How we made it in Africa
How we made it in Africa is an award-winning online African business publication founded in 2010, delivering in-depth interviews with African entrepreneurs and investors to 28,000+ subscribers via Substack, and monetizing through paid subscriptions and book sales.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersCape Town, South Africa
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What How we made it in Africa does
How we made it in Africa is an online African business publication established in 2010 and operated by Maritz Publishing CC, a Close Corporation registered in South Africa. The publication is headquartered in Cape Town with a secondary office in London, United Kingdom, and is owned and edited by Jaco Maritz as Editor-in-Chief. Its core function is producing in-depth, narrative-driven interviews with African entrepreneurs and investors, organized into three content series — Entrepreneur Interviews, Investor Interviews, and Takeaways — that reveal how businesses across the continent were built and where investment opportunities lie.
The underlying technology is minimal and outsourced: the publication is built on the Substack publishing platform, which handles content delivery, subscription management, payment processing, and the built-in subscriber recommendation network. The publication also operates a separate e-commerce site (books.howwemadeitinafrica.com) for direct-to-consumer book sales. Editorial coverage spans 30+ African countries (including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Egypt, Ethiopia, and others) plus the UAE and UK, positioning the publication as a pan-African business intelligence source. The publication has accumulated an archive of 28,000+ subscribers and is recognized as award-winning, with its second book shortlisted for the BCA African Business Book of the Year Awards 2026 and launched at Harvard Business School.
The business model is a freemium subscription publication monetized through paid Substack tiers (recurring revenue) supplemented by one-time book sales. Customer segments are horizontally defined as African Business Professionals and African Investors — including aspiring entrepreneurs, existing business owners, business students, and capital allocators seeking deal flow and market intelligence on African opportunities. The go-to-market motion is product-led growth through content marketing, organic discovery via Substack's recommendation network, social sharing, and word-of-mouth referrals among business professionals. There is no disclosed institutional funding; the company is founder-owned with no parent company or external investors identified.
How we made it in Africa firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- How we made it in Africa
- Legal name
- Maritz Publishing CC
- Website
- https://howwemadeitinafrica.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- How we made it in Africa is an award-winning online African business publication founded in 2010, delivering in-depth interviews with African entrepreneurs and investors to 28,000+ subscribers via Substack, and monetizing through paid subscriptions and book sales.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
How we made it in Africa industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Business News and Media
- NAICS
- Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Periodical Publishers (513120), Publishing Industries (513)
- SIC
- Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Business, Management & HR Reference (Operations, Strategy, HR, Leadership) (EDAGAGAF)
Keywords
Where How we made it in Africa is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cape Town
- HQ country
- South Africa
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices2 records
Markets served
How we made it in Africa business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Paid Subscriptions: The publication operates on a freemium model through Substack, offering free content with premium paid subscriptions providing full access to articles and the complete archive. Paid subscribers receive exclusive content and complete access to all published interviews and articles.
- Book Sales: The company publishes and sells books including 'How we made it in Africa II: Real stories of entrepreneurs turning opportunity into profit' through its dedicated book store website.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free subscription tier with limited access |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
How we made it in Africa product offering
Product offeringCore offering
How we made it in Africa is a reader-supported online business publication that publishes in-depth interviews with African entrepreneurs and investors, revealing how they built their companies and the investment lessons they have learned. The publication is distributed as a Substack newsletter with free and paid subscription tiers, reaching over 28,000 subscribers, and also publishes and sells books including 'How we made it in Africa II' through a dedicated books website.
Product overview
How we made it in Africa is a single unified online publication product built on the Substack platform. The core offering is a subscription-based business publication delivering African entrepreneurial content through three main content series: the main publication articles (covering entrepreneurship and investment stories), dedicated Entrepreneur Interviews, and Investor Interviews. Additionally, the company publishes a physical/digital book titled 'How we made it in Africa II' available through a separate books website. The publication monetizes through free and paid subscriptions, with content accessible via the Substack platform infrastructure.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- How we made it in Africa Substack publication Award-winning, reader-supported online African business publication distributed via Substack, featuring in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and investors; served to over 28,000 subscribers through free and paid subscription tiers.
