Ecosystem & Venture Builder.
Kenya
Joined May 2011
- Tweets3K
- Following1.5K
- Followers1.5K
- Likes5.1K
Basil Malaki retweeted
Phase 1 of the EPZA side at Makenji is now finished and ready for uptake.
This means jobs for our youth, and value addition for our farmers' produce for the export market. No more selling raw produce cheaply - we process, package and export from Murang'a.
Basil Malaki retweeted
It takes one person to believe in you.
For me, one of those people in my life was @HansMorrisSF 👇
2017 - moved back to Tanzania on a one-way ticket to build a company at 24. pivots begin.
2018 - spinning my wheels. building things that didn't pick up.
2019 - we finally got into @ycombinator on my sixth attempt. One week before Demo Day, my co-founder quit. I had to tell all our investors before they wired that i'd be building this company without a co-founder. (back then, this massively concerning)
Hans was the first institutional VC (David Sica had connected us via an intro from @dfsventures - @mrstephendeng @JakeKendall5 who gave us our first check ever)
We met at a small coffee shop in San Francisco. He told me he believed I'd figure something out, and he wanted to take the bet. Hans then invested $500K into nala.
2020. COVID hit, we received cease and decease letter from the largest mobile operator in Tanzania, the whole business pivoted (yet again). Hans was patient and supportive.
2021. We pivoted again. Hans would jump on the phone with me as i was telling him about wanting to get into cross-border payments.
he worked through scenarios, our financial design and the model with us, even when things were really really hard.
2022. Our cross-border payments business started growing fast, and Hans invested in our $10M round.
2024. He invested again in our $40M Series A. Led by @AcrewCapital and the incredible team there!
He's one of the few investors who has visited us in multiple cities and offices. Today, he came to spend time with me in London, to go over the business, financials, and share, as always, a lot of helpful advice.
Hans stood by us through some not-so-(stable)coin times.
Yesterday, one of the largest global cross-border businesses signed a contract to be our customer for global stablecoin payouts.
Thank you, Hans, and thank you, @nyca partners for believing in NALA and our team.
One believer in our ambition can change a company's whole direction. we are still a long way to go for where we want to be, we have big big plans. I wanted to give a cheers to people like Hans Morris 🙏🏽
Basil Malaki retweeted
Kenya is set to become Africa’s leading aviation hub, strengthening its position as a major gateway for international travel.
President Ruto has transformed Kenya. Whether you believe it or not, he is a man on a mission.
Basil Malaki retweeted
The KES 154 billion modernization of JKIA has kicked off #NewJKIA. Modernization and expansion of JKIA is a strategic undertaking designed to expand airport capacity, enhance safety, improve passenger and cargo services, and strengthen Kenya’s position as a leading regional aviation hub. Shiny Things
Basil Malaki retweeted
1) End the war
2) Focus on cost of living/inflation
3) Put America First
4) Change our relationship to Israel
These are all the same thing. The cost of living is high because Israel convinced Trump to start a war with Iran, instead of putting America first.
Basil Malaki retweeted
We have all watched the way that Donald Trump deals with hecklers at his rallies. Watch how a President with class and dignity deals with them.
"... these guys don't need to go"
Guys, are y'all too young to remember this story? It affected his legs...
newvision.co.ug/news/1179741…
Storytelling is a beautiful skill everyone should learn.
If all else fails, you can easily commercialize it, because you start right where you are, with nothing but your wild imagination.
This story has a happy ending, I love it.
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You can hate the player, but you can’t hate the game. Regardless of how you view President Ruto’s political standing at home, the core message he delivered at the UN is undeniable: the global financial architecture is fundamentally stacked against Africa.
#UgaliDiplomacy
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Africa doesn't lack capital; domestic pension and insurance assets exceed $1 Tn. The real bottleneck is a rigged system: inflated credit risk premiums, $88B+ lost annually to illicit flows, and rules that restrict local funds from building local infrastructure.
#UgaliDiplomacy
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If Africa mobilizes its own capital and forces fair credit pricing, it changes the game for the entire continent. Reforming these global rules isn't about one politician it’s about financial sovereignty and lower borrowing costs for Kenya and Africa as a whole.
#UgaliDiplomacy
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For me, this is more of an enforcement issue than a waste collection issue.
@A_S_Nassir we need to normalize ass whooping those who dump waste at undesignated points.
#UgaliDiplomacy
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There is invention and then there is innovation. What you see here is innovation...
Invention is creating fire. Innovation is adding Wi-Fi to it and calling it a smart fireplace.
You get it?
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I don't know much about SSD politics, that's not my immediate interest.
My interest is in that Toyota.
Damn, that thing is a powerhouse, a beast...
I want someone to step up and boldly tell me what our government in South Sudan has done since 2011. Not what the investors, the civilians have done. I want specifically what the government has done.
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