At Baobab Network, some of our best investments have been into companies in so-called “legacy” industries.
Bidemi Adebayo building Hadi Finance (Baobab 2023) - tech-enabled inventory financing for small retailers in Nigeria 🇳🇬
Nnamdi Okoh and Udi Okoh building Terminal Africa Inc. - smoother parcel shipping from Nigeria to the world 🇳🇬
Peter Wachira and Collins Muthinja building Triply.co - bringing traditional, offline travel agencies in Kenya into the 21st century 🇰🇪
Sserubiri J. Uhuru building eMaisha Pay (Baobab ‘24) - modern financing for SMEs in Uganda's outdated agricultural value chain 🇺🇬
Nick Mills and Michael Houghton building Community Wolf - bringing South Africa's public safety industry online and into the AI era 🇿🇦
Where we’re getting especially excited now for our upcoming cohorts is in sectors where clever, cost-effective uses of technology and AI are creating huge operational gains.
Some of the smart plays we've recently seen in overlooked sectors that are delivering tangible ROI:
Streamlining HR, procurement, and accounting: reducing admin overhead with intelligent process automation.
Revenue uplift through better customer insights & AI-assisted sales: helping teams close more, faster, with less.
Competitive edge through faster execution: winning market share from slower-moving incumbents.
AI Workflows: automating repetitive tasks, improving forecasting, and digitising service delivery.
Digital Marketing: leveraging generative AI for content, CRM-driven campaigns, and better personalisation.
Operational Clarity: real-time visibility and dashboards into margins, supply chains, and performance KPIs.
If you're using technology to disrupt a traditional, backbone economy industry in Africa, we want to connect and hear your story 🚜
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