This transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Oge Onubogu: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Beyond a Single Story, a Wilson Center Africa Program podcast. My name is Oge Onubogu and I'm joined today by my co host for the season, Witney Schneidman. In our last episode, we asked what the future looks like for US Africa trade and for the African Growth and Opportunity Act, AGOA.

This week, we are bringing in perspectives from small business owners bridging US and African markets. We're excited to share our conversations with Margaret Nyamumbo and Rahama Wright, two entrepreneurs who have built successful brands connecting African products to US markets by utilizing AGOA trade preferences.

First, we will hear from Margaret, a third generation coffee farmer from Kenya. She is the founder and CEO of Kahawa 1893, the first nationally distributed black and woman owned coffee company in the United States. [00:01:00] Her company sources directly from across East Africa with a focus on supporting women farmers.

Then we speak to Rahama Wright, founder and CEO of Shea Yeleen, a social impact beauty brand supporting sustainable economic growth in Ghana. and providing jobs for many in America. Rahama also served as co chair for the US president's Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa. Here's our conversation with Margaret.

Margaret, we're so glad to have you join us today. Welcome.

Margaret Nyamumbo: Thanks for having me.

Oge Onubogu: So for this discussion today, we're looking at the impact that AGOA has on small and medium sized enterprises, businesses like yours, Maggie. Give us an overview. What was the drive behind starting Kahawa 1893?

Margaret Nyamumbo: I founded the brand when I was working in finance in New York.

I was working in investment banking and I used to cover. [00:02:00] Consumer brands. So I got interested in building. Um, a brand from the ground up and coffee, uh, was of interest to me because of my own personal experience growing up in Kenya on my grandfather's coffee farm. So I had this experience where we would grow the coffee and we would, you know, send it abroad.

Um, we didn't really drink it locally. When I immigrated to the United States, uh, for college, and then I saw the coffee culture here, it was fascinating. As I started to learn more about the industry, one thing that surprised me was it was actually really hard to find Kenyan coffee in the U S market. So it made me wonder where the coffee was actually going.

And in that process, I ended up starting a brand. And the, the, the reason I wanted the brand to focus on women's empowerment and sourcing from women farmers was. What I observed, um, essentially growing up on the farm was that a lot of the labor in Kenya, about 90 percent of the labor came from women and they weren't always [00:03:00] compensated.

So I wanted the brand to focus on having a mission of empowering women and making sure that they participated in the wealth that comes from the coffee industry.

Witney Schneidman: So when in this journey did AGOA become part of the story? When did you realize that there was something called the African Growth and Opportunity Act and that might be helpful to you?

Margaret Nyamumbo: Yeah. So I was familiar with AGOA because I used to work at the World Bank. I had this journey where I moved to the US for, for college and then I moved back to Kenya. Um, and when I moved back to Kenya, I worked at the World Bank and that's where I got introduced to AGOA. So after the World Bank, I came back to the U. S., did my MBA at Harvard Business School before going into finance. And for me, um, what I saw with AGOA was that we could waive the tariffs for products that are coming out of Africa. And this has always been a big problem of trade with Africa and why we couldn't develop brands because there was the stacks [00:04:00] of exporting, um, finished goods abroad.

And this is a big thing, especially in the coffee industry, because coffee from Africa is almost all of it is exported. Um, so the tariffs become a big factor in terms of what format. We export the products and in particular, uh, coffee, green coffee doesn't have any tariffs going into Europe, but as soon as it's branded, you get this 20, 30 percent tariff.

So it's essentially impossible for a made in Africa coffee brand to export to Europe. And at least AGOA was a way for the US to be able to allow some African products to come into the US tariff free. And so coffee is one of the beneficiaries. How many years have you run this company? How old is your, is your company?

So we've been around for about six years now. We took off right before the pandemic where we got into Trader Joe's. They invited us to be one of their first branded coffee products. in the store, which is significant because traditionally they've only done private label, which essentially doesn't [00:05:00] provide this opportunity to be able to tell stories about the product.

And for us, it was important for us to essentially have this first person narrative of from the farm to the cup. And even in our name, Kahawa 1893, the reason we use Kahawa, which means coffee in Swahili was because we wanted to share that. Story of that, you know, coffee's originally from Africa. And after that, we then got interest from other grocery stores in the country.

