Most people mark a fortieth birthday with a big party, a special trip, or a quiet weekend away. Aisha Jackson, South Africa General Manager at ALX and former Head of ALX Ventures, has chosen something different. She has decided to pay it forward during Mandela month by putting R40,000 into someone else’s business, along with her own time, expertise and contacts.
“As I approach my 40th birthday, I’ve been thinking about how I want to mark this milestone,” Jackson says. “Over the last few years, I’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of ALX learners and alumni across Africa. I’ve watched people launch careers, change industries, and create opportunities for themselves and their families. I’ve also worked with incredible founders. Builders who are solving real problems, serving customers, creating jobs, and quietly building businesses alongside everything else life demands of them.”
ALX is a pan-African talent accelerator that works with young people across the continent who want to build careers in tech, data, design or entrepreneurship. Since inception, over 347,000 learners have graduated through ALX programmes across Africa, and 63% of graduates are in work within six months of finishing. In South Africa, that figure rises to 67%. Through ALX Ventures, 43,400 graduates have been supported as freelancers or business owners, and their ventures have created 60,100 jobs. The organisation has hubs in countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, Rwanda and Ethiopia, supported by the Mastercard Foundation, and has set its sights on training millions more digital leaders across the continent in the years ahead.
The investment will go to an ALX learner or alumnus who owns a business based in South Africa. It will be made through BLKBRDG, a venture platform Jackson recently launched to build businesses, back founders and mobilise capital across the continent. The chosen founder will receive a R40,000 equity investment, strategic mentorship directly from Jackson as an operator and strategist, and support with introductions to clients and growth opportunities.
“The goal is to help exceptional African founders turn promising businesses into enduring companies,” Jackson says. “I am looking for a founder who is already showing traction and committed to creating long term value for Africa.”
The pledge builds on work Jackson has carried out for years. As Head of ALX Ventures, she worked with founders building businesses across Africa and with governments and development agencies on initiatives aimed at economic growth and job creation. “I’ve had a dream for a long time to build companies and African economies,” she says. “I’ve always believed that entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful tools to do this. Entrepreneurship creates economic freedom, solves meaningful problems, and builds thriving economies.”
That belief now takes shape through BLKBRDG, a platform focused on building businesses, backing founders and mobilising capital. “This isn’t a departure from the work I’ve been doing,” Jackson says. “It’s a continuation of it. BLKBRDG is a vehicle for helping founders build, helping businesses grow, and connecting opportunities, talent, and capital in ways that create lasting value.”
The founder selected through the pledge will become BLKBRDG’s first portfolio company, the start of a platform built around a conviction shaped by Jackson’s own time inside ALX Ventures: capital matters, but capital paired with mentorship and belief in a founder matters more.
The wider resonance of Mandela Day and Mandela Month, the period each July when South Africans are asked what they are doing to make life better for someone else. It is built around the idea that everyone has the power to make a difference and that a deliberate choice, made and repeated, can shift more than any single grand gesture. Jackson’s investment carries that same instinct forward, choosing to spend Mandela Month building someone else’s future and launching an initiative that is set to help many more.
Applications are open now to ALX learners and alumni in South Africa who are building businesses with traction and a long term commitment to creating value on the continent. Founders are encouraged to apply directly through the BLKBRDG application form at https://bit.ly/4f9mifs before 2 August.
If you would like to invest in high potential founders, there will be an opportunity to do so by participating as an investor in the pitch competition, similar to Dragon’s Den/ Shark Tank, at the end of September where the top founders will pitch for Jackson’s invest. If you would like to participate, you can reach out directly to Jackson: ajackson@alxafrica.com.
“Africa’s future will be built by people who are willing to create, take risks, solve problems, and build,” Jackson says. “My hope is that BLKBRDG can play a meaningful role in supporting them. I also hope more people will see what is possible, and more founders will be backed because of it.