Episode 1 - What is Faith Driven Entrepreneur Africa?

In our first episode of Faith Driven Entrepreneur Africa podcast, Ndidi and Henry talk about their shared desire to tell compelling stories of leaders and innovators across the continent. They are joined by Reuben Coulter, Faith Driven Entrepreneur’s Director of International Strategy, to get insight into the global side of the movement and how Africa has played a part.

Episode Transcript

Transcription is done by an AI software. While technology is an incredible tool to automate this process, there will be misspellings and typos that might accompany it. Please keep that in mind as you work through it.

Henry Kaestner: Greetings to everybody in the Faith Driven Entrepreneur audience. We are reaching you from our worldwide studios here across the world, in Africa, in the UK and the United States, and celebrating the launch of a new initiative that we're super excited about. And Faith Driven Entrepreneur, we've been ministering and trying to encourage Faith driven entrepreneurs globally for the last four years. And we'll talk a little bit about that origin story here in just a second. But one of the things that became really clear to us is that we had an increasing number of participants in our blogs, in our podcasts and our conferences, and very much in our groups from Africa, just about every country in Africa, even the ones that speak French. And so we thought, what would it look like for us to go ahead and have a show just for Faith driven entrepreneurs in Africa, guests from Africa, a co-host from Africa. And how do we celebrate what God is doing in a way that it might be an encouragement not just to people in Africa, but people listening from all over the world that want to see what God is doing in Africa. So I have the incredible pleasure and honor privilege of being joined by Diddy. Knowing Nelly, who is here and is from Nigeria, is really a global citizen. She's all over the place but has a deep, deep love for Africa. And as I've gotten to know her and her husband, Mzbel, we thought, gosh, there's no better voice for us to have on this show to be able to lead us through the stories of what God is doing on the continent than Diddy and Diddy. Welcome.

Ndidi Nwuleni: Thank you so much, Henry. This is so exciting. And I'm honored, honored to join you on this voyage.

Henry Kaestner: Yeah, well, we're honored that you join us. We also have been joined for this special edition by Reuben Colter. Reuben is our director of international strategy, and he's in from Bristol, England. Bristol in the United Kingdom. And Reuben, thank you for joining us, number one. And then just give us a little bit of a sense for much of our audience that might think that we've been kind of a U.S. based and U.S. focused ministry. And yet the reality is something altogether different. And not only are we trying to help encourage people through some of the programs that we've launched, but we do a lot of work through partners. I think that a lot of our audience probably doesn't get a perspective for that. Tell us a bit about what you do, please.

Reuben Coulter: Yeah, well, there's a huge transition taking place in the world and it's exciting and it's daunting. And I think there's three big trends that we're seeing. The first is we're seeing a movement of energy from west to east and from north to south. So kind of where we saw these traditional economic powerhouses, that is diversifying. We live in a multipolar world, no longer in a unipolar world. And Africa is one of those places where the average age in Africa is 1920. It's a youthful continent. It's a fast growing continent. The population will double to 2.5 billion people by 2050. And it's an innovative continent. The new ideas that are coming out in terms of music, in terms of films, in terms of technology, many of them are being birthed in Africa. The second trend we're seeing is this movement from AIDS to investments. Of course, many people, when they think about Africa, they think about AIDS and they think about Bob Geldof for U2 and the work that they've done in terms of development. But actually, the story today is about one of investments about a continent which is building its infrastructure, developing its technology, investing in skills and training of its young people. And I think the third shift we're seeing is from ministry to marketplace. And this is just the complete breaking down of the sacred secular divides. And in Africa, I think there's a real coherence of people wanting to bring their faith into their business and really seeing those values played out in how they serve people. And so we just want to give a voice to the leaders in this space, the people who have been pioneering some of them for decades and really changing the paradigm of where they are. And it's just super exciting and encouraging to be able to come alongside and listen and learn and to serve these brothers and sisters in Africa.

Henry Kaestner: Indeed. And one of the things that we're seeing is, of course, is that there's this great movement that God has been working on for a while, and there's some fantastic organizations and ministries around the world and then especially in Africa, that are focused on supporting the work of Faith driven entrepreneurs. And and this is a key thing here in the United States and maybe in the West, we're known as a ministry because of our groups and our conferences. And yet this is really a decentralized movement around a core and common DNA that are around the marks, the call to create the identity in Christ, faithfulness versus willfulness, etc. out of the 12 of them that you can find, of course, on our website, and we'll unpack that through our series. And yet there are other organizations that are signed up for that, and you oversee our work that brings together work for your 50 different ministries, including many, many in Africa. Talk to us a little bit about what you're seeing through organizations like Synapse. And you just got back from Egypt, I think.

