IN a region where capital markets have long felt distant, complex and reserved for the wealthy, a new wave of digital innovation is reshaping who gets to invest and how. At the centre of this shift is Ndovu, a Kenyan-based investment platform that is steadily redefining access to global financial markets for ordinary Africans.
Founded in 2021, Ndovu has quickly positioned itself as one of East Africa’s leading fintech disruptors, enabling users to begin investing with as little as $50 while tapping into global assets once out of reach for most retail investors. The platform has already onboarded more than 200,000 clients, reflecting a growing appetite for wealth creation tools among a young, digitally connected population.
At the helm is Co-founder and CEO Radhika Bhachu, a former BlackRock and Deloitte professional whose vision is anchored in a simple but powerful idea: that Africans, as global consumers, should also be global owners. Her mission is not only to expand financial access but to fundamentally shift mindsets—from consumption to ownership, from saving to investing, and from exclusion to participation.
In this conversation with The Star, Bhachu reflects on building trust in fintech, scaling financial inclusion across Africa, and why the future of wealth on the continent will be defined by technology, discipline and access. You founded Ndovu Wealth to democratise investing in Kenya—what gap did you see in the market that others were missing?
Ndovu began its journey five years ago as the first fund manager in East Africa to provide easy access to global investments. The reasoning was simple but profound: as Africans, we are global citizens. We consume products manufactured by global companies and priced in dollars, yet we earn in Kenyan shillings.
That asymmetry is a structural disadvantage. If you are a global consumer, you should also be able to earn and own globally. The vision was to move Africans from a consumption mindset to an ownership mindset. What has been your biggest leadership lesson since becoming CEO?
Humility. When we launched Ndovu, I came in with a clear picture of how clients would interact with the product and what problems we were solving. Most of those assumptions turned out to be wrong. The biggest lesson? 90 per cent of what you think you know at the start will be challenged by reality.
So listen, really listen to the market and to your clients. Build for the problem that actually exists, not the one you imagined. How do you define success for Ndovu Wealth beyond profitability? Success is the day Ndovu becomes a household name and the decade after, when every African is a capital markets owner, whether they know it or not.
Many Kenyans still view investing as something for the wealthy. How are you changing that perception?