Financial Inclusion, Entrepreneurship, and How to Build Markets That Work in Africa with Carl Manlan

Episode 208 with Carl Manlan, a development practitioner and global thought leader working at the intersection of financial inclusion, policy, entrepreneurship, and social impact across Africa and emerging markets. 

Carl brings deep experience from senior leadership roles at Visa, where he served as Vice President of Social Impact and Sustainability for the CEMEA region, and at Ecobank Foundation, where he was Chief Operating Officer leading programmes across 33 African markets, earning a Euromoney Award for Excellence. His career also spans influential roles across the United Nations system and AUDA NEPAD, bridging global economic policy with real world impact.

In this episode, Carl explains why financial inclusion and digital payments are not social initiatives, but core economic infrastructure essential for Africa’s long term growth, productivity, and resilience. Drawing on his concept of Polytunity, he reframes Africa’s current economic disruptions as opportunities to redesign markets, institutions, and business models that work for entrepreneurs and small businesses at scale.

The conversation challenges outdated narratives around informality, positioning Africa’s popular economy and MSMEs as the continent’s most adaptive and underestimated growth engine. Carl shares practical insights on how lowering transaction costs through smarter regulation, adaptive governance, and purpose driven business models can unlock inclusive economic growth.

What We Discuss With Carl

• Why financial inclusion and digital payments are foundational economic infrastructure for African markets
• Reframing crisis as opportunity through Polytunity and adaptive economic thinking
• Challenging the myth of informality and unlocking growth in Africa’s popular economy and MSMEs
• Designing markets that work for entrepreneurs by lowering transaction costs through smart policy and regulation
• Intergenerational leadership, succession planning, and building lasting economic legacies in Africa

Did you miss my previous episode where I discuss Africa’s $2 Trillion Instant Payment Boom and What It Means for Trade and Economic Growth? Make sure to check it out!

Connect with Terser:
LinkedIn – Terser Adamu
Instagram – unlockingafrica
Twitter (X) – @TerserAdamu

Connect with Carl:
LinkedIn – Carl Manlan and Inside The Blueprint Podcast

Many of the businesses unlocking opportunities in Africa don’t do it alone. If you’d like strategic support on entering or expanding across African markets, reach out to our partners ETK Group:

www.etkgroup.co.uk
info@etkgroup.co.uk