Africa Doesn’t Need More Visitors. It Needs Builders.

There is no shortage of people interested in Africa.

Every year, delegations arrive. Conferences are held. Panels discuss “opportunity.” Reports are written. Deals are announced. Promises are made.

And yet, for millions of people across the continent, very little changes.

Not because Africa lacks talent.
Not because Africa lacks ambition.
And certainly not because Africa lacks opportunity.

Too often, what is missing is commitment.

The uncomfortable truth about Africa-focused investment

Many who come to Africa come to extract:

• data
• resources
• margins
• influence

Few come prepared to build:

• local capacity
• manufacturing
• institutions
• jobs

Foreign Direct Investment is often spoken about as a financial instrument. In reality, FDI is a social contract. When done well, it brings far more than capital. It brings skills, pride, stability, and sovereignty.

And at the center of that equation is something deceptively simple:

Jobs.

Not temporary projects.
Not consultants flying in and out.
Not pilot programs that disappear when funding ends.

Jobs.

Because with jobs come:

• dignity
• self-esteem
• independence
• and the ability for families and communities to plan for the future

Why jobs matter more than narratives

I have spent years working across the United States, the Gulf region, and Africa — sitting in boardrooms, ministries, clinics, and manufacturing discussions.

What I’ve learned is this:

When people have meaningful work, everything else becomes possible.
When they don’t, no amount of aid, rhetoric, or branding can compensate.

Africa does not need to be “helped.”
Africa needs to be trusted.

Trusted with ownership.
Trusted with execution.
Trusted with the responsibility that comes with real investment.

My focus: FDI that leaves something behind

My work — both personally and through the platforms I’ve helped build — is centered on one question:

What remains when we leave?

That question has shaped everything I do.

Through 360Disruption (https://360disruption.com), we work with governments, innovators, and investors to translate advanced technologies into local execution — not as imports, but as embedded systems.

Through 360Uncover (https://360uncover.com) and 360AfricaImpact (https://360africaimpact.com), we focus specifically on diagnostic sovereignty — enabling African countries to build their own screening, diagnostics, and population health capabilities rather than remaining dependent on external labs and logistics.

And through 360Nucleus (https://360nucleus.com), we’ve deliberately structured these efforts as a coordinated ecosystem — not isolated projects competing for attention, but aligned platforms built for national-scale outcomes.

This is not about chasing headlines.
It is about building infrastructure that works after the spotlight moves on.

Bringing value before taking value

There is a pattern I deeply respect:

Those who bring something of real value — knowledge, capital, technology, manufacturing, training — are welcomed not as outsiders, but as partners.

Those who arrive only to take are eventually seen for what they are.

Africa remembers.

FDI done right:

• creates jobs locally
• transfers skills intentionally
• builds manufacturing where possible
• aligns with national priorities
• and respects long-term sovereignty

This is slower work.
It is harder work.
But it is the only work that lasts.

A personal note from Anjo “Angel” De Heus

This focus is not theoretical for me.

I’ve seen what happens when systems fail to translate innovation into access. I’ve seen how geography, poverty, and politics can determine who benefits from progress — and who is excluded from it.

That is why I care less about who controls the narrative and more about who controls the outcome.

If my work has a through-line, it is this:

Build things that allow people to stand on their own.

Jobs do that.
Local capability does that.
Real FDI does that.

Looking forward

Africa’s future will not be decided by those who talk about it the most.

It will be shaped by those willing to:

• invest patiently
• build locally
• partner respectfully
• and measure success by what remains on the ground

That is the work I’ve chosen to focus on.

And it is work worth doing.