Case studies
African business, taught from African examples.
A student on this continent can graduate having studied a dozen American companies and not one built under the conditions they will actually work in. These 7 cases exist to change what is on the reading list.
What you get
Written to be taught, not to be admired.
- Harvard and Ivey depth, written for African classrooms and African conditions.
- A decision point with three live options and no answer supplied.
- A twelve section teaching note: learning objectives, theoretical frameworks, a suggested teaching plan, eight discussion questions with analytical pathways, board plans and quantitative exercises.
- Protagonists who are alive, contactable, and in several cases willing to join a class as a guest speaker.
- A companion episode, so a class can watch the founder reason through the decision and then argue with it.
The catalogue
All 7 cases
Each is released as its protagonist signs it off. Every one of them is already named publicly on the channel and in the Marketplace.
ACD-CS-001
AvailableMarilyn Kamuru
eManage Africa
Category creation, a planned exit, and the post-exit founder portfolio
Teaches step 3, Choose a position
ACD-CS-002
AvailableNavalayo Osembo
Enda Athletic
Africa's first running shoe brand, built under industrial policy constraint
Teaches step 2, Assemble resources
ACD-CS-003
In sign offLeonard Mcharo
Tsavo
Design-led affordable housing and the financial independence playbook
Teaches step 1, See the void
ACD-CS-004
In sign offKen Njoroge
Cellulant and Pani
Pan-African fintech, the 2020 crisis, and the operator to investor transition
Teaches step 4, Build the flywheel
ACD-CS-005
In productionPascal Maithya
Pascal Hair Kenya
The single-operator premium service business and personal brand acquisition
Teaches step 3, Choose a position
ACD-CS-006
In productionJoyce Gikunda
Lintons Beauty World
Category creation in regulated retail, and an integrated retail and training model
Teaches step 4, Build the flywheel
ACD-CS-007
AvailableEric Kimani
Palmhouse Dairies and Foundation
The dual engine of business and philanthropy
Teaches step 5, Sequence the fork
The method
Every case is tagged to a step of the framework.
The five step model from the Strathmore MBA for Executives lecture. It is what a dean recognises as method rather than content, and it is how this catalogue is organised.
- 1
See the void
Is this a market failure I can serve?
- 2
Assemble resources
What can I bootstrap before I raise?
- 3
Choose a position
Where do I differentiate rather than discount?
- 4
Build the flywheel
What makes my advantage compound?
- 5
Sequence the fork
What do I protect, and in what order?
For educators
Request the cases
Tell us what you teach and we will send what is cleared for classroom use, including the Eric Kimani case as a full sample.
Ownership of each case is held jointly by The AfriCAN Do! Podcast, the featured business, and the writer.
