Speaking
Ideas from the front lines of building enduring companies.
Perspective
The talks synthesise what I write about and what I've learned in advisory and board roles.
I've spent the past two decades building and scaling companies across Africa — from co-founding Jumia to leading Kyosk, and now building Zebras.
My talks draw on that experience, combined with the ideas I explore through Zebra Perspectives. They focus on one question:
How do we build companies that last?
I speak selectively — at conferences, company off-sites, board retreats and leadership events where the audience is serious about the work of building.
Topics
What I speak about
One body of ideas, expressed across writing, advisory, boards, and the stage.
Building Enduring Companies
What it takes to build companies that outlast their founders, cycles, and categories.
Scaling Businesses in Africa
Operating realities of scale in fragmented, capital-scarce, high-growth markets.
Leadership Beyond the Founder
Moving from founder-led execution to institutional leadership and succession.
Governance, Boards and Institutionalization
Building boards, governance, and structures that hold under pressure.
AI and the Future of Company Building
How AI reshapes coordination, operations, and the shape of the modern firm.
Capital Allocation and Long-Term Thinking
Compounding capital and decisions over decades, not quarters.
Entrepreneurship Beyond the Startup Playbook
Company building in markets where the standard playbook doesn't apply.
Why the Founder Must Own Product & Technology
A message for the next generation of founders, drawn from holding both CTO and CEO at Kyosk in 2024–2025. Jobs, Gates, Musk — the pattern is not accidental. Product & Technology is the company; it cannot be delegated away from the founder.
What to expect
No motivation. No clichés.
Ideas leaders can apply immediately.
Practical frameworks
Structures leaders can take back to their teams the same week.
Real operating experience
Drawn from two decades of building and running companies across Africa.
Honest lessons
What worked, what didn't, and what only became clear in hindsight.
Formats
How we engage
- Conference keynotes
- Executive off-sites
- Leadership retreats
- Board sessions
- Fireside chats
- University lectures
About
About Raphael
- —Former CEO, Kyosk
- —Co-founder, Jumia
- —Founder, Zebras
- —Writer of Zebra Perspectives
Advisor to founders, CEOs, investors and boards building enduring organizations across Africa.
Speaking enquiries
For keynote presentations, executive off-sites, leadership retreats and board sessions.