Entrepreneur, investor and author of Making Futures: Young Entrepreneurs in a Dynamic Africa, Sangu Delle, thinks success is ‘overhyped’ and has been studying how people fail: ‘I want to look at examples of failures, and how people found redemption after epic, public failures.’
First Draft is our interview column, featuring authors and other prominent figures on books, reading, and writing.
Our questions are italicized.
What books or kinds of books did you read growing up?
I learned how to read when I was two years old, and I became an avid and voracious reader. I read everything—from my sister’s Sweet Valley High novels to my father’s atlas on dermatology. I was particularly fascinated by history books and biographies or memoirs. I was also a very fast reader. I remember we would go to EPP Bookshop in Accra, and my mother would buy me about five or six books. These books were expensive, about five to ten dollars per book. I’d read all of them in about two days and my mother would be yelling ‘stop reading so much, I can’t afford to be buying books at this rate.’ So, one of her friends introduced us to Books For Less, a store where you could buy second-hand books for less than one dollar, and it was a gamechanger!
If you could rewrite a classic book/text, which would it be and why?
I would love to rewrite the Bible from the perspective of the women.
What genre of books do you enjoy reading the most (and why)?
I love historical memoirs or biographies because I find the lives of humans to be fascinating. Not just by virtue of the substance of human experiences, but also in the art of self-narratives.
I learned how to read when I was two years old, and…read everything—from my sister’s Sweet Valley High novels to my father’s atlas on dermatology.
How has the pandemic affected your reading?
I was born in 1987 but I never travelled on a plane until 2002 when I took my first flight to London. However, between 1989 and 2002, I had ‘travelled’ all over the world—to every single continent—through books! So, during the pandemic, when the borders were shut and planes were grounded, I went back to my old days of ‘travel’ and criss-crossed the entire world through books. It was amazing!
What’s the last book/text you disagreed with (and why)?
I read Tayari Jones’ An American Marriage and my goodness, what a brilliant writer. The book left me hot and bothered with so many unresolved emotions. I was so angry and sad and crying and gasping at different moments throughout the novel.
What’s the last book you read that changed your mind about something?
Abubakar Ibrahim’s Season of Crimson Blossoms! Chai, that book. It tells the captivating story of an illicit affair between a young gang leader, Hassan Reza, and a 55-year-old widow and grandmother, Binta Zubairu, who craves for intimacy after the sexual repression of her marriage and the pain of losing her first son. The setting is a conservative Muslim community in Nigeria. It ruined my innocence. I now look at grandparents with suspicion haha.
During the pandemic, when the borders were shut and planes were grounded, I went back to my old days of ‘travel’ and criss-crossed the entire world through books.
What’s the best book on finance, the economy and/or Africa that you’ve ever read?
Making Futures of course! In all seriousness, I’d recommend
What’s something you wish more people knew about investing in Africa?
After 15+ years of investing on the continent, I must confess that Africa does not have the highest risk-adjusted returns in the world. However, Africa does have some of the highest impact-adjusted returns in the world.
Which three books would you recommend to anyone trying to understand Ghana today?
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi; Changes: A Love Story by Ama Ata Aidoo; My First Coup D’etat by John Dramani Mahama—a fourth for bonus: The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah.
Africa does not have the highest risk-adjusted returns in the world. However, Africa does have some of the highest impact-adjusted returns in the world.
What’s your writing process? Edit first or draft first then edit?
Draft first, then edit.
I also need to listen to classical music as I write to drown out any ‘noise’ and to be on turbo-charged productivity.
What was your process for writing Making Futures: Young Entrepreneurs in a Dynamic Africa?
Because it involved 600+ in-depth interviews of entrepreneurs across 45 countries, it was a long, protracted seven-year writing journey. I took lots of notes and audio recordings and pictures throughout the research period. I then synthesized a lot of the insights graphically to observe patterns and to glean common themes. For the final two years, it was a lot of weekends and nights locked up with classical music, wine and my laptop.
Who is an author you wish you had discovered earlier?
Yaa Gyasi.
I also need to listen to classical music as I write to drown out any ‘noise’ and to be on turbo-charged productivity.
What is your favourite topic to read about these days? (Please include the names of articles and books, if possible)
These days, I’ve been focused on reading books written by Black women. During the writing process of Making Futures, I remember a session with my editor, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf (the founder of Cassava Republic) in which she asked me ‘who lives in your head, Sangu?’ What we read and consume lives in our heads. And I realized upon introspection that historically it has been overwhelming male (and White), so I have been very deliberate about reading books written by diverse authors, especially Black women. I am currently reading His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie.
What should we expect you to write about next?
Three ideas currently circulating in my head: 1) turning my doctoral research work on female technology entrepreneurs into a book; 2) writing a book on redemption: we tend to over-glorify and hype success, I want to look at examples of failures, and how people found redemption after epic, public failures; 3) a memoir rooted in my mental health struggles and my personal journey towards liberation.
Question from Oreoluwa George-Taylor: What’s the title of your biography (5 words or less)?
Defying the Odds: A Story of Growth and Grace.
Bonus: Please suggest a question for a future author’s First Draft
If you could allocate $1 billion to any one person, thing, cause, or entity, what would it be and why?⎈
We want to hear what you think about this interview. Submit a letter to the editors by writing to editors@republic.com.ng.
