This is Path A of the BWB Ecosystem. | Want strategy and AfCFTA execution together? See all three paths on the Programs Hub →
Build a Strategy That
Actually Survives
African Market Reality
Five strong modules designed to transform you from feeling overwhelmed and reactive to being clear, confident, and in charge — equipped with a practical strategic plan, a revamped business model, and the decision-making resources needed to navigate through any challenges.
Strategy That Is Specific, Executable, and Built for the African Business Environment.
Most strategic plans end up forgotten in a file just three weeks post-workshop. They tend to be overly broad, fail to support meaningful choices, are unrealistically optimistic about constant conditions, and are often out of touch with the daily challenges that African business leaders encounter.
However, this is not your typical workshop. The Strategic Planning Masterclass Series was developed over two decades of collaboration with business leaders from all 54 African nations, ensuring that every module focuses on generating a practical document rather than merely exploring theories.
You will create a strategy that your whole team can easily grasp and implement. Additionally, you will adapt your business model to thrive in an environment where both AI and AfCFTA are redefining the landscape at the same time. You will acquire the necessary tools for problem-solving and decision-making, equipping you to navigate disruption, inflation, and uncertainty while maintaining your momentum.
“This is for business leaders who are weary of strategy workshops that yield no practical results for the upcoming week. Each module in this series results in one actionable document that you can take away and put into practice right away.”
Built for African Business Leaders Who Are Done Playing Small
CEOs & Founders
- Your business is successful, but the approach seems more like a response to events than a deliberate strategy.
- You seek a strategy that your entire team can adhere to, allowing you to step back from constant meetings.
- It's essential for you to present a strong argument for growth to stakeholders or an advisory board.
Growing SMEs Ready to Scale
- Your company has surpassed the stage of relying on casual decision-making.
- You require systems and procedures that can operate independently of the founder.
- You aim to develop a business model capable of weathering inflation and other disruptions.
Women Leaders & Executives
- You are leading a business or team through significant transformation.
- You seek strategic clarity that enhances your leadership's authority and provides clear direction.
- Your goal is to achieve impact on a continental scale rather than merely striving for local survival.
AfCFTA-Ready Entrepreneurs
- You are considering entering new markets in Africa and realize the importance of solid foundational work beforehand.
- You desire a strategy that aligns seamlessly with your goals for expanding under the AfCFTA.
- You plan to proceed with Path B after finishing Path A.
Diaspora Investors & Returnees
- You are investing in or returning to Africa and require a reliable strategic plan.
- You want frameworks tailored to the realities of the African market instead of those from Western contexts.
- You need a plan that can be effectively shared with partners, co-investors, and institutions.
This Is Path A of the BWB AfCFTA Strategic Transformation Ecosystem
Strategic Foundations Track
Build a resilient core strategy before you execute
You are hereAfCFTA Execution Engine
Turn AfCFTA policy into profit with your 90-Days Plan
Complete “No Boundaries” System
Paths A + B + Integrated Implementation, fully combined
Want strategy and AfCFTA execution together? See all three paths on the Programs Hub →
Strategic Foundations — Building a Plan That Actually Works
Many strategic initiatives do not succeed before they even start. The reason for their failure is that they are designed for perfect scenarios instead of realistic ones. They often falter because they are crafted by external consultants and then passed off, instead of being embraced by those responsible for their execution. Additionally, they do not align everyday choices with long-term goals.
In this module, you will discover how to create a strategy that your whole team comprehends, believes in, and knows how to implement. You'll gain insights into establishing goals that are tied directly to tangible business results instead of merely tracking activities. You’ll also learn how to develop a review process that keeps the strategy relevant during changing conditions. Furthermore, you'll clarify what actions to discontinue as much as what new initiatives to start.
This serves as the cornerstone for everything that follows. Leaders who overlook this crucial step are not devoid of ambition; they simply lack a structured approach to convert that ambition into tangible outcomes.
