Saying “ten years” out loud still feels significant.
When we started TheBoardroom Africa in 2016, the idea was simple and stubborn: Africa needs more leaders who look like its people, understand its markets, and can steward businesses for long-term value and resilience. We imagined a place that combined the craft of executive search with the practice of professional development, not because it was fashionable, but because the two are inseparable if leadership is to produce real, lasting change.
A decade on, that little idea has grown into an organisation that operates at the intersection of leadership acquisition, governance and impact, and we have been so immersed in the day-to-day work, that only recently did we step back and realise something striking: that TheBoardroom Africa is one of a handful of African search and leadership advisory firms operating at the continental and global scale we now occupy. That realisation was both humbling and clarifying. It reminded us of the gap we set out to close, and of the responsibility that comes with having global reach.
We are not perfect. We got many things right, we got some things wrong, and much of what we have learned was hard won. Here are a few honest reflections from the journey.
Community first, then scale
From the very beginning, we put community ahead of transactions. We understood that authenticity, trust and long-term relationships matter more in leadership work than slick marketing. Building a network of leaders and institutions, people who vouch for one another, who coach and recommend talent, created a compound advantage. That community has been the source of our credibility, our candidate pipeline and our learning. It is why executive search remains at the heart of what we do, even as we build products and platforms around it.
Design for context, not imitation
Too often, leadership solutions for the Global South have been imported and poorly adapted. We deliberately designed programmes and search processes for local realities, cross-border markets, emerging governance systems, and the lived experience of local executives. That contextualisation paid off: our professional development propositions resonated because they combined global frameworks with regional application.
Technology is an accelerator, not a silver bullet
Our vision has always included technology, but its role is specific: we are building an AI-backed marketplace to bring scale and insight to board search, without replacing the craft and precision of executive search. Technology only amplifies what lies beneath it: disciplined processes, honest data, and expert human curation. The shift to tech-enablement, therefore, requires careful data migration, rigorous product discipline and an unrelenting focus on quality. Many clients will continue to expect, and receive, bespoke human judgement; preserving that calibre of human work is our non-negotiable as we broaden reach.
Honesty about what didn’t work
We have had our fair share of mistakes. At times, we moved too quickly into ambitions without sufficient operational readiness. We also underestimated how long it takes for technology to mature and for its governance to evolve, a reminder that building durable leadership infrastructure is not a sprint but a sustained commitment.
Measured ambition: outcomes over optics
“Impact” can become a slogan. For us, it must remain measurable. Over the next ten years, we will double down on impact metrics: placements that change the trajectory of organisations, learning that alters executive and boardroom behaviour, and long-term indicators such as job creation and company performance. Our 2026 strategy is explicit about predictable growth, disciplined execution and measuring the compound effect of leadership.
Looking to the next decade
If the first ten years were about proving we could build leadership infrastructure, the next ten are about making it predictable, equitable and truly scalable.
The ambition is large, not for the sake of scale alone, but because good leadership multiplied across organisations changes economies, creates jobs and improves lives.
A final word
Building leadership infrastructure is both deeply practical and profoundly hopeful work. It requires patience, design discipline and an unshakable commitment to quality. We have learned that community, context and credibility matter more than cleverness; that technology unlocks scale only when matched with rigour; and that the responsibility of a decade of trust is to keep building with humility.
To our members, partners and colleagues, thank you. The last ten years belong to you. The next ten are for the leaders who will steward a more prosperous, resilient and equitable Africa.
Here’s to the work ahead. 10 Years. 10X Impact.
