Reclaiming Capital: Marc Watum on Financing African Businesses

What will it take to fund the future of Africa, on our own terms?In this episode, I sit down with @marcwatum , a Congolese entrepreneur, strategist, and pan-African force driving change from policy rooms to boardrooms. From advising the DRC’s Ministry of SMEs to founding the Vision 2030 Fund, Marc is at the forefront of reimagining how African businesses are built, backed, and scaled.We explore the real cost of underfunded African entrepreneurs and why the continent’s solutions demand African capital. Marc shares powerful lessons from advising over 30 governments and mentoring more than 1,000 entrepreneurs across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. We also discuss what it takes to build climate-resilient, SDG-aligned economies and how to meaningfully bridge government, grassroots innovation, and global finance.This is more than development talk, it’s a bold conversation about economic sovereignty, homegrown ecosystems, and the Africa we must build.