The journal of a continent on the rise
Building Africa,
one entrepreneur
at a time.
Diary of an African Entrepreneur is a movement — stories, ideas, and the people building the continent's future. Watch the interviews, read the journal, and join a community that backs its own.
Hosted by Adedeji Adebusoye · Author of Scaling for Success
The mission
“There is a lot of money looking for worthy investments — but too few businesses built to receive it. We're here to change that.”
DOAE exists to rally, equip, and connect African entrepreneurs — so the next generation of businesses is built to last, scale, and matter.
Watch
Interviews with people building Africa
I Left Wall Street and Bet Everything on Africa | Jehiel Oliver, Founder & CEO of Hello Tractor
What does it take to leave a predictable career, move to Africa, and build a business solving one of the continent’s biggest challenges? In this episode of Diary of an African Entrepreneur, Deji Adebusoye sits down with Jehiel Oliver, Founder and CEO of Hello Tractor, to discuss his journey from finance in the United States to building an agricultural technology company operating across Africa. Jehiel shares the lessons he learned building in Nigeria, from navigating FX volatility, interest rates, weak institutions, and market risk to understanding the importance of trust, incentives, and execution. He also explains how Hello Tractor evolved from fleet management into a marketplace and financing platform that helps entrepreneurs move from booking tractor services to owning productive assets. The conversation also explores leadership, hiring, capital allocation, working with investors like John Deere, and why transparency and a strong “say-do ratio” matter when building credibility. At its core, this is a conversation about patience, purpose, resilience, and economic sovereignty—and what it really takes to build meaningful businesses in Africa for the long term. #JehielOliver #HelloTractor #DiaryOfAnAfricanEntrepreneur #DOAE #AfricanEntrepreneurship #AfricanBusiness #AfricanStartups #AgriTech #AfricanAgriculture #FoodSecurity #Entrepreneurship #AfricanFounders #BusinessLeadership #EconomicSovereignty #BuildingInAfrica #ImpactInvesting #Leadership #Africa
Why Most African Startups Fail Before They Even Begin
Many entrepreneurs fall in love with an idea before they ever test whether the market actually wants it. They build the product, spend money, hire people, and launch publicly, only to discover much later that the problem was never painful enough for customers to pay for, or that the business model simply does not work. In this episode of Diary of an African Entrepreneur, Deji explores one of the most overlooked disciplines in entrepreneurship: validation. Drawing from startup failure data and practical experience, he unpacks why so many businesses fail because they build solutions without first understanding the problem, the customer, and the economics of delivering the solution. The conversation goes beyond simply asking whether a problem exists. Deji explains how entrepreneurs can determine whether customers are actually willing to pay to solve it, why talking to potential customers before building is critical, and how manually serving the first few customers can reveal the true cost and feasibility of a business model. He also examines why entrepreneurs avoid validation in the first place, from excitement and fear of rejection to ego and the pressure of having already announced the business publicly. If you're building a startup, considering a new business idea, or investing your time and money into a new venture, this episode will challenge you to slow down before you speed up. Passion may get you started, but validation can keep you from building the wrong thing. #DiaryOfAnAfricanEntrepreneur #AfricanEntrepreneur #Entrepreneurship #StartupNigeria #AfricanStartups #StartupValidation #MarketResearch #CustomerDiscovery #ProductMarketFit #BusinessStrategy #StartupFailure #BusinessGrowth #FounderLessons #EntrepreneurMindset #BusinessInAfrica
The journal
Ideas, lessons, and field notes
June is over. Your 2027 tax prep starts now
Just filed your 2025 financials? Don't relax yet. With Nigeria's new tax reforms now in effect, including monthly estimated tax payments and the upcoming e-invoicing rollout, the businesses that get ahead now will face far less stress at the next audit. Here are six practical steps to start today
25 Jul 2026
I Vibe-Coded My Website in 36 Hours (And I Don't Write Code)
I always thought my website was stuck in the 90s. So I sat down with Claude Code and built a new one myself, no developer, no waiting, in under 36 hours. Here's what that process actually looked like, and what it taught me about coding, thinking, and building things on your own terms.
12 Jul 2026
Should Companies aim for longevity or growth?
Context: It was just an ordinary pastry shop, about the size of a barber’s shop; I do not think there was enough room to sit and eat. This pastry shop has made me reflect and ask tough questions about the longevity of companies in Africa. The pastry shop is in Nottingham, UK, on a busy
8 Sept 2022The showcase
Bold businesses worth knowing
We spotlight independent African businesses — on the site and across our channels.
The book
Scaling for Success
Empowering African SMEs
A practical playbook for building African businesses that scale — why so many stall, and the systems that let the best ones grow.
₦13,000
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A community & courses for African entrepreneurs
Soon you'll be able to join a private community to share ideas, ask questions, get advice, and connect with people, resources, and opportunities — plus live classes and online courses.
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