AfricanCrowd

Two weeks ago we started asking you to look around.

At the shelf, where homegrown brands now sit next to imported ones. At your feed, where small businesses take orders in the comments. At the plaza, where the newest spot often has the longest queue.

You noticed. One of you reminded us that shelves once carried mostly international brands, and that today you can see Botswana on them.

That noticing is where a scout starts. Then comes the real work: once we approve, a scout approaches the owner, introduces AfricanCrowd and invites them to take the next step. If that sounds like you, apply at africancrowd.capital/scouts/

Before the weekend, one simple question. Which business would you back? Name it below.

Three questions people ask about becoming a scout, answered straight.

Do I need money to be a scout?
No. You do not invest anything, and you never handle anyone's money. Scouts introduce businesses, nothing more.

Do I have to sell anything?
You do not sell investments, pitch to investors or give advice. There is real work, though. You find a good business, record it with us, and once we approve, you approach the owner, introduce AfricanCrowd and invite them to confirm their interest. From there, every assessment and decision is made by our team.

Am I paid?
Yes. Scouts are independent, and AfricanCrowd pays you as the businesses you introduce reach defined stages. The business owner never pays a scout anything.

Every scout goes through a selection and onboarding process first. Find out more and apply at africancrowd.capital/scouts/

What else would you want to know before becoming a scout? Ask below.

Sixty years ago today, Botswana became independent.

For most families, life moved between the village, the masimo and the cattle post. The country had about 12 km of tarred road. Its new capital, Gaborone, was still being built, because until then the protectorate had been run from Mafikeng, outside its own borders.

What Botswana had was a habit of building together. Neighbours ploughed each other's fields in letsema. Friends pooled their savings in motshelo.

And in the early 1970s, when the nation set out to build its own university campus in Gaborone, the call went out through the kgotla: Motho le motho kgomo, each person, a cow. Families gave cattle, money and grain. Everyone gave what they had. That campus became the University of Botswana.

Sixty years on, the same spirit lives in the small businesses carrying jobs and households across the country. At AfricanCrowd, we believe many people, each putting in what they can, can still build what no one could alone.

Which local business do you want to celebrate today? Tell us below.

Kopano ke thata. Happy Independence Day. P**a!

Who can be a scout?

The combi driver who knows which stops are always busy. The hairdresser who sees which new products everyone is asking for. The teacher who buys lunch from the same vendor every day and watches the queue grow. The student who orders from the same small brand every month. The shop assistant who notices which suppliers keep coming back.

Different jobs, different towns. What they share is that they notice.

You do not need a finance background. You do not need to know anyone important. You only need to know a good business when you see one, and be willing to point us to it.

When a business you bring raises on AfricanCrowd, you share in the outcome. More at africancrowd.capital/scouts/

So tell us: which business do you see every week that deserves more?

Yesterday we said real demand is visible in public and someone has to point at it. Most Batswana already do this every week without calling it anything.

Someone needs a plumber, a cake for Saturday, a place that will actually fix the car properly. You give them a name. You do it because you know the work is good and you want the person to be looked after.
Think of the plaza you stop at most often.

There is usually one spot in it that feels newer than the rest. The coffee place someone opened in a small unit and painted themselves. The nail studio that is fully booked by Wednesday. The food spot with a queue at lunch that was not there last year. The barber everyone posts about.

These are young businesses that found something people want, fast. The owner is usually still behind the counter, still answering the messages, still doing everything.

A few of them are at the point where capital changes what happens next. A second unit. Better equipment. Stock to meet demand they are already turning away.

The people who see it first are the ones who go there every week.

That is what a scout does. More at africancrowd.capital/scouts/

So tell us: which new spot near you deserves to be much bigger?

Think about a local business you go back to again and again.

What is it that keeps you going there? Sometimes it is the product. Often it is the owner, the one who knows your name and remembers your order. Sometimes it is what you see in the staff, people who are clearly treated well and stay for years.

Those things are hard to put in an advert, but you notice them. They are also the signs a business is built to last, which is exactly what makes one worth backing.

That is the kind of business a scout brings to us. More at africancrowd.capital/scouts/

So tell us: what makes you trust a local business? The product, the owner, or how they treat their people?

You have probably scrolled past one this week.

A small business posting its own photos. Leather bags, made by hand, the kind of work you would expect to find in a boutique. A few hundred followers. Orders arranged in the comments. One person answering every message.

That is a real business. It just is not visible to anyone who could help it grow.

Some of these are sitting at the point where capital changes things: more materials, better tools, a proper workspace, someone to help with orders. They are not short of demand. They are short of the money to meet it.

Telling which ones are at that point takes people who already follow them, buy from them, and pay attention.

That is what a scout does. You bring us a business worth backing, and when it raises on AfricanCrowd, you share in it. More at africancrowd.capital/scouts/

So tell us: which Botswana business have you found on Facebook that deserves to be much bigger?

Quick question for today.

Have you noticed more locally made products on the shelves lately? A sauce, a snack, a drink, a skincare line that was not there a year or two ago.

Many of these started in someone's kitchen. Some of the businesses behind them are ready to grow, and the people who notice them first are exactly who we are looking for as scouts. Find out more at africancrowd.capital/scouts/

So tell us: which homegrown product have you spotted, and where did you find it? If you know the story behind it, share that too.

Quick question for today.

Have you noticed more locally made products on the shelves lately? A sauce, a snack, a drink, a skincare line that was not there a year or two ago.

Many of these started in someone's kitchen. Some of the businesses behind them are ready to grow, and the people who notice them first are exactly who we are looking for as scouts. Find out more at africancrowd.capital/scouts/

So tell us: which homegrown product have you spotted, and where did you find it? If you know the story behind it, share that too.

Call now to connect with business.

You have seen it happen. You walk into Square Mart or your local shop, and there is a brand on the shelf that was not there last year. A local sauce. A snack made right here in Botswana. And it is moving.

Or it is the tailor everyone in your area swears by. The car wash that always has a queue. A small business you already trust because you buy from it every week.

You know these businesses. You could name a few right now.

Most of them are ready to grow and have no real way to raise the money to do it. Finding the good ones is the hardest part of what we do, and it cannot be done from an office. It takes people who are already out there, noticing.

That is what a scout does. You bring us a business worth backing, and when it raises on AfricanCrowd, you share in it. We are putting the first group together now. More at africancrowd.capital.

What is one business near you that you would back if you could? Tell me below.