Reuben Coulter: Absolutely. So, of course, Africa is incredibly diverse, 54 countries, multiple languages and cultures. We realize that we can't possibly adapt to all of that diversity. And so we really believe in the power of partnerships. We have incredible partners in South Africa, organizations like Zolani, which is supporting Christian entrepreneurs all across Southern Africa and resourcing them. Trigo, which is an accelerator again in South Africa, which is helping support and build the capacity of these entrepreneurs to snap us up in Kenya, Agora in Zambia. So there's just this incredible richness there. And we've been coming together on a regular basis to learn from each other. As the last week we had four days together and we brought together over 20 partners from across the world to spend time understanding what's working, what's not working, how do we really support entrepreneurs to scale their businesses, to integrate their faith? And it's just incredible what we're seeing in Egypt, again, a country which has a relatively small Christian population, but they're just dynamic in how they're engaging in the marketplace and bringing and integrating their faith with their business.

Henry Kaestner: Yeah, so I mentioned that I'd talk a little bit about the origin story. I want to touch on that just briefly. It has something to do with Africa, but it's ultimately a European one. And then I want to introduce and bring it back to entity Faith Driven Entrepreneur as this new movement, if you will, around this title and with bringing together these different organizations, many of whom had existed, to be clear, really started in earnest about four years ago. And when a number of us at Sovereign's Capital had set up a fund ten years before to invest in Christian led businesses around the world, but like any other venture capital or private equity fund, the principals of our fund wanted to invest in deals that we knew, industries and geographies and stages we knew. And so there's a young man who came in looking for investment capital, and he came and said, I'd love for you to invest from Sovereign's Capital and said, okay, so tell us a little bit about your business. He said, Well, it's a real estate business and it's in Moldova. And we thought, Oh my goodness, we can't even calculate a cap rate, so we shouldn't invest in real estate and we're not even sure that Moldova is a country. Fortunately, we didn't say that out loud. Of course, with news now everybody knows more about Moldova. And yet Moldova is a small country and it didn't have much of a legacy, a Faith Driven Entrepreneur Russia. And we realized that we had gotten into the business of Sovereign's Capital to be an encouragement to Faith driven entrepreneurs. And yet we were saying no to a lot of really great men and women from around the world and lots of them from Africa, that we just didn't understand the local economies. And yet we saw movement of God and we saw how entrepreneurs were being these cultural change agents and picking their communities up and advancing them and creating redemptive products and services. And so we said, what does it look like for us together with some of these other ministries to band together and to create some of these consortiums and collaborations that you're talking about that just met in Egypt? Okay. So part of what we do in the movement is we do content and we do community on the content side, blogs, conferences and things like that. But especially the podcast and the podcast has been through the grace of God, very popular. But we really want to make sure that when we looked at the content that was growing the fastest in our audience, we want to make sure we had a podcast for them. And so it's with Ann and Diddy and her partnership that we're launching this focusing on African men and women that God is using to redeem culture, to create redemptive products and services, to love their neighbor, their partner, their vendor to their customer and their employee. And and did he tell us more about that and tell us about as we get started, tell us about your passion for the continent that you're from. And one of the things that's really resonated with me is that your sense is that the rest of the world thinks something of Africa. There's actually different than reality. Tell us a bit about that, please.

