In the fast-evolving world of African tech, few names are as consistently associated with growth, creativity, and impact as Ized Uanikhehi. As founder of Zedi Africa and a powerhouse in digital marketing and startup strategy, she is helping to chart a new narrative: one where African brands scale boldly, women lead, and communities collaborate for shared success.
From Biochemistry to Brand Growth
Ized’s academic foundation is in biochemistry, but her professional trajectory has been anything but static. With over a decade of post-college experience spanning marketing, technology, and media, she has moved from roles at global media like CNN to driving growth and innovation in African startups.
Building Platforms that Empower Startups
Zedi Africa
This is perhaps Ized’s most visible venture. Zedi is a growth-marketing / martech agency co-founded to fill a gap: many African startups have strong ideas but struggle to execute marketing strategies that match their potential. The promise of Zedi is to give these startups access to data-driven creative and strategic marketing without the prohibitive costs.
Zedi started as a way for Ized and her co-founders to help early-stage companies go to market more effectively, raise their visibility, attract customers and investors, and build brands that last.
DigiClan — Community & Digital Equity
Ized is also the convener of DigiClan, which has grown into one of the most significant communities for digital marketing professionals across Africa. DigiClan isn’t just about marketing; it stands for learning, collaboration, mentorship — and importantly, reducing the digital gender divide. Through it, Ized is helping build capacity in people, not just brands.
Leadership Across Roles & Startups
Ized’s career includes founding or co-founding a number of significant startups:
- Tora Africa, an HR-tech startup focused on the informal sector: recruiting, verifying, deploying labor and supporting work in less formalized markets.
- Loose Media, a digital marketing and advertising agency: here Ized applied creative storytelling + digital tools to campaigns for local and international brands.
- Her role as CMO at Haul247, a logistics e-platform: increasing visibility, marketing reach, stakeholder engagement for a business in a vertical (logistics) that is essential for many African economies.
Speaking, Storytelling, Thought Leadership
Ized’s impact is amplified not just through the agencies and startups she builds, but through how she shares her thinking.
- She delivered a TEDx talk (“Using Storytelling to Drive Innovation from Chaos”) which explores how narrative and reframing of challenges can catalyze innovation.
- Through interviews and panel discussions, she regularly addresses issues like: women’s roles in tech, the challenges of funding for startup founders in Africa (especially female founders), marketing as a leverage point for startup survival and growth.
Overcoming Challenges; Learning by Doing
Some of Ized’s most powerful contributions come from her willingness to confront challenges and share what she learns:
- She has spoken openly about startup failures or pivots. For example, Tora Africa ran into headwinds when regulatory changes (like ban on motorcycle taxis / okadas) affected its business model and finding how to adapt / pivot was a lesson learned.
- On gender and fundraising: Ized has noted that women founders in Africa often have to work harder to get the same access to VC or international investment; she uses this reality as motivation, pushing for community, capacity building, and proof via results.
What’s Next
Ized has her eyes on building tools and platforms that multiply her impact:
- One project in progress is GrowthStack, a no-code / semi-automated marketing automation platform aimed at helping startups deploy full-stack marketing operations without needing large retainers or massive specialist teams.
- She continues to push for the balance of offline + digital marketing, brand storytelling, and creative strategies tailored uniquely to African contexts (not copy-pasting Western templates).
Why Her Impact Matters
- Youth & Startup Ecosystem: In Africa, many startup failures aren’t due to poor ideas but due to weak marketing, lack of access, or misaligned narratives. Ized’s focus helps shift that.
- Gender Equity in Tech/Marketing: By building platforms like DigiClan and speaking openly about gender issues, she contributes toward a more inclusive tech ecosystem.
- Local Brands & Global Visibility: Helping African brands tell their stories better, compete regionally (and globally), and attract investment is essential for sustainable growth.
Ized Uanikhehi represents something increasingly vital in today’s Africa: combining strategy, empathy, creativity, and resilience to build not just startups or brands, but ecosystems. She shows that leadership isn’t just about personal success, but about pulling others forward shaping communities, opening opportunities, and doing so in ways that are authentic to local realities.
Her journey reminds us: transforming the startup landscape demands more than ideas it demands storytelling, grit, and the courage to build tools for others to rise. And that’s precisely what Ized is doing.
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Farida Bedwei: Powering Africa’s Fintech Revolution Against All Odds
Meet Rebecca Enonchong, who is revolutionizing the enterprise software industry in Cameroon
Nelly Cheboi, a Kenyan tech pioneer, has been named CNN Hero of the Year