- How we made it in Africa II: Real stories of entrepreneurs turning opportunity into profit A published book featuring real stories of African entrepreneurs turning opportunities into profit, sold through the company's dedicated books website.
Companies that use How we made it in Africa
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
How we made it in Africa technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
How we made it in Africa partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
How we made it in Africa competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- African Business Magazine: African Business is a long-running print and digital magazine focused on African economies, companies, and investors. It targets the same professional African business readership that HWMIA serves with interview-driven content.
- Ventures Africa: Ventures Africa is an online publication covering African business, entrepreneurs, and investment. It overlaps with HWMIA's content mix of in-depth African business and entrepreneur stories.
- TechCabal: TechCabal is an Africa-focused digital publication covering startups, technology, and business across the continent. It directly overlaps with HWMIA's scope (African entrepreneurship and investors) and shares a digital-first, newsletter-and-articles delivery model.
- The Africa Report: The Africa Report is a pan-African news magazine covering business, politics, and investment. It operates in the same African business journalism category as HWMIA, with broader scope but overlapping readers and advertisers.
- Disrupt Africa: Disrupt Africa reports on African tech startups and funding activity, producing articles, reports, and newsletters. It competes for the same readers interested in African entrepreneurship and investment as HWMIA.
Broad incumbents
- Forbes Africa: Forbes Africa covers African business, billionaires, and entrepreneurs across the continent. It is a broad incumbent with global brand recognition that competes for HWMIA's premium African business audience.
- CNBC Africa: CNBC Africa is a business-focused broadcaster covering African markets, companies, and deals. It is a broad incumbent in the African business media category with overlap in audience and advertising pool.
- Quartz Africa: Quartz Africa is the African vertical of Quartz, a global business news outlet. It is a broader incumbent covering African business and tech with a larger newsroom, competing for the same audience HWMIA targets.
Emerging players
- The Generalist: The Generalist is a paid Substack focused on technology and business with long-form profiles of founders and investors. It is a comparable Substack-first, paid newsletter in the founder-and-investor interview niche.
- Newcomer (Eric Newcomer): Newcomer is a Substack-based newsletter covering technology companies, founders, and deals. It shares HWMIA's Substack delivery model and interview-driven format targeting business and investor readers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
How we made it in Africa social profiles
Digital presenceHow we made it in Africa financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
How we made it in Africa leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
How we made it in Africa funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
How we made it in Africa M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about How we made it in Africa
What does How we made it in Africa do?
How we made it in Africa is a reader-supported online business publication that publishes in-depth interviews with African entrepreneurs and investors, revealing how they built their companies and the investment lessons they have learned. The publication is distributed as a Substack newsletter with free and paid subscription tiers, reaching over 28,000 subscribers, and also publishes and sells books including 'How we made it in Africa II' through a dedicated books website.
Is How we made it in Africa a public or private company?
How we made it in Africa is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was How we made it in Africa founded?
How we made it in Africa was founded in 2010. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is How we made it in Africa based?
How we made it in Africa is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, in the Africa region.
How does How we made it in Africa make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Paid Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are book Sales.
Who are How we made it in Africa's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are African Business Magazine, Ventures Africa, TechCabal, The Africa Report and Disrupt Africa. Broad incumbents are Forbes Africa, CNBC Africa and Quartz Africa. Emerging players are The Generalist and Newcomer (Eric Newcomer).
Does How we made it in Africa have an API?
No public API is recorded for How we made it in Africa.
What industry is How we made it in Africa in?
How we made it in Africa's product category is Business News and Media. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAGAGAF, Business, Management & HR Reference (Operations, Strategy, HR, Leadership). Its NAICS code is 5131 and its SIC code is 2721.