And that gave us an even bigger base to be able to build a supply chain to serve it. And then last year we went on Shark Tank and that was another big moment for us in terms of. Getting more brand awareness and bringing this brand to the global masses in terms of like awareness and pride, it went viral in Kenya, for example, because Kenyans have always prided themselves, um, that we have the best coffee in the world.

Um, and I think to get that recognition was sort of this, it sparked this like personal pride. Which is rare because us Kenyans were usually very humble, but this is one thing that we like to brag about.[00:06:00]

Oge Onubogu: Thanks, Margaret. And I'm wondering, you've done a lot in six years. Can you speak specifically about how AGOA was instrumental in helping you or playing a role in helping you go from farm to cup?

Margaret Nyamumbo: If we had a tariff, um, that was put onto products that were importing into the US that would have, that would increase our costs immeasurably, we will not be able to compete on a sort of a price perspective in the US a lot of the competition for coffee coming into the US is from Latin America. So Brazil is the largest producer of coffee. They have about 40 percent of the production of the world. And then you have Columbia. It's the second largest producer of Arabica.

Then you have Vietnam, which is the largest producer of Robusta. So if you have this extra tax, On products coming [00:07:00] in from Africa, then what would happen is what I saw where like you would not find African coffee in the U S African coffee would only go to Europe, for example, because it just would not make sense.

I would not be competitive against Latin America.

Witney Schneidman: And do you do your roasting in Kenya or in the U S?

Margaret Nyamumbo: We do both. So we roast on demand, um, in the U S uh, so we have roasting on both coasts and then we do also get some roasted coming from the, from Kenya as well.

Witney Schneidman: So, so you're sort of adding value to the product in Africa.

Margaret Nyamumbo: Yeah, but on a very limited basis, that's something that we want to do more in the future. The reason we haven't done it at a scale that we would like is, is the distance and the disruptions. Shipping from Africa to the US, especially from East Africa, takes about two months. And so, uh, coffees are a perishable crop.

When it's roasted, when it's green, it can stay longer. Once it's roasted, you start to lose value. Um, in terms, you start to lose [00:08:00] the, the freshness. And so by the time it takes two months on the water, it gets here, you're looking at a lead time of like six months and the, the, the type of coffee that we're involved with, which is specialty coffee, um, a lot of the value is derived from freshness.

So it being roasted very recently. So if roasting in, in Africa and then shipping it here, uh, makes it less compelling from a pricing perspective for specialty coffee.

Oge Onubogu: You have basically just enhanced my knowledge of coffee. I didn't know all of this about coffee. Thank you so much.

Witney Schneidman: Given, given that AGOA is in the process of being reauthorized, if you had a magic wand, how would you like to see, uh, AGOA improved in such a way that it would help you even more than it does?

Margaret Nyamumbo: That's a good question. I know it's always, um, it's always, uh, a topic of, you know, AGOA is going [00:09:00] away. And I think I'm a bit nervous, obviously. I mean, traditionally we've expected that the AGOA renewal would be automatic. Um, when it came right, that it would be renewed. Um, but I think nothing is guaranteed.

Right. But Witney, I think to your question about what a magic wand would do, I think for, for a business, what we want is. It's, it's just price. Right.

Witney Schneidman: So certainly certainty, like a 10 year renewal, that would be great for you. 10 or 15 year renewal. So you know, that you want that.

Margaret Nyamumbo: I think it's, it would be life changing.

Right. I think if you went from having AGOA and having this price, especially because we sell to the grocery stores and we are competing with other brands that are sourcing from outside of Africa, you suddenly we have this extra tax, um, Then we actually are not competitive. And what's going to happen overnight is that that business is [00:10:00] not viable anymore.

Um, and you'd have to essentially redirect it to either Asia or redirect it to Europe. But I think the longer term certainty would help.

Oge Onubogu: Margaret, I hear sort of the passion in your voice when you talk about your company, or you talk about, you know, just the joy of seeing African products on US shelves and seeing this, you know, the trade happening between the U.

S. and Africa. I would love, you know, give yourself 10 years out. Where do you see Kahawa 10 years from today?

Margaret Nyamumbo: Ooh, that's, that's a really good question. I actually just read a story in the Wall Street Journal of, um, Nigerian entrepreneur that just got into Costco with her smack line, African smack line. Um, so I, I saw that too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think that that's, I think there's something there. Uh, I think being able to see more African products become part of. you know, something that we see on the shelf as part of like the American diet. So [00:11:00] I think having now access to sort of those products in regular stores, but also introducing American Americans to African products, we have to make African products.