- Create a strategic plan your entire team can understand and execute independently
- Set goals that connect directly to business outcomes rather than activity
- Identify what to stop doing just as clearly as what to start
- Build a strategy review process that keeps the plan alive through market changes
- Communicate your strategy to team members, investors, and partners with authority
Module Deliverable
A comprehensive strategic plan document that includes mission, vision, values, goals, priorities, African Case Studies + Failure Analysis, Reflection Journal Prompts , Resource Vault , 7-Days Action Challenge, Module Q & A, Cheat Sheet contents, Fillable Example Workbook guidance, Audio & Video, Module Glossary, Community Discussion Prompts and a dynamic review calendar for your team to utilise.
Reinventing Your Business Model — Staying Relevant in a Changing Market
Protecting your current business model does not qualify as a strategy. In a time when AI enables new possibilities and AfCFTA opens previously closed doors, the only effective approach is one that adapts rapidly and purposefully to the changing landscape, all while retaining the unique aspects that define your business's worth.
This module stands out as one of the most practical in the entire series. You’ll discover the weaknesses in your business model before your rivals or the market highlight them. You will pinpoint the areas where digital disruption and AfCFTA present fresh revenue streams in your industry. Additionally, you will create a revamped business model that is tailored for the market reality ahead, rather than the one from five years past.
Moreover, this module serves as a connecting point. It links your strategic plans directly to AfCFTA, which is the reason many leaders who complete this module often opt to proceed directly into Path B to implement their updated model throughout African markets.
- Diagnose the real vulnerabilities in your current business model
- Identify where AI and AfCFTA create new revenue opportunities specific to your sector
- Design a revised business model built for the next market reality
- Communicate your model change clearly to your team, investors, and partners
- Map the direct connection between your reinvented model and AfCFTA market entry
Module Deliverable
Your completed Business Model Canvas — reinvented, AfCFTA-aware,African Case Studies + Failure Analysis, Reflection Journal Prompts , Resource Vault , 7-Days Action Challenge, Module Q & A, Cheat Sheet contents, Fillable Example Workbook guidance, Audio & Video, Module Glossary, Community Discussion Prompts and ready to present to investors or your leadership team.
Know Your Market — Customer Strategy and Competitive Positioning
A frequent and costly oversight for business leaders in Africa is their lack of clarity regarding their target audience. This isn’t about general demographics; it’s about specifics. Identifying which customer is key. Understanding the precise market is essential. Recognising the particular issue they face matters. Knowing the stage of the purchasing process is crucial.
In the absence of that accuracy, money spent on marketing is ineffective, product development may head in an inappropriate direction, and competitive positioning relies on guesswork rather than informed insight. This module addresses that issue.
You will develop a comprehensive and precise understanding of your ideal customer that extends past basic demographics into authentic behavioral and decision-making trends. You will pinpoint the specific weaknesses of your competitors and recognise where you possess a legitimate and defendable edge. Additionally, you will establish a cohesive market intelligence framework that can assist your entire organisation in making improved decisions at all stages.
- Build a detailed, accurate picture of your target customer based on real evidence
- Map your competitive landscape and identify where you have a genuine, defensible advantage
- Position your business to stand out with precision rather than generic differentiation claims
- Create a unified market intelligence picture usable across your entire organisation
- Apply this same market intelligence to evaluate potential AfCFTA expansion markets
Module Deliverable
Your Customer Strategy and Competitive Positioning document — including customer intelligence profile, competitor matrix, African Case Studies + Failure Analysis, Reflection Journal Prompts , Resource Vault , 7-Days Action Challenge, Module Q & A, Cheat Sheet contents, Fillable Example Workbook guidance, Audio & Video, Module Glossary, Community Discussion Prompts and your clear positioning statement.
Strategic Problem Solving — Making Decisions Under Pressure and Uncertainty
Currency risk, changes in regulations, disruptions caused by AI, interruptions in supply chains, inflation, and instability in geopolitics are not rare occurrences in Africa’s business landscape; they represent the typical conditions under which organisations operate. Those who create enduring companies are not necessarily those who encounter fewer challenges. Instead, they are the ones equipped with superior decision-making processes to navigate crises when they emerge.