Ndidi Nwuleni: Thank you so much, Henry. And thank you, Reuben. Reuben has taken so many of the words out of my mouth, and I just love to see people passionate about this continent. I think this is a great time to be African and a great time to change narratives about Africa. Just like Reuben underscored. Not only are we the youngest continent on the face of the earth, but we're the fastest growing population keeps growing day to day. Economies are growing. And there's so much innovation and technology on the continent that's just leapfrogging. I think the rest of the world can learn so much from what's going on in Africa, but what even gets me more excited is the faith movement on the African continent and seeing young people excited about faith, about reflecting Christ in their day to day activities, and about building kingdom businesses. And you know, Henry, that nexus of what you've been doing in the United States and around the world has. Resonated so much with us on the African continent. I remember just last year engaging with my team as we watched the Faith Driven Entrepreneur conference and we engaged in the, you know, Faith Driven Investor conference and, you know, seeing those stories from the United States, from Africa. And the lessons that I transferrable across the world. And so from where I sit, I think this is such a timely intervention. Africa has a lot to learn from Faith Driven Investor and entrepreneurs across the world, but the rest of the world has so much to learn from the African continent. The diversity from our 54 countries, the globe, an entrepreneurial energy, the vibrancy, the innovation, but also the rule of God. And what God is doing in the hearts and minds of his people on the continent is just a source of inspiration, not just for me, but for so many entrepreneurs on the continent and will be a source of inspiration for entrepreneurs around the world.

Henry Kaestner: Indeed. Tell us a bit. We've had you on the podcast before, and so listeners may very well be familiar with your story, but give us a fly over again about where God has had you in the marketplace and then also a bit about your faith journey.

Ndidi Nwuleni: Yeah. So I am a social entrepreneur, currently in the food and agricultural landscape. Through many hats I wear cycle consulting where I serve as executive chair as foods, which I'm co-founder of with Amazing Nourishing Africa, which I founded two years ago, and then most recently Changing Narratives, Africa. And through these organizations, we are transforming the food and agriculture landscape in Africa. But we are also ensuring that the rest of the world recognizes, appreciates and embraces the best of what Africa has to offer. Africa is such a phenomenal contributor to the food ecosystem, and we want to change that narrative that when you think of Africa, you don't think of a hungry child, but you think of a dynamic female interpreter or a well-nourished child. And so we're getting African food shelves and we're shifting the dimensions and using food to build bridges. So that's one hats I wear. Another is that I'm a founder of LEAP Africa. LEAP Africa actually turns 20 this year. A leap works in eight African countries inspiring, empowering and equipping the next generation of African leaders. Leap is such a phenomenal instrument of what God is doing on the continent with young people, with training teachers to deliver curriculum around civics, ethics, leadership, social innovation. It's also supporting the next generation of social entrepreneurs to us, our annual social innovators program, where we select young, dynamic social innovators from across the continent and help them scale. And it's really adding tremendous impact in the social movements, really raising awareness about how we have a social change, agents to define the future as we want in our countries. So that's one initiative I'm also involved in I'm very passionate about. And then beyond that, very involved in a whole range of initiatives around African philanthropy, Africans funding African ventures, Africans growing African ventures and investing in African ventures. So I have a very dynamic life portfolio career is what we like to call it in this part of the world, but really been blessed with what God has allowed me to do. And I've been propelled by really a desire to die and to live a life that's pleasing on to God and with each venture that He's allowed me to. But it's really my role as a Destiny helper to set up what he's called me, to set up, to empower teams, to build strong organizations, to put in place systems and structures, and to recruit dynamic and committed board members who allow these ventures to continue to thrive. So it's been a blessed journey, and I'm excited about what we're going to do together through this podcast. It's amazing. When you reached out to me, I said, you know, one of the things that God had been telling me for a while is that he wanted me to build bridges between Africa and the rest of the world. And this is just one of those many opportunities that God has opened up to ensure that we continue to build those bridges because we are brothers and sisters in Christ. We can do so much more together rather than working in silos. And you know, when you get to hear people's stories, you connect with them in ways unimaginable. You get to see them as humans first, as people who love God and who want to serve them. And it breaks down the biases that we have, the prejudice that we have, the distrust that exists. And it starts allowing us to co-create the future that God has ordained for us as His people on this earth. So I'm excited, Henry, about this journey that we embarking on together. And I really know that people will be blessed through the stories they're going to hear, through the innovations that they're going to experience and through the vulnerability and the humanity that we're going to see through the experiences of these great men and women of God who are living their faith on a daily basis and are succeeding in spite of all the odds.

Henry Kaestner: You mentioned two things here that are really related, and one is changing narratives. And the other one was speaking of changing narratives. Africans investing in Africans. Africans giving to Africans. That might be a little different than a perception of some folks from the West that don't see that as much. And yet that is very prevalent. Talk a little bit more about what you see there.

