The Trust Economy: How Harambeans Are Transforming Africa
At the turn of the 20th century, when the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods was built, it immediately attracted leading American innovators such as industrialist John D. Rockefeller, financier John Pierpont Morgan, and inventor Thomas A. Edison. The hotel, a pentelic white marvel set against the majesty of snow-capped Mount Washington, provided the leading protagonists of the Gilded Age with a space for ideas, relationships, and trust to flourish. It further cemented its place in history as the site of the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944.
Harambe and Bretton Woods in the 21st Century
In the 21st century, Bretton Woods is playing a similar role for African innovators in the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance. The first class of Harambeans gathered around the rosewood table in the Gold Room on April 19, 2008, and signed the Harambe Declaration, pledging “to work together as one” to build Africa’s future. Over the course of its inaugural decade, Harambeans have leveraged the relationships and trust established at Bretton Woods to develop high-impact ventures such as Andela, Flutterwave, and Yoco, while attracting over $400 million in investment from entities such as Google Ventures, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Alibaba.
The Importance of Trust in Entrepreneurship
A 2016 study drawing data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor found that at least half of the variation in entrepreneurial spirit across countries is driven by trust considerations. Essentially, trust—an inherent component in business transactions—is a critical driver of entrepreneurial success. Where trust is abundant, businesses thrive; where it is lacking, they struggle. In regions where formal institutions to uphold accountability are still developing, entrepreneurs must turn to their own networks to build peer-to-peer trust.
Building a Community of Trust
This is why trust-building is a cornerstone of Harambe’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Trust binds the Alliance together, enabling Harambeans and their investors to share risks and collaborate across geographical, temporal, and cultural boundaries. The annual symposium at Bretton Woods is the starting point of this trust-building process. This process is reinforced through Harambe’s unique traditions, knowledge-sharing sessions, intimate gatherings, and the annual reaffirmation of the Harambe pledge. Like the 20th-century luminaries who graced the halls of the Mount Washington Hotel, the Harambeans who gather there are becoming leading protagonists of their time and reshaping the world. One such Harambean, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji H’10, proudly reflects that through Harambe, he found “friends, co-workers, and investors.”
The Story of Iyinoluwa Aboyeji H’10
In 2010, at just 19 years old, Aboyeji joined Harambe’s community of trust. Arriving at Bretton Woods with a dream of making education more accessible for Nigerians, he leveraged the ecosystem to accelerate his vision. When Aboyeji co-founded Fora, a distance-learning platform for African universities, Harambe facilitated meaningful connections that advanced his work. For instance, at a Harambe gathering at the Harvard Club of New York, African innovator Pule Taukobong was inspired by Aboyeji’s passion and strategy. Taukobong invested $10,000 of his own money into Fora, drawn not only by Aboyeji’s potential but also by his membership in a trusted Alliance of African entrepreneurs. A few months later, inspired by the Harambeans he had met, Taukobong left his job at Investec to co-found CRE Venture Capital, partnering with visionary entrepreneurs building category-defining tech companies across Africa.
Expanding Trust Through Ventures
The trust established between Aboyeji and Taukobong carried over to Andela, Aboyeji’s next venture. Taukobong joined Andela’s journey, eventually leading a $40 million Series C funding round for the company with CRE Venture Capital. This round, one of the largest investments led by an African venture firm in an African technology company, showcased the power of trust within Harambe’s ecosystem.
Seni Sulyman H’15 and Peer-to-Peer Connections
Peer-to-peer connections within Harambe have also yielded extraordinary outcomes. When Seni Sulyman H’15 joined Harambe in 2015, he sought to make an impact in Nigeria. At Bretton Woods, he moderated a fireside chat between Aboyeji and Taukobong, beginning his trust-building journey. After graduating from Harvard Business School, Sulyman returned to Nigeria and joined Andela, where he helped scale operations and was eventually promoted to Vice President of Global Operations, overseeing the company’s global expansion.
Paying It Forward: Obinna Okwodu H’16 and Olatunde Garuba H’18
Sulyman’s journey exemplifies the cyclical nature of trust within Harambe. Paying it forward, he mentored young innovator Obinna Okwodu H’16 and nominated him to join Harambe in 2016. Okwodu then collaborated with fellow Harambean Olatunde Garuba H’18 to address Nigeria’s housing crisis through their venture Fibre. By offering flexible payments and leasing options, Fibre has reshaped Nigeria’s housing market, improving countless lives in the process. This example illustrates Harambe’s ecosystem of trust in action, as Harambeans build connections, invest in each other, and drive prosperity across Africa.
Attracting Global Investors
Harambeans are not the only ones investing in this community of trust. Global investors have also taken notice. In 2019, Andela secured $100 million in Series D funding, earning a place among the most-funded African ventures. Solstice Energy Solutions, co-founded by Ugwem Eneyo H’16, has received funding from six major investors and won prestigious awards such as the Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge and the MIT Clean Energy Prize. Similarly, MAX NG, co-founded by Adetayo Bamiduro H’15, has attracted capital from prominent investors including Techstars and Yamaha.
The Ripple Effect of Trust
The journeys of Harambeans like Aboyeji, Okwodu, Garuba, and Taukobong demonstrate that Bretton Woods once again serves as a catalyst for innovation, trust, and collaboration. While Harambe’s first decade and these stories are only the beginning, the snow-capped majesty of Mount Washington reminds us that even a single pebble can trigger an avalanche. As Harambe’s community of trust grows, transaction costs within the Alliance will decrease, enabling entrepreneurs and investors to “work together as one” in building Africa’s future.