This module equips you with those processes. You will acquire a diagnostic framework that effectively distinguishes between symptoms and underlying issues, allowing you to break the cycle of addressing superficial problems rather than targeting their true causes. You will also formulate scenario plans for various potential futures, ensuring that when circumstances shift, you’re prepared with a strategy that has already been established.
This module directly applies to your AfCFTA planning efforts. The same frameworks for problem-solving that you learn here can be utilised in Path B to rigorously assess your strategy for entering the AfCFTA market against realistic risk scenarios.
- Apply a diagnostic framework that separates symptoms from real root causes
- Develop scenario plans for multiple possible futures in your specific market
- Make high-stakes decisions with confidence even when conditions are uncertain
- Guide your organisation through disruption while maintaining strategic momentum
- Use these same frameworks to stress-test your AfCFTA entry plan in Path B
Module Deliverable
Your Strategic Problem-Solving Playbook — including your diagnostic framework, three scenario plans for your business, decision-making protocol your leadership team can follow, African Case Studies + Failure Analysis, Reflection Journal Prompts , Resource Vault , 7-Days Action Challenge, Module Q & A, Cheat Sheet contents, Fillable Example Workbook guidance, Audio & Video, Module Glossary, and Community Discussion Prompts
Operations That Scale — Building Systems for Growth
If your company struggles to function for two weeks without your daily involvement, it indicates that you don't possess a true business; instead, you have an occupation supported by employees. Furthermore, any enterprise reliant on its founder cannot grow, secure substantial investment, or handle expansion to a continental level.
This final module establishes the essential operational framework that ensures the sustainability of all aspects covered in this series. You will evaluate your existing operations, pinpoint what needs improvement, which tasks should be automated, and what can be discarded. You will develop standardized operating systems aimed at reducing reliance on the founder, allowing you to focus on strategic leadership. Moreover, you will incorporate technology, including AI tools, into your operations in a manner that genuinely enhances your capacity rather than merely complicating it.
This module also effectively sets you up for the implementation of AfCFTA. Managing cross-border operations requires a business that moves beyond informal processes and the constant presence of its founder. This module lays the groundwork that enables Path B and facilitates expansion across the continent.
- Map your operations and identify what to fix, automate, or eliminate immediately
- Build standard operating systems that reduce founder dependency
- Integrate AI and technology into your operations strategically, not superficially
- Create an operational infrastructure that scales with you into new markets
- Build the operational foundation required for AfCFTA cross-border expansion in Path B
Module Deliverable
Your Operations Scaling Playbook — including your operations map, process documentation framework, technology integration plan,African Case Studies + Failure Analysis, Reflection Journal Prompts , Resource Vault , 7-Days Action Challenge, Module Q & A, Cheat Sheet contents, Fillable Example Workbook guidance, Audio & Video, Module Glossary, and Community Discussion Prompts. A resource plan your team can execute without you in the room.
Five Modules. Five Working Documents. All Yours.
Strategic Plan Document
Mission, vision, values, goals, priorities, and a living review calendar your team follows.
Business Model Canvas
Reinvented, AfCFTA-aware, and ready to present to investors or your leadership team.
Customer Strategy & Positioning
Customer intelligence profile, competitor matrix, and your clear positioning statement.
Strategic Problem-Solving Playbook
Diagnostic framework, three scenario plans, and a leadership decision protocol.
Operations Scaling Playbook
Operations map, SOPs, tech integration plan, and a resource plan your team executes without you.
Certificate of Completion
Recognised across the BWB ecosystem and included in your Alumni Network profile.
Real Results From African Business Leaders
Before this program, I had an idea in my mind, but there was no concrete plan that others could implement beside myself. Once I reached Module 1, I developed a strategic document that my whole team could utilize. By the time I completed Module 5, I established systems that functioned independently, allowing me to step back from attending every meeting. This shift is what transforms everything..
