Hi! We are DesignThinkers Subsaharan Africa
As a strategic advisory partner, we bring leading expertise from the Sub-Saharan Africa region and beyond to drive meaningful change and create lasting impact. We focus on working with teams to craft human centred solutions tailored to the unique challenges faced by organizations across the African landscape.
Supported by a multi-disciplinary network of practitioners from around the globe, we combine a deep understanding of local culture and regional trends with proven innovation frameworks to drive organisational relevance. Through testing assumptions, emerging new beliefs and behaviours, with our clients, we enable a culture of design-led innovation. From new products, to new service systems and operational models, we help develop the necessary elements to make innovation reality.
We always work with you, not for you.
As one of the leading design-driven global innovation consultancies operating in Sub-Saharan Africa, we help organizations deliver on their innovation strategies with a strong human-centered focus. Specializing in Future Innovation Leadership, Digital Innovation, Healthcare System Transformation, AI, and Strategic Growth, we train, develop, and facilitate multidisciplinary teams and communities of change across the region and beyond. With a proven track record in public sector innovation, digital transformation, and customer experience strategy, we’ve partnered with forward-thinking institutions such as Toyota, KFC, Royal Media Services, Woolworths, Standard Bank, Momentum, as well as global organizations including FedEx, Adidas, and Rainforest Alliance. Our work supports the growing demand for inclusive, scalable, and sustainable innovation across emerging markets.
Royal Media Services | Radical Collaboration in Action
DesignThinkers partnered with Royal Media Services (RMS), a leading media organisation in East Africa with 4 TV stations, 8 radio stations, and high digital engagement, to drive innovation. Over two years, workshops involving over 60 leaders and managers helped develop new go-to-market strategies and prepare nationwide programs to drive revenue growth. This approach enabled RMS to create impactful, revenue-generating services while promoting a culture of collaboration.
Momentum | Enabling a Customer-centric culture
Momentum is fostering a more collaborative and customer-centered culture with support from DesignThinkers. Beyond enabling teams through training and facilitation, the focus has been on embedding co-creation and innovation mindsets across the organization. By building lasting capabilities, Momentum empowers employees to confidently apply Design Thinking principles across projects, driving meaningful solutions in digital, product, and service design.
Cocreate a desirable future
We help clients to navigate strategic pathways through changing market conditions. We do this by aligning stakeholders on a preferred future state, integrating technology and human operating systems.
Global expertise
Supported by a multi-disciplinary network of practitioners from around the globe, we combine a deep understanding of local culture and regional trends with proven innovation frameworks to generate value.
Interlacing collaboration Ubuntu style
We weave together a spirit of togetherness and empathy in our approach, inspired by the Ubuntu philosophy of “I am because we are.” By valuing the interconnectedness of humanity, we enable collaborative environments where mutual understanding and shared purpose drive transformative outcomes.
Change ready teams
We help teams adapt to change through learning and experiments that provide clarity and coherence on the least risky, most constructive way forward. Our work empowers teams to embrace change and develop novel solutions with humans for humans.
Your trusted partner in Africa
From exploratory innovation to incremental change, we advise our clients on what path to take, with whom and when. We guide teams to focus on value creation, delivering clarity and alignment in the face of ever increasing rate of change.
Get in touch with us to discuss your challenges, vision and dreams. We will walk with you, together and emerge fresh ideas to be rooted into reality.
A Design Thinking approach
We’re dedicated to nurturing organizations to become truly future-ready, providing the tools to identify valuable opportunities and nurture valuable solutions. We flip insights and consumer data into first ideas, enabling teams to make informed decisions on which directions to pursue, and teaching them the tricks along the way. As we build upon your organization’s foundation, we support motivated, innovation-ready teams and foster essential connections.
Figure 1. Driving Content & Shaping Culture through Design-Driven Strategy
"We empower you through content and capability."
We do this with a designer’s mindset (Design Thinking) which is a widely recognised method in developing innovative and relevant solutions for complex challenges. It entails a hands-on approach with emphasis on teamwork and iterative learning through continuous validation. We stimulate teams to take a step back, assess the challenge and ask the right questions to uncover underlying needs of end-users and stakeholders. This is referred to as the ‘Problem Space’ and the main goal is value identification. We then stimulate team creativity to generate options to choose from and prototype and validate in multiple smaller steps to promote continuous learning and improvement. This is refereed to as the ‘Solution Space’ and the main goal is value realization. This approach allows us to realize products, services and experiences that are truly relevant.