Daniel Yu

I am the Founding Partner of the Africa Jobs Fund (AJF), a philanthropic investment fund catalyzing high-productivity jobs to alleviate poverty with maximum cost effectiveness. AJF focuses primarily on export manufacturing and international labor mobility, launching and backing pioneer firms that open new pathways for African exports and labor to integrate with global demand. AJF operates as a fund of Renaissance Philanthropy, an organization founded by former senior White House staff that helps design and launch high-impact initiatives. I am a founder, software developer, and global operator with extensive experience working and traveling across 70+ countries, primarily in emerging economies across Africa, the Middle East, India, Central America, Brazil, Southeast Asia, and China. I thrive on exploring new markets and building the networks and cultural knowledge needed to scale technology-driven businesses. I speak eight languages conversationally or better: English (native), Mandarin, Swahili, Arabic, Spanish, Cantonese, Portuguese, and French. Before AJF, I was Founder and CEO of Wasoko, Africa's largest B2B platform transforming the $600 billion market of informal retail shops through e-commerce and fintech services. Backed by over $145M in investment from Tiger Global, Avenir Growth Capital, and other leading investors, I oversaw operations serving hundreds of thousands of merchants across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Zambia, Egypt, and Morocco, while partnering with global manufacturers such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble. In July 2024, I led the successful completion of Africa's largest-ever tech merger with MaxAB, cementing Wasoko's position as a Pan-African market leader. I serve as Board Chair of Malengo, a nonprofit pioneering a new model of global education mobility. Malengo supports students from backgrounds of extreme poverty in low-income countries to pursue university degrees in high-income countries, unlocking transformative economic and social impact for both individuals and their home communities. By combining rigorous talent identification with innovative financing models and mentorship, Malengo is reimagining how education can drive upward mobility across borders. Beyond my professional work, I am generally passionate about development economics, urban design, moral philosophy, linguistics, and geopolitics.