Ndidi Nwuleni: Yeah. So actually most of the funding that Africans get from Africa. In fact, a recent report from the British group said that of the $9 billion that was allocated to Africa from the United States, only 9% went to local organizations. So most of the funding that goes to Africa Quote on quote actually doesn't end up in African organizations and ends up in international organizations, many of them in the US, and it never makes its way to the continent. The vast majority of funds available in Africa are from Africans and it starts at the family unit. You know, it's quite unique, but every single family member supports at least five other family members, not just with school fees and health insurance and health care bills, but also in terms of daily livelihoods. So this is a concept of My Brother's Keeper, who I am because we are and I can climb below and I can achieve success when others of my family, my community are not successful. And so that's the most basic concept of philanthropy that we have with this giving culture. The second is, during times of joy and sorrow, the whole community comes out to support you. I don't know if you've ever been to an African funeral. It's something to behold. You know, it's actually an amazing thing. The family spends next to nothing. Everybody comes out to support with gifts, with food. And it's amazing. Every single person married into the family. In my culture, Igbo culture actually has to bring a cow or the equivalent of a cow, but those expenses are borne by the community, and it's also the same in times of joy. And so those community groups are really strong and very supportive of each other. And then the third level of giving is also in the faith community. We see this. You know, I recently looked at a giving study in Kenya alone, and it estimated how much people gave to faith based organizations. It rivals what we see in the United States. It's amazing. You know, so the amount of funding that people give to the church to engage in social community and philanthropic activities is quite immense. And so that philosophy that Africans don't give, even at the most basic level, is flawed. Now we're also seeing a movement around African philanthropy where high net worth individuals are establishing foundations, corporations are setting up corporate foundations, and they are funding non-profits through the same process we have seen in the United States. And many countries are setting up the 501c3 equivalency where you actually do get tax deductions based on the funds you provide to non-profits. And so that's really bubbling up. And through my role as a board member of the African Philanthropy Forum, we're actually supporting the emergence of many more private family and corporate foundations on the continent.

Henry Kaestner: Okay, that's fascinating to me. I care deeply about giving, giving as I've walked through a couple of marks of a Faith Driven Entrepreneur at the outset, the call to create an identity crisis. But one of them is joyful generosity. And that's one of the themes that I hope that comes across a lot in our podcasts, which are men and women who God is giving success to, who are very, very vested in their community and are giving generously. You mentioned this comment that I may be mispronouncing, but I think you said it's urban, too. I am because we are. Can you talk a little bit more about that community aspect? Because that's one of the things that I've come to understand is so rich about Africa. And one of the many things that Africa has as a blessing to the world was that community membership looked like more.

Ndidi Nwuleni: So on the continent. In most of our cultures, you are not a one man island. You can't live in isolation, right? What affects you affects the community. When you mourn, the community mourns with you. When you celebrate, the community celebrates with you. But it's the whole concept of We rise together or we fall together and I'm my brother's keeper or my sister's keeper. And that is so fundamental to the culture that we belong to. And you see that obviously in many, many communities across the continent, obviously in urban areas with, you know, people moving into urban areas, leaving some of their community members behind, you are starting to see a lot more of the Western ideologies filtering in, but really at the core of who we are, an identity, a cultural identity. Everybody belongs to a family and a community and has that responsibility that I am, because we are we are in this together. We do life together. And that is both a positive and negative, though Henry and I want to underscore that, because many people feel like, you know, I want to become like the American and be in isolation and get rich. All by myself. You can't do that, right? You can't. You have that dependency and people depend on you and you depend on people to hold you accountable. And for me, that's such a rich and beautiful aspect of our culture. I also wanted to mention I just started a new initiative with a friend born out of the Faith Driven Investor conference. That's called Wealth for Impact. That's my latest venture.

Henry Kaestner: Thank you. I'm run out of paper to write these things down.

Ndidi Nwuleni: It was basically from the Faith Driven Investor conference, listening to many of the videos and the talks about how people have been very conscious about setting apart funds for God's work. Yeah. And so that was a blessing. I tell you, the value of podcast, the value of storytelling is that it plants the seed in other people's hearts for what is possible and what God can do through that. And God laid on my heart wealth for Him. How do you ensure generational wealth transfer for impact and help family businesses on the African continent and people of color across the world consciously preserve wealth? Steward the wealth that God has placed in their heart, but also ensure that it is used for impact and that that impact survives generations.