We almost have to make them, um, kind of like part of part of like, The everyday, uh, snacking line or like part of the product, not like something that's done as a niche. Um, so for 10 years from now, I would love to see Kahawar become a household name. I want it to be globally recognized. One of my dreams is to actually be able to open coffee shops throughout Africa and be able to drive more consumption of our own products in our own countries, just to give you an example, as I mentioned, growing up, we didn't drink coffee.

We exported it and then we drank tea. But what we did drink, I remember my dad used to drink uh, Nescafe, which is that instant coffee. So the coffee, the, so that we would export coffee to Europe, uh, and then Nestle would process it and send us back Nestle coffee. But it was such [00:12:00] a precious commodity. I remember like a lot of people, um, still in Africa think that, think that instant coffee is like the, is like luxury coffee, which obviously if you're in the U. S. instant coffee is considered the farthest from luxury. My dad would just drink it very sparingly and he would drink it after dinner, which I thought was so funny. But I think that the goal would be to, to bring the brand back to Africa with coffee shops and build a culture of us consuming our own products.

That way we can evangelize those products internationally. So I think For the future, it would be great for us to develop our own products that we're proud of and then export those products as branded products to the world. So that would be my dream in 10 years. And then I think I want to see more African grown brands entering the U S market.

I want to see better compensation for agricultural products. So I think, you know, that's one of the problems is that the agricultural products in Africa are not really [00:13:00] getting priced right. A lot of the prices are still very commodity driven. So seeing those prices adjust to make sure that the farmers can have a sustainable livelihood.

So that would be a really good, um, good thing to see in about 10 years.

Oge Onubogu: Thank you so much, Margaret. You know, you have just, you know, the next time I go into Trader Joe's or I go to Starbucks or I'm in Walmart or Costco, I would be mindful to always look at the labels, try and figure out where's this product from.

Margaret Nyamumbo: Oh, thank you so much. Uh, yeah, definitely. I appreciate that. And, uh, it's been great to. Kind of have the product on the shelf in different parts of the country and, and be able to, um, kind of reach customers where they are. So thanks, Witney and Oge, you know, hopefully you run into it in the wild at some point.

Um, yeah, just, yeah, let me know. Send me a picture.[00:14:00]

Oge Onubogu: So that was a great conversation with Margaret, an amazing business model and aspirations for us and African businesses. Next, we will speak with Rahama Wright, founder and CEO of Shea Yeleen. Shea Yeleen is a social impact beauty brand working with women led share boughter cooperatives and providing U.

S. consumers access to fair trade beauty products from Africa. As we mentioned earlier, Rahama also served on the president's advisory council on doing business in Africa under the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations.

Rahama, thank you so much for joining us today.

Rahama Wright: Thank you so much for having me. I've been excited to join this podcast. I love the work that you're both doing.

Oge Onubogu: Well, thank you. We're excited to have you here with us today. So. [00:15:00] Give us a sense on how Shea Yeleen started. What's the origin story of this business that you started?

Rahama Wright: Yeah, the origin story. Wow. I guess, um, the origin story started with my mother, um, who is from northern Ghana. And so I am first gen Ghanaian American, grew up in upstate New York outside of Syracuse, but always had a huge interest in African and African issues, especially around women. So when I was in high school, I knew that I would join the Peace Corps.

And so while I was a Peace Corps volunteer, I was assigned to a community health center. Frequently women would come to the health center. And I noticed that either whether they were sick or their kids would be sick, Very rarely had the financial means to cover their, the health costs, whether it was for, um, getting medicine or just being the doctor.

And so I started researching income generating activities for women. Um, most of the women in my [00:16:00] community were farmers, subsistence farmers. And so I knew that they were involved in like, ag, um, and I learned and started to see not only the ag products they were making, they were harvesting for food, but also shea butter.

And I had used shea butter in the US, you know, as a teenager, I would always be going to the mall and going into different shops to try all sorts of products. And I had never knew that shea butter came from Africa. My mom is West African. I never knew that this amazing product that I would see on shelves was came from the communities, um, these rural villages in the Sahel region.

