Aminata Diallo built a logistics group across nine countries by being unglamorous about it. “Everyone wants the technology story,” she says in our conversation, “but logistics is trucks, warehouses, customs brokers and trust. The technology only compounds after the basics are boring and reliable.” Her group’s growth from a Dakar clearing agency to a regional operator is a masterclass in sequencing: win one corridor, document it, then duplicate.
On capital, she is blunt. Patient money remains the scarcest input in African infrastructure-adjacent businesses. On talent, she is contrarian: her first hires score highest on curiosity and lowest on pedigree. “I can teach freight. I cannot teach hunger,” she says. The full interview, on port politics, succession and the corridor she wants to build next, is essential listening for anyone moving goods across the Global South.