Henry Kaestner: So I want to take a quick Segway here and just go back to the welfare impact, because you had mentioned something about your story that I found really, really compelling. And I see a lot of people who have some level of wealth wrestling with how do I think about giving that away? You hear about the Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts and this multi-generational type of impact. And undoubtedly that type of multi-generational impact is given all sorts of different people, different advantages, and maybe that's what you're getting at for wealth, for impact. But you also said something that was really compelling to me about you want to empty yourself out at the end of your life and you want to fully given yourself. How do you balance the two between as we tell these stories and we're talking about the biblical message of generosity, how do we balance generous giving on one hand, but also this concept of being able to give future generations in Africa this advantage? What does that look like for you?

Ndidi Nwuleni: Yes, I think everybody has at least three things. They can give their time, their talents and their treasure. And I believe that all of us are called by God to give those three. So my time by the ventures, I start by those who I mentor, by the organizations that I've built. Right. My talents is also coupled with visioning. When God faces a new desire, burning desire to learn something, how do you launch it? Would you launch it with one? How do you leverage all those talents? Now the treasure is the one where we have this tool. One message I got from Faith Driven Investor last year was the concept of stewardship that God has blessed you means that you're a steward, your store today, you're steward forever. And how do you use that money? And what God's showed me is the concept of waste that so many first generation wealthy people waste money, especially in communities where there's been deprivation. So they want to spend money building houses and cars and ensuring that their children don't suffer, quote unquote, so they don't let their children understand how to work and how to build resilience. And so the second and third generation destroys that wealth. So what I heard from God clearly, and which is translates into the wealth, the impact is where you are, you can you give it. So even meso and I have stirred up a family foundation, it's called net and money. It means me and you and it's actually I means Didi and Amara, me, my husband and their two children. And we structured our giving so that all the initiatives we support in the village, the number of people on health insurance, the houses or the water or whatever we're providing the education we provide for 20 family members for generations to come. That funding will continue because we have an endowment and it's a very tiny foundation, but we've decided to structure our giving and so to engage our children in that giving so that every year through the endowment, we can do more and the principle stays solid. And it's the interest that's generated that allows us to continue to exert influence in communities. So we're the little that God has given us to ensure that the good work that we started doesn't die with us, but it continues for generations to come. And that's where that stewardship that I heard so loud and clear from so many of the speakers comes in.

Henry Kaestner: So this is a podcast about Africa, and it really is by at least one African. And then for Africa, it's going to be telling African stories uniquely. There's going to be some amount of our Faith Driven Entrepreneur audience from different regions of the world that I expect and hope will tune in. You talk about the concept of investing in Africa and also changing narratives. We're going to be spending much of our time, of course, interviewing folks in Africa, talking about. They're a story. But as we set that up, help us to set up the foundation about thinking about investing in Africa before we bring some of those stories online over the course of the next many, many, many weeks. Can somebody that's coming over from one of our other programs and is interested in Africa? What does it look like to invest in Africa? Can you do that? You talk about all these different organizations you're on the boards of. You talk about the setting up of Local 523 More accountability. One of the things I heard from what you said is that only 9% of the money ends up getting on on the African continent. But maybe some people in other regions say, well, I need to have all this oversight. And obviously it's incredibly inefficient. I think you'd suggest that it is possible to invest directly in Africa, getting 100% of the resources over there that you can do that in giving, but you can also do that investing. Give us a flyover of how that might happen. As somebody who's not in the African continent, where, again, as you to your point, most of the money that comes in for donations and investing comes from the continent already. But if somebody is not on the continent right now, wants to get involved in the story, the guy is waving. What does it look like to give better on the continent or to invest well on the continent?