And it just really struck me that a product that originated in these communities was not financially benefiting those communities. And so I started learning about how women made shea butter. Um, harvesting the fruit, bringing the fruit home, taking out the nuts, taking out [00:17:00] the seeds, you know, roasting, grinding, cracking, doing this entire traditional process to just extract out this oil.

And that oil could be used for body care products. They used it for their own body care, and they also used it as a cooking oil. So when I came back to the US, I, I launched initially a 501c3 nonprofit, um, to do capacity building training. Um, I would fundraise money in D. C. and then send that money to the women, and they would use it to buy a piece of equipment or, you know, buy some.

Some input that they would need to make the shea. And then I thought, that's it. That's the solution. We just need to give women access to the tools and resources to produce shea butter. And I very soon learned that was not it. It was also figuring out how to help them get these products to market. And so I did a pivot in 2013 where I launched a [00:18:00] business.

Still with the same name, but I added health and beauty to it. And it was a really pivotal point because it was also the year I got my first round of venture funding. And we also launched in Whole Foods markets, um, along the East coast, uh, launching in the, um, North Atlantic region in Massachusetts and surrounding areas.

And so that is how Shailene was able to get into retail and start looking at not just the capacity building and helping women take their natural products and turn it into a value added product, but also figuring out how to get those products to market so that we could do what our aim was, which was to create living wage jobs for the women in those communities.

Witney Schneidman: So how many women today have living wage jobs as a result of your company?

Rahama Wright: So we work across 14 different communities and there are roughly 800 women [00:19:00] in our supply chain. And so what we do is we help them with the entire. ecosystem of needs that they have. So access to capital, access to production equipment, access to safe working environments, um, giving them access to the training to understand the quality requirements for being able to bring a product to the U.

S. Market and get into a US retailer. And so we provide that entire ecosystem of support. We bring the shea into the US we do add further finishing. So with the packaging and the formulation of plant based products, and then we connect that to our retail partners. And so through building this business model, we're able to increase women's income five times their country's minimum wage, giving them a living wage.

Oge Onubogu: So, Rahama, you, you know, you've painted a really inspirational, uh, picture, a wonderful story about how you started and where you are today. But we know [00:20:00] it probably, it wasn't an easy road to get here. So could you tell us a little bit about how tools, if there are tools that originated in the US, um, trade tools, things like AGOA and others that may have provided some along the line in your journey, because I'd assume that there are other small business owners in the U. S. who are also thinking about how they break into African markets. So could you give us a little sense about how these tools may have been helpful on your journey?

Rahama Wright: So I think when I first started to now, there are definitely more tools and resources. So when I started, uh, Shea Yeleen, and even when I did my pivot in 2013, there wasn't things like Prosper Africa, right?

There weren't these conversations around, um, Adding value, creating ethical supply chains, um, there wasn't this, uh, huge boom around African culture and just even the [00:21:00] focus on Africa was very different. And so when I first started, I would say it's, it's I can't even talk about those tools because it's so different.

The landscape is different. The conversations are different. It's cool to work in Africa. It's cool to do business in Africa. I would say, um, in, you know, the early 2000s, it wasn't the same. Environment whatsoever. But to your point, you know, ago is a trade preference program that has helped facilitate trade and business between the U. S. And African countries. It is a government to government program, right? But with it in the way it can be implemented, it supports business transactions, and it supports companies like mine who want to source work with suppliers. Work in the African market and look at how to facilitate two way trade. And so my company, by being able to create value added products and importing those [00:22:00] products into the U S market, we're able to reduce our cost of doing business because of the fact that the soap that we're bringing in from these women, um, doesn't now have a tariff.

And that's just one example. I sometimes I think that there's this misconception, though, that all you have to do is bring your product to the US market and you're good. All you have to do is clear, you know, your container out of customs and you're now a multimillionaire. It's not that simple. And I think that one of the things that is so important to facilitating trade in a way that actually benefits local communities is widening the appetite for African goods.

That are coming from African communities in a way that is creating jobs that is involving those local communities in a way that gives them access to market opportunity by connecting them to the right people. Consumer that [00:23:00] actually wants their products. And so that's the work that we do here in the U. S. And some of the programs that we've been able to leverage, you know, the S. B. A. Has a lot of great programs for small businesses. I'm a huge advocate of the S. B. A. Score program. Um, now that there is this tool and resource around Prosper Africa that did not exist previously, um, Where it's essentially a one stop shop where if you are an American entrepreneur or business owner, and you want to be able to get your goods or services to the African market, you can go to this essentially like an inner agency of all these organizations that can help you do that.

