#1: Samuel Mensah, Founder of Kisua, on Scaling Up Authentic African Fashion

How to Make It in Africa

Our very first guest is Sam Mensah Jr. Sam is Founder and CEO of the African fashion brand KISUA (www.kisua.com). The brand’s clients include award-winning musician Beyoncé, and YOOX Net-a-Porter Group, the world’s leading online luxury fashion retailer. KISUA is the only African fashion brand with distribution centers on 3 continents (Africa, Europe and America) from where the company services a global client base through its international e-commerce platform. The company won ‘Best Emerging African Brand’ in the Best Brands Africa Awards 2015. Prior to founding KISUA, Sam worked in investment banking at Deutsche Bank London and in technology at Intel. Originally from Ghana but living in Johannesburg, Sam holds an MA in Economics and Management from Oxford University, and is an Archbishop Desmond Tutu African Leadership Fellow. About the host: Fadel Jaoui, an economist, started this podcast to celebrate African entrepreneurial success stories, to hear the originals and changemakers behind them, and to draw lessons to inspire many more stories across the continent. This virtuous cycle is fundamental to pool talent and investments, and ultimately create startup “unicorns” that would benefit Africa’s prosperity. Fadel is a strong advocate of entrepreneurial ecosystem building and private sector development as true engines of sustainable economic growth. And he is a firm believer in leveraging innovation and technology to leapfrog development constraints and scale up social and economic impact. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Oxford University, as well as degrees from Columbia University and the London School of Economics. He started his career in investment banking in London, and has held various positions in International Financial Institutions (views are his own).