Ndidi Nwuleni: The great thing, Henry, is that there's so many platforms for investing in the continent, whether you're doing it from a philanthropic lens or from an investor lens, just like in the U.S., you have the VC world, the venture capital that Angel Networks, and almost every city on the continent. There are VC firms, they are search funds, they are private equity funds. We have our capital markets. So from the very basic all the way to more sophisticated capital markets, you can come in directly as an investor. And I assure you that many of our stock exchanges have done much better than the stock exchanges in the rest of the world, even at that end. But from a private equity perspective, from a VC perspective and very trusted funds that have investors from across the world, both high net worth individuals, fund of funds, development institutions, etc., investing directly in them that have done extremely well. We've also seen individuals come in as angels or as individual investors into existing organizations. That depends on your appetite for risk, your industry of interest, your country of interest, and the amounts of money you have to give. And that determines your entry point. Now, from the philanthropy perspective, this whole range of platforms for giving and parts of Africa Philanthropy Forum, we're actually just about to launch a portal where you can come in and search by sector of interest, by amount of money, by country to determine which organization you want to fund. And just like you have GuideStar that has the annual reports and the vetting that's done. We're doing all of that so that it makes it easy for you to identify which philanthropic venture you want to support directly. Many of these philanthropy ventures also have five or one degree equivalency. They've been vetted by other funders, and they're worthy of a support. So I would say that Africa is ready for your investment. They are trusted partners on the ground and we are happy to connect you with them. So please keep an open mind and be ready for what God can do with you and for you. In each of these countries and in very exciting sectors like telecoms, media, logistics, agriculture and food, obviously education, health care and the list goes on.

Reuben Coulter: Indeed, there's a big transition going on across the continent where the elderly generation who have political and economic power are being challenged, I guess, by a younger generation who have new ideas and fresh ways that they want to see the continent move forward. How do you see that transition taking place and what role as Christians in the marketplace can we play to supports the emergence of new leadership and new ideas?

Ndidi Nwuleni: Well, Rubin, I'm really excited about this trend. I think many of our old leaders need to get out of the way and make room for this new generation. There are a couple of things we need to do, though. Number one is we need to support and strengthen more democratic institutions on the continent. In fact, I was just having a conversation with a friend about this issue the other day to say that oftentimes we don't see investors or philanthropies supporting the democratic movement or the emergence of strong democratic institutions. We need those, clearly, but we're seeing a lot of African philanthropists gain interest in this area. The second is that we need to groom young leaders who have demonstrated interest in political work through LEAP Africa. We've been doing this for the last 20 years. We need more partnerships to groom our young people across the board to ensure that we have young people who are not only dynamic, creative, but young people who have the fear of God and who have integrity. It's really important that we have the right people in these right roles. And number three, we need to continue to empower them. And we saw this in the Nigerian context. We saw young people during the EndSARS movement raising unprecedented sums of money in the country, driving a movement, protesting. It was so exciting, right? They were even using cryptocurrency and every day they were generating millions of dollars in funds and revenue for their movement. But the truth is that also needs to be guided and structured through partnerships with the right nonprofit, private sector and civil society organizations. And finally, for me, the media has a critical role to play in amplifying the voices of those who are credible and wants to stand and holding them accountable when they do get in office. And when we do shape policy to ensure that while they're there, they do the right thing. We're seeing such exciting political shifts globally, especially where young people take office. I just recently saw in Latin America a 35 year old becoming president. So those movements are very exciting. We need to support our young people. And the elderly have a place around providing wisdom, support, coaching, but they should really get out of the way. I moved into the elderly category and I'm getting out of the way for the next generation to take ownership and civic leadership.

Henry Kaestner: So this has been awesome. I'm so much looking forward to the stories that we're going to be telling. And I know the lineup of guests that we have as we roll this out then are going to be able to exemplify all of these different themes we're talking about. When we're talking about innovation, where we're going to be talking about great philanthropists, we're going to be talking about with mostly entrepreneurs who are out there making it happen right now, who are innovating, who are creating, who are scaling, who are also struggling, though, and struggling with what does success look like? What is failure look like? And so this is going to be a program that's going to be able to uncover the stories of African entrepreneurs in a way that the rest of the world will see a changed narrative from the one that maybe that they had subscribed to, but also hopefully be this program that can be an inspiration, encouragement to the people on the continent. I've been very drawn to Africa and the beauty of it. Four years ago I went back to East Africa for the first time in 30 years, so I'm dating myself a little bit. I also got on some of my own cultural narrative, but I also want to own it for some of Ruben's, too. Ruben talked about U2 and Bob Geldof, which many of our African audience won't know who they are. But there had been this perspective that folks from the West needed to come in and do music concerts for the benefit of Africa. And Bob Geldof famously put together Live Aid, and U2 was very good on that. And Rubin is a great fit for Irishman living in the UK. But I remember that I actually went to Africa first during the Live Aid concert. When Live Aid happened, I was in Africa. That was the last time I had been in East Africa. When I came back and I saw what had changed in Kenya, I was blown away. The vibrancy, just the innovation, the scale, the number of businesses that had been launched, it was just so incredibly impressive and I was just drawn into that. And yet it had lost none of the beauty of the smiles and just the community and the welcoming that I had felt also 30 years before. And I just I felt that guy called me into that. So we're going to call some other folks from the West into it. But this is really a program for Africans, by Africans with indeed his leadership on this. One of the things we do, though, in everything we do at Faith Driven Entrepreneur is we always try to bring it back to God and his word and his love for us. So. And did he? One of the things, of course, you and I will ask our guests as they come on is what are they hearing from God through his word? Something recently, maybe it's today, maybe it's this week, but something that they feel that God is speaking to them. Because this at the core of this is about a God who loves us so much, who sent his son to die for us on an individual basis that is speaking to us and that is accessible to us through our entrepreneurial journey, who is always there to speak to us through his word and through prayer? And did he? What are you hearing that God is speaking to you about?