Anywhere from getting access to market data, figuring out who could be a local partner, um, even access to capital and funding and understanding the different. Uh, agencies that you could get funding from, whether it's DFC, whether it's XM, right? And so being able to have that [00:24:00] one stop shop, uh, is something that did not exist previously.

Witney Schneidman: So, so, Rahama, this is such an extraordinary, uh, Story and such an exceptional one and a successful one. What's your message to young entrepreneurs who want to do what you have done, but don't know where to start?

Rahama Wright: Uh, well, when I think back to being in my early 20s and having no money, no connections, being new to a city and saying to myself, Oh, I'm going to create this organization that does impact in Africa.

I don't even know why I thought I could do, do that. Right. I, when I look back on it, there are a couple of things that helped me along the way. One is understanding the issue because the first resource you have is yourself and your knowledge. You can, you can get that without doing much, right? We have a technology, we have Google, now we have AI and chat GPT.

You truly can access [00:25:00] information. At a touch of a button. So really understand the issue, really understand the market, really understand the consumer that you're trying to attract. The second is relationships, relationships, relationships. I can't over emphasize the importance of relationships, the importance of putting yourself out there and developing key relationships because people give money to people that they feel they know and trust.

People buy products and services from people Brands and people they feel like they can trust even getting into our first Whole Foods. That was through a relationship that was through an introduction. And so really crafting and cultivating the right relationships and networks are so important. And then the third thing is not being afraid to fail.

If you think that you're going to start something and it's just going to be amazingly successful from day one. It's not realistic. It's very unrealistic to [00:26:00] have that perspective. You're going to fail. And I have failed so many times in this journey. Some of my failures have been mini failures and some of them have been epically huge failure.

And you just have to understand that's part of the process.

Oge Onubogu: So Rahama, let me pick up from there. So you recently served in a leadership position on the President's Advisory Council for doing business in Africa. Tell us a little bit about your experience on this council. First of all, what is the council, when did it start?

We'd love to hear your experience about this and just share some more information about the and services.

Rahama Wright: President's advisory council on doing business in Africa was to have a private sector council that would advise the president on trade. In business engagement, recommendations, policies, strategies through the Secretary of Commerce. And [00:27:00] so it was housed under the Department of Commerce. And so the council ranged from small businesses like me to very large blue chip companies.

I co chaired it my final term with Citigroup. And so it was a wide range of types of companies that covered different sectors and the whole The purpose of our council was to be able to provide private sector advice and private sector leadership and helping the US government, um, truly improve the way that it engaged with African countries from a perspective of trade and business development.

Witney Schneidman: Yeah, it's, it's, it's been a really important, uh, uh, tool, you know, going forward, what, what is your thoughts on how we can, you know, really preserve business and, and what does the US africa business need to really [00:28:00] thrive and create value, create jobs and. Bring the U S and Africa closer together.

Rahama Wright: Yeah, well, I would, I would add to what you're saying, not only the private sector, but the consumers are also very important.

The world is changing very rapidly. If you are not looking at your business from a global perspective, if you're not understanding that the continent of Africa not only has the youngest population, but it has the fastest growing economies on our planet, that all of, all of those things lean towards. The need to engage.

And what does that mean? It could be as little as visiting an African country that you may be interested in doing business with. You know, the foreign commercial service through the Commerce Department is a tool that you can use if you've never visited the continent, if you've never worked on the continent to really be able to create the connections and the introductions and help you feel Navigate that, right?[00:29:00]

Um, it's, uh, looking at how you can engage the diaspora. That is another very easy, low hanging fruit when it comes to the private sector engagement with Africa. You have consumers here in the US you know, that have connections to African countries, engage them, learn from them, right? What, what are the products and services that you're giving to them or you're providing to them, um, that can help you when it comes to diversifying some of the ways that you, uh, attract a customer base, right?

Witney Schneidman: Yeah. That's, that's all really powerful. Um, Rama, one last question for me, just sort of bringing it back home here and, um, the future of the African Growth and Opportunity Act. How, how important is that to you and your business?

Rahama Wright: It has been important and I am an advocate for it. Um, I sat with the house and wait, the ways and means committee of, [00:30:00] and you know, I shared my story as an entrepreneur and I shared what we're doing in the communities that we work with in Africa.

