eCampus, a Ghanaian edtech company helping people measure, analyse, and predict readiness for exams, employability, and compliance.

In this episode of From Scarcity to Scale, Cecil shares his journey as a founder, father, non-conformist, and education entrepreneur.

This conversation goes beyond edtech. It explores parenting, education, applied knowledge, entrepreneurship, and why founders should become obsessed with the problem before falling in love with the solution.

Cecil’s story is a powerful example of how African ventures are often born from lived experience and institutional gaps. Where systems fail to provide clarity, founders build tools. Where education does not fully recognise potential, entrepreneurs create new ways to measure readiness.

From Scarcity to Scale is a podcast about building and backing enduring ventures in Africa.

Because scarcity changes the rules.
Build from reality. Build to last.

---

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Cecil Nutakor’s Background
02:04 The Importance of Understanding the Problem
04:00 From Exam Frustration to Building eCampus
07:53 Education, Skills and Entrepreneurship
11:58 Identifying Passion, Skills and Career Direction
16:03 Entrepreneur vs Enterprising Person
20:00 Solving Problems at Scale
24:05 The Origin Story of eCampus
28:08 Advice for African Tech Founders
30:59 Problem Immersion and Flexibility
32:07 Closing Thoughts

---

Follow Cecil Senna Nutakor:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilnutakor/

eCampus:
https://ecampus.camp/

Pre-order the book — From Scarcity to Scale:
https://forms.gle/ZzFWzWSKT5EwsE5Z7

Follow Daniel Maloba:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmaloba/

---

#FromScarcityToScale #CecilNutakor #eCampus #AfricanStartups #EdTech #AfricanEntrepreneurship #VentureBuilding #EducationTechnology #Ghana #AfricanInnovation

Making Champagne on a Beer Budget | Wessel Myburgh on African Biotech

Daniel Maloba — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:18:45 GMT

Biotech founder Wessel Myburgh reveals what it really takes to build African deeptech with limited resources and why founders on the continent often have to make “champagne on a beer budget.”

Wessel is the co-founder and CEO of Urobo Biotech, a South African biotech startup developing biological recycling technologies for bioplastics. Urobo is working on enzymatic and microbial processes that break down used bioplastics and convert them into higher-value products, including chemical products, biogas, and green energy.

In this episode of From Scarcity to Scale, Wessel speaks about the reality of founder life, the funding gap facing African deeptech startups, the challenge of moving from university research to commercialisation, and why African founders often build with a level of grit and resourcefulness that global investors underestimate.

This conversation also explores co-founder dynamics, investor bias, the pressure of fundraising, and why founder well-being matters when the company depends so heavily on the person building it.

From Scarcity to Scale is a podcast about building and backing enduring ventures in Africa.

Because scarcity changes the rules.
Build from reality. Build to last.

Chapters

00:00 The Reality of Being a Founder
03:05 Why Fundraising Is So Difficult
07:05 Why Investors Say Deeptech Is Too Early
08:56 The Missing Middle in Deeptech Funding
12:47 How African Biotech Compares Globally
17:11 Investor Bias and Building in Africa
18:46 What Urobo Biotech Actually Does
20:18 Is Anyone Else Doing This in Africa?
22:37 Bridging the Context Gap With Investors
24:02 The Grit of African Founders
28:49 Why Investors Chase Flashy Ideas
34:46 From Scientist to Biotech Founder
40:55 Why Co-Founders Matter
44:54 Ego, Equity and Founder Vesting
49:05 Choosing a Co-Founder Like a Life Partner
53:30 Founder Well-Being and the Cost of Hustle Culture
59:22 Built in Africa, For the World

Listen to From Scarcity to Scale:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033MvCMpADBiJkCFvzOvT3
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id6789160442

Follow Wessel Myburgh:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wessel-myburgh-20939525a/

Urobo Biotech:
https://www.urobobiotech.com/

Pre-order the book — From Scarcity to Scale:
https://forms.gle/ZzFWzWSKT5EwsE5Z7

Follow Daniel Maloba:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmaloba/

Building Biotech Where It’s Hard | Diego Castillo on Scaling Deeptech in Africa

Daniel Maloba — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 21:22:37 GMT

Today’s guest is Diego Castillo, PhD, co-founder and CTO of Biomine Health, a South African biotech company working at the frontier of microbiome science, personalised health, and deeptech commercialisation.

Diego’s background sits at the intersection of genetics, microbiome research, metagenomics, and bioinformatics. Through Biomine, he is helping turn complex microbiome science into practical health tools, including at-home gut microbiome testing and personalised insights for South African consumers.

But this conversation is not only about biotech. It is about what it takes to build a deeptech company from Africa, where capital is scarcer, the ecosystem is thinner, and founders are often forced to execute with fewer resources than their global counterparts.

And that is exactly why Diego is such a fitting first guest for From Scarcity to Scale.

In this episode, we talk about the journey from scientist to founder, the realities of building biotech in South Africa, why constraint can become an advantage, and what it means to commercialise science in a market that is still being built.