How we made it in Africa II: Real stories of entrepreneurs turning opportunity into profit has been shortlisted for the Business Council for Africa (BCA) African Business Book of the Year Awards 2026.
The book is available here.
The annual competition celebrates the most compelling business writing examining and shaping Africa’s economic imagination – from leadership memoirs and sectoral deep‑dives to bold analyses of the continent’s future. Now in its fourth year, the Awards continue to spotlight the authors, thinkers and practitioners documenting Africa’s business and economic transformation with clarity, rigour and ambition.
Supported by Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Africa’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, the shortlist reflects a continent in motion: from the boardrooms of Lagos and Johannesburg to the food markets of Accra, the banking corridors of Nairobi and the policy tables of Addis Ababa.
The judging panel, as in previous iterations, is made up of respected African business and thought leaders as well as media executives: Arnold Ekpe, Chairperson of BCA, and chair of the Judging Committee; Arunma Oteh, former Director General of the Nigeria SEC and Chair at the Royal Africa Society; Chris Ogbechie, former Dean of Lagos Business School; Moky Makura, CEO of AfricaNoFilter; Terhas Berhe, Managing Director and Founder of Brand Communications; Omar Ben Yedder, Publisher of African Business and New African magazine; and Anver Versi, Editor of New African and African Banker.
Commenting on the awards, Arnold Ekpe, Chairperson of BCA, commended the quality of this year’s submissions while emphasising the need for even more African business voices to emerge. “We are excited to have the Africa Finance Corporation join us this year as our headline sponsor. As AFC approaches its 20th anniversary next year, it understands the importance of narrative and the significance of documenting first hand the business stories being created across the continent. These stories help deepen understanding of Africa’s evolving business landscape and economic transformation.”
The shortlist features a compelling collection of titles, including Jaco Maritz’s How we made it in Africa II and Joe Studwell's How Africa Works, alongside Alette Vonk's Cultural Confluence in Organizational Change: A Portuguese Venture in Angola. Also among the nominees are Adeolu Adewumi-Zer's Afro-Optimism Unleashed, It's About Tyme co-authored by Adrian Saville and Bruce Whitfield, and Professor David Luke's How Africa Eats. Rounding out this impressive selection are Landry Signé's Realizing Africa’s Potential: A Journey to Prosperity and Femi Otedola's Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business.
The winner and runners-up for this year will be unveiled at the awards ceremony scheduled to take place in London on 3 July 2026, at the Institute of Directors. The winner will receive a trophy and $10,000. The second- and third-placed finalists will receive $5,000 and $2,500, respectively.
How we made it in Africa II: Real stories of entrepreneurs turning opportunity into profit is available here