And so I think it's an important tool for the U S government that has helped, uh, increase. Trade between the US and Africa, and I think it needs to be reauthorized. And I know that there are a lot of different opinions on the way it should be the length of term all of that. But we we know that if we do not have these tools.

It does, in fact, impact trade engagement and for my business specifically, um, as a startup early stage business, looking at how to bring a product from an African village all the way to a Whole Foods shelf or on a Macy's platform, it's very, very expensive to do business. And so anything that can decrease our cost, anything that can help ease kind of that financial burden when [00:31:00] you're, you know, in the, your very early days, or even as you're growing and scaling your business is important.

And we, um, we have seen that when you inhibit trade, when you make it harder to do business, It doesn't help anyone, right? And so having a trade policy like AGOA facilitates trade, it helps ease the burden, it helps create the enabling environment for trade to happen. And so I really hope that it will be reauthorized, but let's say it's not reauthorized.

Let's say for some reason it doesn't happen. You have to find alternatives, and unfortunately, that alternative makes it more competitive for, you know, the China makes it more competitive for Russia and Turkey and the other players that have prioritized working with Africa have prioritized trade with Africa.

It is not to the [00:32:00] advantage of an American first policy if we are not investing in trade engagement in Africa. If we are not seeing the economic value, not only for the Africans, but also for America. And there are examples across this country of SMEs, businesses, large and small, that have engaged with trade on the continent and it's helped make both of our countries stronger, both an African country stronger and the American private sector stronger.

It is in the best interest of America's growth to facilitate and improve our trade engagement with Africa, not scale back or step away.

Oge Onubogu: Thank you, Rahama. And I think that is an excellent place for us to end this conversation. We thank you so much for spending this time with us.[00:33:00]

Two powerful insights from Maggie from Kahawa 1893 and Rahama from Shea Yeleen. I think it really struck me the power of the small business sector in the US these two women are doing amazing things, you know, creating jobs here in, in the US and also creating jobs, a lot of job opportunities on the continent, you know, drawing from Rahama's inspirational story about how she started the thought that she's Already 20 years in the game.

And some of the tools that she mentioned that are readily available, some of these tools that a lot of small business owners are not aware of. So it really got me thinking that. More needs to be done to make people aware of the tools that are available and also understanding some of the challenges, but also how to overcome the challenges on, on how to use [00:34:00] these tools.

Witney Schneidman: I completely agree. Oh, yeah. I think one of the things that came away for me for both conversations was the importance of relationships, relationships, relationships. And how if you're going to build a business, you have to be willing to go out into the market and learn from those who are already doing it and to be with them and to learn from them and to respect those relationships because.

Once people understand that you're in it for real and that you're in it for good, then those relationships grow and they mature and they spread. And I think that's really the underpinning for a successful, uh, business.

Oge Onubogu: I think another thing that I heard was, you know, jobs, jobs, jobs. Both of them started out ventures that created.

Jobs in the US and on the continent, you know, in Maggie's case, even just from those who are [00:35:00] roasting coffee to the space that she rents here in the US, creating a lot of job opportunities here in the US, with Rahama creating a lot of businesses for the D. C. community, small business owners are doing amazing things in this space, and when you speak to young people on the continent, a lot of them want jobs.

Witney Schneidman: Right, and I think that feeds right into this new era where I think the role of the private sector is going to become more important than ever as an engine of economic growth. To your point as the creator of jobs as as the developer skills as the way to generate revenue that can be utilized. So I think both of these women are really on to something and leaders in in in a very important way.

Oge Onubogu: Another thing I took away, the message from the both of them is just the importance of creating that enabling environment for businesses to thrive. [00:36:00] So I think us on the US side, really thinking back, going into our toolkit, what are the tools that we have available to ensure that we can put things in place so that small businesses are able to Thank you for joining us for this episode of Beyond a Single Story. As always, a special thanks to the production team that made this series possible. This episode was produced by Aaron Stanley and Nathaniel Oakes. Technical assistance was provided by Sharona Harris, and editing was done by Brian Prevost.

The views expressed by guests of the podcast are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Wilson Center Africa Program. The Africa Program is part of the Wilson Center, a congressionally chartered think tank that provides insights on global affairs to policymakers. and the public through deep research, impartial analysis, and independent scholarship.