Across the Divide: What It Feels Like to Dream Without Access

There are moments — quiet, unassuming ones — when I realise just how vast the world truly is.

Earlier today, I read more about James Manyika, Google’s Senior Vice President for Technology & Society. A Zimbabwean by birth, a Rhodes Scholar, an AI researcher, a McKinsey global thinker, a public policy advisor to U.S. presidents. The sheer weight of what he has done — and what he is now doing — staggered me.

Not with envy. But with something else.

A kind of emotional vertigo.

Because I too am trying to build something that matters.

Not on Google’s scale. Not with corporate backing. Just a social enterprise and charity and the echo of an idea — called AfricAspire™. A project seeded through years of travel, long-standing relationships, heartache, and humble hope.

It’s a strange kind of tension — to be profoundly moved by another man’s journey while knowing you don’t have the credentials, the platform, or the access to even begin a conversation. But I still believe in speaking. Not to draw attention. Not to gain favour. Just to say something true.

We Don’t All Start in the Same Place

In my work over the years — across brand development, business support, and time spent travelling back and forth to Zambia — I’ve seen what many business leaders miss:

That potential isn’t the same as access.

Some of the most creative, driven, community-minded young people I’ve met are in Lusaka, Ndola, Chingola, Kitwe… not Silicon Valley or Shoreditch. But no one’s building pipelines to reach them. No one’s surfacing their ideas. So I began thinking — not about another charity, and not another development model.

But something practical. Something enabling. Something honouring.

That’s where AfricAspire™ was born. It’s not perfect. It doesn’t have capital behind it. It doesn’t (yet) have international recognition. But it has roots. It has purpose. It holds within it the possibility of micro-empowerment across English-speaking Africa — through entrepreneur education, dignity-based support, and simple infrastructure.

We have no grand platform. We are building scaffolding in faith.

Why James?

I’ve followed many leaders over the years, but there’s something different about James Manyika. He doesn’t merely talk about transformation. He talks about tech and humanity. He names society as part of the equation. He carries his African identity with dignity into every room he enters.

And it struck me — not as a request, but as an observation — that someone like him might just know what it feels like to start far from the centre.

Not all of us make it to Oxford. Not all of us are invited into Davos. But some of us are still building. Quietly. Persistently. Ethically.

And that should matter. Even if it doesn’t scale. Even if it’s only for one community. One region. One dream.

A Landscape I Still Walk

I am not a young man. I’ve lived a lot. I’ve failed. I’ve recovered. I’ve changed careers, crossed continents, and reshaped the way I see the world. I’ve walked alongside those with no food security. I’ve watched people I cared about lose hope. I carry regret. I carry learning.

I also carry on.

So today, I sat with that ache — that realisation that my insignificance isn’t a flaw, it’s just the truth of where I’m building from. It doesn’t invalidate the vision. It doesn’t cancel the value.
It simply names the place I stand.

To Those Across the Divide

This post isn’t a pitch. And it certainly isn’t a plea. I don’t need rescuing. But I also don’t want to pretend that distance doesn’t exist.

To the James Manyikas of the world — and to those who walk corridors of global influence — I would simply say this:

There are people building without your credentials. Without your reach. Without your network.
But not without purpose.
Not without depth.
Not without love.

And in a world obsessed with scale, maybe that’s still worth listening to.

To support, collaborate with, or learn more about AfricAspire™, please get in touch or visit www.africaspire.org.uk.

𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋 𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘
𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞™, 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝟒 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐂.𝐋.𝐄.𝐀.𝐑.𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐱™
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬’ 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐊, 𝐄𝐔, 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 — 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲.

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