By Kingsley Ani
Former operations leader at Co-creation HUB (CcHUB) Limited, Akinwande Akinsulire, exited the organisation on December 31, 2025, after nearly four years of involvement in startup support, venture scaling, and ecosystem development across Africa.
He stated that he “walked into CcHUB” in March 2022 following discussions with Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, Co-founder of Co-creation HUB (CcHUB) Limited who is now the Honourable Minister of Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy), with a defined intent to drive impact across early-stage ventures.
During his tenure, Akinsulire contributed to multiple programmes spanning edtech, cleantech, and cross-border innovation expansion.
DECISION HIGHLIGHT
The transition marks a shift from institutional ecosystem building to independent advisory, signalling both maturity of individual operators and potential fragility in institutional continuity within Africa’s innovation ecosystem.
DECISION MEMO
Akinsulire’s exit is not merely a career move, it is indicative of a broader structural pattern within Africa’s startup ecosystem, talent mobility outpaces institutional permanence.
The achievements cited during his tenure are material. The Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship supported 72 founders with $7.2 million in funding, while the United Nations Industrial Development Organization Global Cleantech Innovation Program engaged over 300 entrepreneurs and backed 74 innovators. Expansion initiatives such as Scaling to Europe, Scaling to Africa, and the Spark Accelerator in Kenya demonstrate deliberate attempts to internationalise African innovation pipelines.
However, the underlying question is durability. These programmes are impactful, but largely programme-driven rather than system-anchored. Akinsulire’s reflection that “that is not charity… that is building infrastructure for Africa’s prosperity” is directionally correct, yet the infrastructure remains partially dependent on external funding cycles and institutional partnerships.
The 2025 Impact Report from Co-creation HUB (CcHUB) Limited shows $4.18 million deployed to 3,312 ventures across 49 African countries, with founders raising five times that amount externally. This leverage ratio is significant, but it also highlights dependence on follow-on capital outside the immediate ecosystem.
Akinsulire’s next move, advising founders, investors, and governments, reflects a decentralisation of expertise. While this expands knowledge distribution, it also reinforces a recurring gap, African innovation ecosystems often struggle to retain high-capacity operators within single institutions long enough to build deeply embedded systems.
The acknowledgement of contributors such as Ojoma Ochai and Startup Support by Co-creation HUB (CcHUB) Limited underscores that ecosystem development remains highly people-driven rather than process-driven. This creates scalability constraints.
DATA BOX
- Tenure, March 2022 to December 2025
- EdTech Fellowship, 72 founders, $7.2 million deployed
- Global Cleantech Innovation Program, 300+ entrepreneurs engaged, 74 innovators backed
- CcHUB 2025 deployment, $4.18 million
- Ventures supported, 3,312 across 49 African countries
- Capital leverage ratio, 1:5 external funding
WHO WINS / WHO LOSES
Winners
Akinsulire, transitioning to a broader advisory role across founders, investors, and governments
Founders and institutions gaining access to decentralised expertise
Conditional winners
Co-creation HUB (CcHUB) Limited, dependent on its ability to institutionalise knowledge beyond individual contributors
Losers
Ecosystem continuity, if talent exits are not matched with structured succession and system retention
Early-stage ventures reliant on specific programme operators
POLICY SIGNALS
The development reflects a continued reliance on hybrid ecosystem models, blending donor funding, private capital, and institutional partnerships. There is limited evidence of sovereign-backed innovation policy frameworks capable of sustaining such ecosystems independently.
INVESTOR SIGNAL
Africa’s startup ecosystem continues to generate deal flow and early-stage traction, but remains intermediary-heavy and programme-dependent. Investors should note that ecosystem strength is still tied to key operators rather than fully institutionalised systems.
RISK RADAR
Talent attrition risk across ecosystem-building institutions
Dependence on external funding partners for programme continuity
Fragmentation of expertise across advisory networks
Limited institutional memory and process standardisation
Scaling risk beyond programme-based interventions
Akinsulire’s exit reinforces a core tension. Africa’s innovation ecosystem is expanding in reach, but not yet fully stabilised in structure.
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