Champagne Problems

Welcome to The Afro Pivot Point

Showing You What’s Art and What’s Not in African Tech

Hello to the gentle readers joining us since the last edition. You’ll love it here ❤️

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Happy new year 🎉

I know you missed me. It’s fine. I missed writing to you too 😄

So without further yapping, let's get into it.

As usual, do not forget to subscribe if you like my writing (Or me as a person. A win is a win 😎).

Enjoy!

I do not consider myself an expert on Africa. Or technology for that matter. I just knew that I loved the two and was keen on finding a way to contribute to changing the reality I and so many Africans live in. Writing and painting have always been the ways I have expressed myself best. And while doing my major in Community Resource Management, I fell head over heels in love with this boy, and then he introduced me to coding.

Fast forward to January 2024, and I was at the lowest I have ever been. In every sense. My only goal for 2024 was to stay alive. I went into it with no ambition, no resolutions, and no expectations. I resolved to surrender to wherever and whatever life and my search for meaning led me to. And in February of that year, they led me to start this newsletter.

 What a journey it has been!

I have loved writing the opinion pieces, the how-to guides, and the news roundups in my very signature playful style. Through this platform, I have had the pleasure of talking to some of the most brilliant founders doing the important work of making Africa and the world a better place.

I have enjoyed building this community of very opinionated and engaged readers who are not afraid of coming to my DMs at midnight whenever they felt an edition didn’t meet their expectations.

I’ve had fun all 2024. And writing this in January 2025, it’s hard to reconcile just how much difference a year can make — especially when you focus on doing the work that matters and say no to anything else that feels misaligned.

 No, thanks. I’m good.

Speaking of opportunity, this was the thing that seemed most elusive at a time like this last year. I was dying for any and every opportunity. Fast forward to now, the hardest thing I have had to learn to do in 2024 was say No to opportunities that are misaligned — and mean it. And not beat myself up about it with the ‘What-ifs” and too much analysis paralysis.

For instance, I have learnt how much unimaginable audacity some people in our ecosystem can be. These archetypes will often come into my DM raving about how much they enjoy reading this and how much they would like to work with me, and then proceed to showcase the grandest displays of unprofessionalism. And let’s not talk about their delusions of grandeur that make them remind me how lucky I would be to be working with them — sometimes for free.

Ma’am, you are in my DMS, asking for my help. For services you cannot afford. I doubt this is as life-changing as you make it seem.

Still, saying no to such whimsy opportunities is a work in progress. It’s also impossible not to acknowledge how much the quality of my problems and our ecosystem has changed over the year. When I think of the things that keep me up at night now compared to last year, they truly seem like a joke.

What are my tears compared to a starving child in Turkana?

What are my problems compared to people without basic needs?

They are champagne problems.

Similarly, I think it’s great that the conversations in African tech are shifting to gaps in funding and how to fix the infra.

I’m glad that it’s no longer a lack of willpower and talent that’s holding us back or being blamed for why we are where we are globally.

I’m glad founders are becoming less whiny about VCs not writing checks. Instead, African founders are writing the checks for each other. It’s more of collaboration than competition now.

I’m glad that we are focusing more on bootstrapped founders, and that closing a funding round isn’t the only thing considered newsworthy in African tech anymore.

See? fixable champagne problems.

Now, 2025 couldn’t be more promising for African tech. 

2025 sounds like great new ideas, products, and founders finding their footing. The communities are more welcoming. Dare I say, it’s the best time post-COVID to get into tech. Big Tech is hiring again globally, and remote work is scaling. The A in EMEA is no longer silent — even on platforms historically known for geographical bias in freelance work (Hi Upwork and Fiverr).

The road ahead

I hope 2025 is the year key players in African tech can start leveraging data to build products around people. For the love of all that’s African, can we please stop trusting vibes and try to be more data-driven?

I hope that more often, we will step out of our bubbles and interact with professionals in other industries to understand the impact of the solutions we are building. Sometimes, those ideas do not make sense to anyone beyond our tech circles.

For instance, if you’re building for African farmers, wouldn’t it be nice to expand your research beyond agri-tech. Talk to farmers themselves, economists, and retailers. Let’s not forget who and what we are building for.

Remember, if getting VC funding is on your vision board this year, the bar is now super high. It's no longer enough to ONLY have a great idea and goodwill. Heck, it is no longer just enough to have a White cofounder 😄. But that's a good thing because we have to rise to global standards if we want to compete globally. It’s also not enough to just be a woman in technology. You have to be exceptional — especially at a time when DEI is under attack.

Focus is still the way of success

Luckily, the old guard of gatekeepers is fading. Clique culture isn't the only way to excel in African tech now. That’s my biggest takeaway after almost a year of writing and building this.

You can miss all the roundtables, conferences, and events and still build a remarkable thing that is hard to look away from. In the end, great products that have great stories will always do great numbers. This I know for sure.

I also don't buy into the sob story of the neglected African founder anymore. We have 9 unicorns now. And there are founders who have done so much without a single VC check. Just pure determination and hard work, coupled with little noise and focusing on their end goal.

There is evidence that there are winners and whiners. The former invest in research, know their users, and understand their specific market fragmentation.The latter are currently on their 7^th podcast appearance this year talking about the same things they’ve talked and complained about since 2016.

If you’ll take anything from this edition, let it be this: The right opportunities have a way of finding you if you stick to your guns.

And for the love of God, stop taking advice from people who have never built anything. Credit belongs to the man in the arena, remember?

My Plans for 2025

In the spirit of practicing what I preach, I’m glad that I get another shot to do what I love again this year. Deep down, I’m still the girl next door who will pet any dog she sees, and who's happiest when making art in nature. I'm still madly in love with tech and I'll take any chance to bring it up (Seriously, my friends and family were getting tired. So thank you for being here.)

But now, I also get to continue building Atote Consult to be the gold standard in African data. We will be publishing quarterly industry reports that will (hopefully) make founders build better products and VCs make smarter investment decisions. In the coming weeks, I will talk about this in detail.

I get to contribute my expertise in building Africa Tech Space. It is Nakuru city’s premiere innovation hub that’s committed to nurturing the next generation of tech talent in underserved communities. They also have top-tier BPO operations that prioritize employee wellbeing along with revenue growth. (I know we've read the horror stories about BPO companies being pseudonyms for slave mills).

Plus, I grew up in Nakuru. So what an absolute honor it is to contribute in building my hometown and turning it into a top tech hub.

And after much tinkering, I’m happy that I also get to work on a passion project. It’s called Luna, and it’s something for the hunnies. Luna is luxury, it's timely, and it’s the best community you will join this year (more details on this soon).

But beyond that, I’m happy I get to keep pushing the envelope and driving social change through my writing. I'll keep cackling with you and pissing you off like a sibling with every edition. But more importantly, I'm excited to learn and grow with you.

 Here’s to more champagne problems all 2025 🥂

Maryann 💖

What are your biggest hopes for 2025? I’d love to hear from you!

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Till next time, cheers!