Ndidi Nwuleni: Thank you, Henry. There are lots of things. God is speaking to me about, but that would pick one. And I'd say, You know what? It's an interesting time in the world right now. Really interesting. Difficult on many fronts. And, you know, it's not lost on us. The Ukraine Russia crisis and it seems far away, but it affects all of us. Right. It's amazing. I was just writing an Op-Ed about this crisis because from an agriculture and food perspective, the wheat sector, Ukraine supply Ukraine and Russia supply 25% of the world's wheat. Egypt is the largest importer of this wheat. Many African countries do not grow with somewhere dependent on the rest of the world for weeks because of our climate. Right. Russia also contributes 13% of the world's fertilizer. And looking at all of this, I was thinking to myself, what does it teach us about what we should be doing at this time? The first message I hear from God loud and clear is that we have to have a Caleb vision. And what do I mean by a Caleb vision? You know, they spent ten spies, right? And they came back with different reports. And the Caleb vision is where you see God and what he's doing using the eyes of faith. Caleb saw what God could do in a difficult time, and he saw possibilities. And so God has called us and called me to have a Caleb vision that while people see giants in the land, where they see problems, where they see obstacles, I see hope, I see promise, I see a bright future. So that's the first message. The second is the importance of innovation and homegrown solutions to solve problems. So, yes, there's a shortage in the world. It's going to drive up rent prices. But we have alternatives to wheat. We have cassava, flour, you know, we have alternatives to chemical fertilizer. We have homegrown innovations. Right? We have organic fertilizer. What can we do during these periods of stress and strain to innovate, come up with homegrown solutions that can support our ecosystems, but also be useful for the world. That mindset shift is what God is telling me. See the possibilities. People of God have the Caleb vision, innovate, use this period of crisis to invest in homegrown solutions for your society and for the world. And that shift has to happen in our mind, first in our actions. And every single day as we wake up, we renew our mind and we ask God for strength and the courage to face the Giants. We are taking on those battles. And for me, it's a daily struggle. And I tell people this daily struggle one day at a time, sweet Jesus, that's all I'm asking for you. And getting through each day and getting those milestones accomplished and seeing God work through us because we're humble, we're available, and we have the right mindset we can overcome, and we will as people of God overcome. And so that's my message. That's what God says to me every day. That's how I stay positive and stay grounded. My brothers and sisters, we can overcome in spite of the crisis.

Henry Kaestner: Indeed, Caleb vision, super motivating. And I'm so excited to do this with you. Thank you for your commitment, for your time, for your leadership. God bless you. Looking forward to the next episode. Reuben, thank you for being with us. Ruben, any parting comments from you?

Reuben Coulter: Well, I think it's just interesting. We are moving from an era which maybe Africa was defined by U2 and Bob Geldof to one where Africa is defined by Wizkid and Burna Boy and D'banj. So Henry will need to update your musical tastes and get you into the latest music coming out of Nigeria.

Henry Kaestner: Right. Yeah.

Ndidi Nwuleni: Definitely. We have great music. Great music for the world. Thank you so much, Reuben. Thank you, Henry. God bless.

Henry Kaestner: You. Thank you, Ruben. Till next time.