Episode 11, published March 3, 2026

The $100M Master Plan to Rebuild African Cities | Andela Co-Founder Nadayar Enegesi

Nadayar Enegesi had a vision most founders wouldn't dare say out loud: Build a brand new city in Africa from scratch. The price tag? $100 million minimum. For a prototype. So he did what any smart operator would do—he found a different entry point. That entry point became Eden Life, a tech-enabled domestic services platform putting meals, cleaning, and dry cleaning on autopilot for Lagos's growing middle class. And it's quietly becoming the infrastructure layer for something much bigger. Before all of this, Nadayar co-founded Andela—the company that has shaped 100,000+ software engineers across Africa and is valued at over $1.5 billion today. In this conversation, we get into: • Why Nadayar left Canada for a one-way flight home (and why risk is an illusion) • The original dream: building new cities in Africa—and why he pivoted • How Nigerian inflation forced a B2C → B2B shift • His honest take on Bitcoin, Base, and why blockchain is the most powerful tool for financial inclusion • Why Silicon Valley is allowed to "light money on fire" while emerging markets can't • The one mindset principle that separates founders who survive from those who quit: Massive Transformative Purpose If you're building in emerging markets, working in fintech, or curious about what it actually takes to scale something real in Africa—this one is for you.