Module 4 provided me with a structure that has become part of my weekly routine. Whenever a challenge arises, I don’t just respond to the symptoms anymore. Instead, I dig deeper to identify the core issue. This single diagnostic tool has prevented my business from repeating the costly errors we previously encountered before we understood the true nature of the problems.
I arrived with the belief that my business model was strong. However, Module 2 clearly revealed its outdated aspects. The revamped canvas I walked away with served as the basis for a pitch that initiated our first discussion with an institutional investor. Lady Topsie ensures that you depart with practical insights rather than just theory, demanding that you create a usable document.
Choose the Format That Works for You
Your strategy is the most important investment your business makes. Do it once, do it right, and do it with frameworks that were built for your market. A comprehensive strategic planning document that includes 5 modules topics, African Case Studies + Failure Analysis, Reflection Journal Prompts , Resource Vault , 7-Days Action Challenge, Module Q & A, Cheat Sheet contents, Fillable Example Workbook guidance, Audio & Video, Module Glossary, Community Discussion Prompts and a dynamic review calendar for your team to utilise.
Self-Paced Online
Learn at your own pace, on your schedule
- All 5 strategic planning modules
- All workbooks & templates
- Access to e-learning platform for resources
- BWB Strategic Community access
- Certificate of completion
Virtual Cohort — Live
Live sessions with Lady Topsie + peer cohort
- Live sessions with Lady Topsie or trained & certified facilitator
- Peer cohort of business leaders across continent
- All recordings + materials
- Full community access
- Certificate of completion
In-Person Intensive
Full immersive 2-days program with Lady Topsie
- Full 2-days immersive intensive
- Lady Topsie facilitating in person or trained & certified facilitator
- Light Refreshment meal
- All materials & workbooks
- Certificate of completion
Corporate and government cohort rates available for teams of 3 or more. Contact us for a custom quote →
The Difference
The businesses that plan precisely are the ones that build without limit.
“You will not walk away with a thick binder you will never open again. You will walk away with a working strategic plan, new thinking tools to apply immediately, and a group of peers who are building at the same level as you are.”
— Olutope Olatilewa E. (Lady Topsie), Programme Lead
Lady Topsie has been in the room where real decisions are being made, not just studied. Lady Topsie has developed this framework from real-world business problems that African business leaders are facing every day.
Seats in each cohort are deliberately limited
It is the quality of discussion and engagement that makes this program work, and this is down to keeping cohorts small. Lady Topsie does not provide large group training sessions. If a cohort is full, it is full. If you are serious about your strategy, don’t wait for the next series.
Enrol Now
Common Questions
What participants ask before enrolling.
Can I take individual modules rather than the full series?
Yes. Each of the stratetegy planning modules can be taken as a separately. Each module can be purchased here. It makes sense to buy the entire series in any format to have the best value and the strategic foundation, but the modules can be purchased by people who have a specific need. Visit BwB Shop
I am based outside Nigeria — can I still participate?
Absolutely YES. The virtual cohort sessions are organised to suit different time zones in Africa, the diaspora and around the world. Self-paced learning can be done from anywhere in the world. The program is tailored for business leaders and the diaspora.
Can I bring my team?
Yes, and it is highly recommended. Group rates are available for groups of five or more per seat, with customised scheduling for your organisation. Email us at CONTACT for a proposal.
What is the refund policy?
A full refund is possible up to 14 days prior to your session date for online cohort and in-person program. Self-paced enrollments are non-refundable after module access has been provided. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
You Are Building the Foundation.
Now Give It a Continental Destination.
The largest free trade zone globally has been established by AfCFTA. Those leaders who finish Path A and use their strategic groundwork to implement AfCFTA will shape the future of African trade for the next two decades. The Complete “No Boundaries” System merges Path A and Path B into a comprehensive transformation journey, which includes your customised 90-Days Trade Floor Plan along with the BWB AfCFTA Certified Planner Badge.
