Reframing the African narrative during our Lunch&learn

During our latest “Lunch & Learn”, we embarked on a journey to the African continent, guided by the insightful and thought-provoking speech of Martino Ghielmi.

After several years in consultancy and cooperation, Martino founded VadoinAfrica.com — a business club aimed at creating connections between Italian SMEs and the African context.

Some Key Takeaways from his story:

A New Approach: Africa currently offers a wealth of opportunities due to its demographics and abundance of both natural resources and minerals. However, it is crucial to approach it with the right attitude. Building partnerships, respecting local cultures, and viewing every initiative as a win-win collaboration with local companies are essential.

Preference for Sustainable Initiatives: The mindset behind many initiatives can be somewhat narrow, often assuming that Africans are merely people in need and that we are the “saviors.” While this perspective holds some truth in specific cases, it often leads to suboptimal interventions that fail to create systemic and lasting change.

Dealing with Diversity: Africa is a diverse continent with unique geographical and cultural features. It is vital to study the specific context carefully before embarking on any initiative.

A heartfelt thank you to Martino for sharing his vision and experiences with us and for showing us a new way to look at this fascinating continent that ultimately now doesn’t seem so far away.

The narrative has to change.

And it starts with us!