The AfroNouveau 100
“What if the way we’ve been fighting poverty has been all wrong?”. Efosa Ojomo didn’t just ask this question, he built a movement around it. As an author, researcher, and thought leader, he challenges the world to see innovation not as a luxury for wealthy nations, but as the true engine of growth for communities everywhere.
From Lagos to global boardrooms, his voice carries weight. And for the AfroNouveau, he represents something powerful: the ability to rewrite how development itself is imagined.
From Nigeria to the Global Stage
Efosa grew up in Nigeria, a country full of ambition but also weighed down by systemic challenges. Like many AfroNouveau dreamers, he understood that the future of his people could not be left to charity alone.
That vision took him to Harvard Business School. In Harvard, he worked alongside the late Clayton Christensen, the legendary scholar of disruptive innovation. Together, they co-authored The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty. The book flipped conventional wisdom on its head, arguing that lasting progress comes not from aid, but from building innovations that create new markets.
Championing Market-Creating Innovation
For Efosa, prosperity is not about handouts. Rather, it’s about access. He highlights innovators across Africa and beyond who design affordable, scalable solutions that meet people where they are. Think of low-cost healthcare services, mobile banking, or clean energy solutions. These aren’t just products; they are gateways to opportunity.
He often reminds us that nations like the United States and South Korea didn’t rise through charity. Instead, they grew through innovation that transformed daily life. His work urges Africa and emerging economies to follow the same path, with solutions rooted in their realities.
Just as we saw at African Fashion Week London 2025, innovation thrives when tradition meets transformation.
A Global Voice for AfroNouveau Futures
Efosa’s message resonates far beyond Africa. At the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, he leads research that informs policymakers, entrepreneurs, and investors worldwide. He has spoken on some of the most respected platforms, from the World Economic Forum to TED stages, always bringing African perspectives into global conversations.
Yet, his delivery is never detached. He speaks with warmth, often grounding complex theories in everyday experiences—reminding us that the end goal of economics is human dignity.
Dear AfroNouveau,
Efosa Ojomo embodies the AfroNouveau ethos: bold enough to challenge old systems, yet grounded enough to center people in the vision of change. His ideas offer not just a critique of the present but a hopeful roadmap for the future.
In his journey, young Africans and the diaspora see possibility. They see that global relevance does not mean abandoning African roots—it means elevating them to the world stage.
Join us as we celebrate the AfroNouveau 100 whose journey reminds us to innovate, to imagine, and to create prosperity that lasts.
