Why do you do what you do? What is the motivation behind your current career path and the ideas you’re working towards? Throughout history, we have seen amazing innovators build out devices, drugs, processes, and products that have significantly impacted how we live, work, play, and behave even till today.

The phrase, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” comes to mind because behind groundbreaking inventions there is the important question; the “why” behind their creation. Why did these inventors build what they built? For example, the jet engines aviation companies use today were created by Frank Whittle, an engineer with the Royal Air Force to help the Allied forces win WW2. Similarly, innovations like computer storage and memory come about due to the efforts to win the war.

We see the same pattern play out for modern-day innovations. Telsa was founded by a group of Engineers who wanted to prove that electric vehicles can be better, quicker, and more fun to drive than gasoline cars. Facebook started as a social media website Mark Zuckerberg built to connect Harvard students with one another.

Zooming into today’s tech ecosystem in Africa and how the tech products or companies we love today started out as simple ideas borne by individuals who are driven to build something impactful enough to be referred to as a model for big things. While there’s yet a lot more to be done, we want to inspire more people to build big things by showcasing the “why” behind the builders of the best and budding tech products we have today.

With this in mind, we’re launching a new campaign titled “What Do You Build For?”. Starting out, we spoke to some of your favorite tech personalities to find out why they’re doing or building. This is what they shared.

Jude, CEO/Co-founder & Software Engineer

Jude Dike is building tech startup; GetEquity to generate wealth for middle-class individuals across developing ecosystems. GetEquity affords more middle-class Africans — who Jude believes are the bedrock of every economy — an opportunity to explore venture capitalism by integrating investment and asset management tools to help first-time investors and institutional veterans alike grow wealth by investing in startups.

Oluwatosin, Founder & Financial Analyst

Oluwatosin Olaseinde is a financial literacy expert building MoneyAfrica for the financial literacy and independence of Africans through self-help courses available on her educational platform. She also created Ladda to be the wealth-building platform where people can grow their money one step at a time by investing in mutual funds, savings, and stocks.

Emmanuella, CEO

Mejero Kunu Emmanuella is a fan of the small guy in business; she believes small businesses deserve more opportunities for growth which is only possible through adequate support, especially through financing and business tools. She is building Pennee, a fintech company, to be the growth partner for small businesses and has supported over 10,000 businesses with financing.

Precious, CEO & Developer

Precious Tom’s motivation is to create a fraud-free haven that will protect Africans one transaction at a time. He is building this via Pandascrow, an escrow service platform for digital businesses.

Victor, CEO & Brand Builder

Victor Fatanmi, the Managing Partner at FourthCanvas, has been at the forefront of creating some of Africa’s finest brands. While his company is partnering with visionary organizations to build compelling and lasting brands, Victor is driven by a personal mission to find his voice and help others find theirs.

Michael, CFO

Michael C. Zinari is a finance enthusiast building Zinari to help African businesses receive payments from buyers worldwide. He integrated blockchain technology into Zinari to solve the issues of restrictions and high fees that come with carrying out international transactions.

Benjamin, Tech Analyst

Benjamin Dada believes he can improve the quality of tech reporting in Africa. He started a tech blog for flexible reporting and to give a voice to underrepresented segments of developer communities and first-time founders.

Jerry, Founder & Software Developer

Jerry is passionate about simplifying business payment needs and is building Orchestrate to impact and inspire businesses through payment.

Onboarding the right users at scale makes all the difference

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