Africa: Seeds of a Future Already Growing
Sunday 11.30-12.30 PM - Main Hall
Public narratives about Africa are often shaped by crisis: conflict, poverty, corruption, and displacement. These realities are not fictitious, but they are incomplete. When attention remains fixed on what is broken, it becomes difficult to recognise what is quietly taking root.
Across the continent, forms of life are emerging that resist the language of failure. New patterns of entrepreneurship respond inventively to local needs. Demographic growth is generating cultural vitality and social imagination on a remarkable scale. Innovation in technology, education, agriculture, and finance is driven less by abstraction than by proximity to concrete human problems. Strong networks of community, meaning, and mutual support continue to form, often under conditions of pressure and uncertainty. Much of this unfolds far from global headlines, in places that rarely command sustained attention.
This panel invites a shift of gaze. Rather than approaching Africa as a problem to be managed, it asks what can be learned from what is already alive. What kinds of futures are being shaped in these overlooked contexts? What visions of work, leadership, and common life are emerging where resilience is not an ideal, but a daily necessity?
speakers
Prof Sam Kamuriwo
Professor Sam Kamuriwo is Professor of Strategy and Innovation, Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) and a leading expert in strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurial finance. His work bridges the gap between high-level academic research and practical industry application. Before entering academia, he held extensive executive-level leadership roles in industry across Africa, experience that continues to inform his research on scale-ups, venture financing, and innovation ecosystems. Professor Kamuriwo is a key figure in strengthening the entrepreneurial landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). He served as the Principal Investigator for the £3 million Innovation for African Universities (IAU) programme, whose aim was to foster
partnerships between 24 universities across the UK and Africa (including Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa), whilst working to strengthening university-led innovation ecosystems, and enhancing graduate employability through entrepreneurship. His work is encapsulated in the co-authored book, Developing University Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Sub-Saharan Africa (World Scientific, 2024). The book provides a comprehensive framework for how African universities can leverage digital technologies and multidisciplinary partnerships to mainstream entrepreneurship. Professor Kamuriwo also serves as the Associate Dean for DEI and Social Responsibility at Bayes Business School. He holds a PhD and MBA from Bayes and a BSc in Electrical Engineering.
Isabella Tenai
Isabella Tenai serves as the E4Impact Accelerator Manager in Kenya, bringing over a decade of experience in supporting impact entrepreneurs in launching and expanding their ventures. With a focus on business development, Isabella effectively oversees acceleration and Incubation entrepreneurial programmes, provides tailored training, and drives business value creation. At E4Impact, Isabella has collaborated with enterprises across various stages of growth and sectors such as Agriculture, Green Economy, Renewable Energy, Affordable Housing, Technology, Fashion, Leather, and Textile. Her partnerships with European enterprises have facilitated the internationalisation of products, enhanced market reach, and fostered global connections.
David Villa-Clarke
David Villa-Clarke BEM, MBA, APFS is a strategy and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) consultant at Think DV Consulting Ltd, advising organisations across Formula 1, pharmaceuticals and the technology sector. He works with senior leaders to align strategy,
culture and inclusion to unlock performance and build resilient organisations in complex, fast-moving environments.
David is also CEO of the Aleto Foundation, a London-based social mobility charity delivering intensive leadership programmes often described as an “MBA bootcamp” for high-potential individuals from low socio-economic backgrounds.
He is the Founder and President of Project Volunteer, which has supported more than 500 orphans in Botswana through education-focused programmes since 2006, and has also
contributed to charitable initiatives in Kenya addressing period poverty. David delivered a TEDx talk in London in 2012 on the “future of work” and is scheduled to
speak at TEDx Africa in Abuja in September 2026 on “The Power of Mentoring”. In recognition of his services to charity, he was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the Queen’s 2017 New Year’s Honours List.
Daisy Moraa
Ms. Daisy Moraa is a Cambridge MBA graduate and former President of the Africa Business Network at Cambridge Judge Business School (2022/2023). Daisy has moderated high‑level panels, including the 2023 Women in Business and Entrepreneurship Panel at Cambridge’s Africa Together Conference.
She is the founder of Elegance Collective, a women‑focused social enterprise launched in 2020 with a growing global footprint. Building on her experience teaching Business Management at Queens’ College Cambridge for the Immerse Education Summer School, where she taught students from more than 15 countries in 2024, she is developing a free digital entrepreneurship programme for East African youth through her brand Finance Factored, scheduled to launch in Spring 2026.
She also has professional experience in the construction disputes field, complementing her wider interests in business, entrepreneurship, and community development. An Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), Daisy currently serves on the CIArb London Branch Young Members Group committee.