Moving money for African coffee traders is hard. Proving where the coffee came from, to a European buyer, is harder. That gap is why I flew to Rome and Naples last week for the Lab Innova for Africa "Luca Attanasio" Study Tour, run by @ITAtradeagency. Founders from Kenya, Tunisia and Morocco. A week of training, months of mentoring, then the tour. What I'm taking home: 1. Don't reinvent the wheel. 2. Build with your users, not for them. 3. Make it physical. If people can't touch it, they can't picture it. 4. Africa is ahead in places. Some of our systems belong in the EU. 5. Compliance isn't a cost. It's the product. Thank you @ITAtradeagency, @ITAformazione, Lorenzo Galanti, Zakia Seddiki Attanasio, Fabio Santoni, Aleardo Furlani and my cohort. Let's keep building. African founders, the doors to Europe are open. Most never hear about them. I'm here to change that. I'll share the programs, buyers and funding calls I find, as I find them. Tell me what you're chasing. I'll point you to the right door.

A little @Autopayke moment in Rome. I spent the day with @ITAtradeagency and met key stakeholders in person. One thing is clear. European buyers want proof of where their coffee came from. We are building that proof from farmer payments. Use autopayke.com .

Kenya's coffee now ships direct to Italy.
The money still takes the long way round. The frontier isn't new markets. It's the plumbing between them. Next week we are in Italy with @ITANairobi, testing some of that plumbing with autopayke.com .