Every week or two I end up on a call with someone who asked for advice on how to work in a startup in Africa (usually Nairobi). So I thought I’d compile some of my advice for breaking into a company here so I can share it more widely.

My Journey

I moved to Kenya in 2023 to join Leta.ai on a 3-month contract. Two years later, I’m still in Nairobi. In that time, I’ve had the chance to onboard some of Kenya’s largest companies onto Leta’s logistics software platform, set up a new company office in Lagos, lead a successful investment pitch to Google Ventures, and now launch a new business as CEO of Talent Safari.

But, how did I land that job at Leta in the first place?

It was not through applying through an online job-board nor because I had connections in African tech. Instead, it was through persistence and a big dose of luck.

I was studying in the U.S. at the time with some cozy job offers in law/consulting/government waiting for me back in London. But I wanted to do something more exciting and potentially more valuable than that and started to look at jobs in economic development. However, though a more traditional route for expats heading to the Global South, I was pretty sceptical about the positive value of a lot of NGOs (sorry!). And I’d also heard good things about the burgeoning startup scene in Africa and early startups like Wasoko.

Looking for a way in, I started reaching out to people. After a few months, I managed to find a few promising opportunities. Here are the top three and how I found them:

A new org providing policy implementation support to governments: I saw a podcast host I follow who, while prepping for an interview with one of the org’s founders, appealed to his audience for questions. I found their website, reached out over email, and after a few calls nearly landed an internship. Unfortunately, I did not quite fit their needs at the time.
An economic research org in Rwanda: I was writing a university paper on economic development in Rwanda, so was reading a lot of papers on the country. After reading one French professor's PhD thesis on the topic, I emailed him to ask how I might get a job in Rwanda and he referred me to an economic think tank, which ended up offering me an internship.
Leta, the logistics tech startup where I ended up working for nearly two years: After telling pretty much everyone I knew about my aims, I found out that a friend of a friend of a friend (not exactly the closest connection…) had recently worked in VC in Kenya for 6 months. I managed to set up a call with him, after which he generously decided to tell Leta’s CEO that I was an old friend of his and a great guy that he should definitely hire. A couple of months later, I was on a flight to Nairobi.

I also spent many hours emailing every startup I could find and asking them for a job. However, this didn’t actually get me that far. One company in Nigeria did offer me a remote role after I added their entire team on LinkedIn one day, but I turned it down as I knew I wanted something in-person.

So, that’s my story. Ideally after reading this you can skip many of the dead-ends that I ended up going down. Below is my advice; please take everything with a pinch of salt.

How to find an opportunity

Network, network, network… getting a job in the tech startup scene in Africa, particularly as someone from the outside, is almost exclusively going to happen through your network.

Applying for job postings online, particularly if you’re very junior, is most likely a waste of time. If you’re not actually in the country where the job is located, you’ll probably get screened out before the hiring manager even looks at your application. The exception to this is certain formal programmes - such as externships/transfers if you’re a management consultant, or other sponsored programmes (e.g. V.I.E if you’re French) - if you’re eligible for one of these then go for it!

If not, then you’re going to want to use your network. Start by reaching out to anyone you already know who might be able to help. These are the easy ones so take advantage of pre-existing connections as much as possible. Once you’ve exhausted those, you’ll need to start doing wider outreach.

Just because you don’t already have a strong network in this space, doesn’t mean you can’t build one. Here’s how:

The best option is to be in the same location as the people you are trying to meet (i.e. in Nairobi/Lagos or at least attending some of the major African tech events elsewhere). However, just turning up to events and trying to chat to people is not going to work as well as proactively reaching out to people. So, once you’re in the same city as someone, or going to the same event, you then reach out online and ask to meet.
That brings us to option two, which is cold outreach on LinkedIn/Email. Find people you think would be useful to talk to and reach out (what’s the worst that can happen?). A couple of things to look out for here:
a) Make sure to ask for advice (not a job) and, ideally, advice on something specific. People are much more willing to give you their time because you are fascinated by their experience and want to learn, rather than to chat to someone about a job they are trying to get, which feels overtly transactional. Once they have met you and are invested in your journey, they are more likely to help you find a job.
b) Send a short, punchy, message. You’re probably reaching out to someone who is very busy, so you need to prove to them that you are not a time-waster. If you have a strong credential in your profile (e.g. a well-respected university or company), then make sure to mention it - this is no time to be modest.

Try and focus your search on something specific. Quite possibly you don’t have a clue which sector or company or even country you’re interested in, because how would you? So try and do some research and come up with more specific goals. People will take you much more seriously when you reach out with specifics. But stay flexible, and if opportunities come up that are outside of your focus consider that they may still be worth pursuing. In fact, it might be worth being so flexible that your ‘specific aims’ are tailored to the person you are speaking to, so that they take you seriously. From my own personal experience, I never thought I would become obsessed with logistics until I started working at Leta, but I certainly made sure to sound interested in the interview.

Sources for info/news/jobs

Platforms like Africa the Big Deal and Briter have a database of funded startups that can be a good starting point.

Check out Anthony Catt’s African tech event list.

Start reading media on African tech like Tech Safari, Tech Cabal and others.

Sign-up for the Talent Safari community. A community for people working in startups in Africa and often helping to place them in jobs. Run by me! :))

Articles to read

How to Get a Job in a Tech Startup in Africa

My Journey

How to find an opportunity

Sources for info/news/jobs

Articles to read

Working on Startups in Africa:

Startup Ecosystem in Africa:

Other Career Advice:

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