Unlocking Africa How Diaspora Capital Can Unlock Africa’s Next Generation of Scalable Businesses with Kanessa Muluneh
Episode 211 with with Kanessa Muluneh, serial entrepreneur, investor, and founder of Nyle Investment Group, a diaspora focused investment firm connecting global capital with high impact opportunities across Africa. Kanessa exited her first company at 21 and has since spent over a decade building, scaling, investing in, and advising businesses across Africa’s most important growth sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, technology, and the digital economy.
In this episode of the Unlocking Africa Podcast, Kanessa brings a rare founder operator investor perspective to how Africa can unlock sustainable economic growth in the 21st century. She explains why Africa’s economic future will not be driven by technology alone, but by the successful scaling of traditional industries alongside digital innovation. Drawing on her hands on experience, she breaks down what it really takes to build resilient businesses in African markets and why execution, not hype, determines long term success.
Kanessa also shares the thinking behind Nyle and the role diaspora capital can play in strengthening Africa’s entrepreneurial pipeline. She discusses how diaspora led investment, when paired with local insight and hands on support, can unlock scalable, profitable businesses. From sitting on both sides of the founder investor table, she offers an unfiltered view of the blind spots that hold founders back and how narrative, visibility, and customer engagement can become powerful drivers of growth.
What We Discuss With Kanessa
- Kanessa’s journey from exiting her first company at 21 to building and backing ventures across Africa’s traditional and digital sectors.
- Why Africa’s economic growth depends as much on agriculture, manufacturing, and construction as it does on technology.
- How diaspora led capital, when deployed with discipline and hands on support, can unlock long term value for founders and investors.
- Why product alone is never enough and how narrative, visibility, and customer engagement drive commercial growth in emerging markets.
- The hard realities of scaling across borders and what founders must get right to build resilient, future ready African companies.
Did you miss my previous episode where I discuss Building Profitable IT Infrastructure for Global Remote Work From Africa? Make sure to check it out!
Connect with Terser:
LinkedIn - Terser Adamu
Instagram - unlockingafrica
Twitter (X) - @TerserAdamu
Connect with Kanessa:
LinkedIn - Kanessa Muluneh and Nyle
Many of the businesses unlocking opportunities in Africa don’t do it alone. If you’d like strategic support on entering or expanding across African markets, reach out to our partners ETK Group: