Daniel Adeyemi, Condia
This week, we interview Daniel Adeyemi, Editor-in-chief at Condia. Daniel shares his journey into journalism, and how inspired by his success in the Peter Drucker Challenge, he created a newsletter for African audiences modeled after Morning Brew. He discusses what drives his reporting and highlights interest in trends like AI, fintech, Web3, healthtech, and edtech. He shares why he finds African business reporting especially fulfilling and why he advocates for empowering more writers to tell these stories accurately and accessibly.
What led you into journalism, and what would you be doing if you weren’t a journalist?
My entry into journalism wasn’t predetermined. Despite my accounting background, a love for reading led me to critically analyse content. I got to understand what good writing was and what wasn’t, even if I couldn’t clearly explain it.
Initially, I was uncertain about my writing ability; however, my writing, as far back as 2015, and a top 10 win in the 2018 and 2019 Peter Drucker Challenge – a global management essay competition – validated my skills.
This recognition, including attending the international conference in Vienna, Austria, boosted my confidence, especially after a second win. That was a very good validation, because it meant that beyond family and friends, an international panel saw my writing and thought it was great.
After the 2018 win, what really started it for me was being inspired by the US-based Morning Brew newsletter; I envisioned a similar insightful newsletter in a witty conversational tone for an African audience.
I started Cloout newsletter, basically honing my writing skills through self-learning and seeking feedback, which eventually led me to journalism, having recognised the importance of communication.
There are so many things I could be doing if I weren’t in journalism. Of course, I’m a very big fan of storytelling, documentaries and even specialised content series on YouTube. Away from media, I could easily slot into roles in product management, sales, partnerships, and marketing, which are areas I’m fascinated by. Over the years, I’ve thought of solving problems and building solutions, potentially as a business owner or leader in whatever capacity.
When you’re researching stories, what compels you to work on sharing a particular story with your audience? Any hot trends we should look out for in the coming months?
I’d say relevance, urgency and impact. For me, journalistic tenets are very important.
So I consider a story’s relation to Africa, how big the story is and who is behind the initiative. For example, if Dangote mentions he’s launching a tech startup or even investing in one, even if they don’t have a product, I believe it is worth reporting on because of Dangote’s track record and keen eye for a winner.
In terms of current interests, I’m very fascinated by AI. Although most of the new developments are happening globally in the West or East, I’m still curious about the forward-thinking initiatives within the scene. Fintech is our superstar, sector and activity-wise, so it’s always interesting to know more about their innovations too.
Apart from the launch of new features and products, I’m also keen on business expansions, web3, healthtech and edtech — as long as they qualify as newsworthy. Overall, I don’t think there’s a particular sector that stands out the most, but any news still needs to qualify through the journalistic lenses, as I mentioned earlier.
In terms of hot trends, top of mind is the liberalisation of the Web3 space. I know the US is pro this movement, and the world tends to follow their lead, so I’m curious to see how that would play out in Nigeria and Africa. Generally, South Africa is leading in terms of having regulations for that, so what would that mean for government-related activities and lobbying?
Of course, in terms of hot trends, a lot is happening in the AI space; funding, remittance, EV companies, and fintech are also creating a lot of buzz.
Why is African business so unique, and what makes it so exciting to report on?
Africa is unique, with its peculiarity in terms of countries, governments, policies and regulations, which can make it very unpredictable in terms of what’s happening or what’s going to happen.
There are many things that we haven’t gotten right, some hindered by the absence of basic, fundamental infrastructure. The abundance of possibilities without solutions shows the immense opportunities to build for. And finally, of course, the people and their resilience.
Africans are known to be very creative people, very hard working, and that makes it interesting.
Which sectors or industries do you like to cover most and why?
So when I started out, I used to say I focused mostly on non-fintech, because there was a lot of reporting on fintech. I’m drawn to novel innovations that hopefully have traction. I’m also into human interest stories and how they affect society. Although not sector-specific, I also love profiling people and companies for natural, in-depth conversations and not the overly polished versions.
Why is it important that people around the world get to hear about young, growing companies on the continent?
Simple: to combat a single-story narrative.
I realised that there’s a wider context, and there are people who are still somewhat clueless about the continent; this has made me appreciate it even more. Reporting plays a key role in this, and we never want to take it for granted. There’s a lot that happens that people don’t know, and it helps to shape the understanding of perceptions and opens more doors for opportunities.
How can we encourage more people to join the writing community and dedicate their energy to telling stories about African tech and business?
It’s a craft that requires attention. Whoever gets to tell their stories is the one who gets to shape the narrative, so it’s actually important to tell your stories. I believe that helping people, equipping them with the right resources and enabling them to translate the knowledge is the way to go.
