Unlocking Africa
Terser Adamu, who is an Africa Business Strategist, International Trade Adviser, and Director at ETK Group, hosts the award-nominated Unlocking Africa Podcast. During each episode he shares his thoughts on how to unlock Africa’s economic potential in the 21st century. This is delivered through engaging and thought-provoking discussions with innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and business leaders who are unlocking Africa’s economic potential. Whether you're a business leader, an aspiring entrepreneur, have a comfortable side hustle, or want to take your business to the next level, each episode is jam-packed with information and insight that will enable you to take immediate action and implement key strategies to successfully launch and grow your business in Africa.
Unlocking Africa
Why Do So Many African Businesses Die With Their Founders? Succession, Stewardship and Legacy with Lydie Murorunkwere
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Episode 237 with Lydie Murorunkwere, Founder and Managing Director of ML Corporate Services Ltd, Rwanda’s first locally owned licensed Trust and Company Service Provider, and Chairperson of the Rwanda Trust Companies Association.
Over the past two decades, Lydie has worked with entrepreneurs, investors, family businesses and institutions across Africa, helping them establish governance, ownership and succession structures designed not only to support growth, but to endure. Her work challenges the idea that succession is simply a legal or technical process. Instead, she argues that it is fundamentally a human issue shaped by fear, family relationships, culture, responsibility and the willingness of founders to prepare others to lead.
In this episode, Lydie explains why many successful African businesses remain dangerously dependent on the individuals who created them, and what founders must do to build institutions capable of surviving beyond their leadership.
What We Discuss With Lydie
- Why making yourself indispensable could become one of the greatest threats to the future of your business.
- How Africa’s dependence on founder led companies is limiting investment, growth and economic continuity.
- Why inheriting a family business does not necessarily mean the next generation is equipped to lead it.
- How poor succession planning causes African businesses and family wealth to disappear across generations.
- Why governance can help African businesses attract investment, manage growth and survive beyond their founders.
Did you miss my previous episode where I discuss What Happens When Rural African Women Gain Access to Mentorship, Education and Economic Opportunity? Make sure to check it out!
Connect with Terser:
LinkedIn - Terser Adamu
Instagram - unlockingafrica
Twitter (X) - @TerserAdamu
Connect with Lydie
LinkedIn - Lydie Murorunkwere and ML Corporate Services
Many of the businesses unlocking opportunities in Africa don’t do it alone. If you’d like strategic support on entering or expanding across African markets, reach out to our partners ETK Group:
