Nigeria’s Caring Africa has achieved a historic milestone after being selected as the only African organisation in the 2025 cohort of the Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures Innovation Lab. This recognition shines a spotlight not only on the organisation’s groundbreaking work but also on Nigeria’s emerging care economy, which has long been underfunded and overlooked.
Founded by Blessing Adesiyan, Caring Africa is reshaping how caregiving is understood and delivered in Nigeria. Its flagship initiative, Caring Blocks, is designed to build digital infrastructure for the care industry, professionalising services that are still largely informal.
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Why Caring Africa Stood Out
Caregiving in Nigeria has traditionally been handled by informal networks of family members, neighbours, and low-paid workers with little oversight. This model has left gaps in safety, reliability, and professional standards. Caring Africa steps into this space with technology that provides transparency and accountability.
Caring Blocks offers more than just a caregiver directory. It integrates multiple features—identity verification, smart matching, digital contracts, compliance tools, payment processing, background checks, health and skill assessments, and ongoing training modules. By bundling these services into one digital platform, the organisation is helping families find safe, professional caregivers while creating formal job opportunities.
This dual focus on supporting families and raising standards for workers was central to why Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures picked Caring Africa. The platform directly aligns with the lab’s mission: empowering organisations that tackle pressing social and sustainability challenges through innovation.
What Morgan Stanley’s Innovation Lab Means
Caring Africa now joins 32 other organisations globally in Morgan Stanley’s 2025 Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures Innovation Lab. The programme provides financial investment, mentorship, and access to international investor networks. Each non-profit will receive USD 250,000 in capital plus an additional USD 250,000 grant to strengthen its operations.
The Lab will run for five months, culminating in a showcase event in February 2026. This global stage will give Caring Africa visibility with investors, policymakers, and development experts who can help expand its impact.
For Adesiyan, this opportunity is about more than funding. It is validation that the care economy is finally being recognised as a critical sector for innovation. “Care is no longer just a domestic issue,” she has often emphasised. “It’s a social and economic priority that determines the well-being of families, workers, and entire nations.”
Implications for Nigeria and the Future of Care
Nigeria’s population is projected to surge past 400 million by 2050, making it the third most populous country in the world. This demographic shift will put immense pressure on family structures and social systems already stretched thin. The demand for affordable, reliable, and professional care—whether for children, the elderly, or people living with disabilities—will only grow.
At present, the lack of formal systems means many families rely on unverified workers, often leading to safety risks and poor working conditions. Caring Africa’s model shows how technology can close these gaps. By creating standards and offering scalable digital solutions, the platform could transform how Nigerians approach care, moving it from an informal arrangement to a structured sector with legal protections, professional training, and fair pay.
Beyond Nigeria, this model could be replicated across other African countries facing similar challenges. The opportunity to leapfrog into digital, standardised care systems is significant. If successful, Caring Africa could position Africa not just as a recipient of global innovation, but as a hub producing solutions that the rest of the world can learn from.
A Win for Inclusive Innovation
Caring Africa’s selection is more than a personal triumph for Blessing Adesiyan—it is a signal that African innovations are being recognised on the world stage. The partnership with Morgan Stanley sends a clear message: solutions emerging from Africa’s realities can compete globally, provided they have the right support.
The organisation’s work also challenges stereotypes. Often, African start-ups celebrated globally are in fintech or logistics. By breaking into a field like caregiving, Caring Africa proves that social infrastructure is just as deserving of investment and innovation.
As the Innovation Lab unfolds, all eyes will be on Caring Africa to see how it leverages this opportunity. But regardless of what comes next, its selection alone has already rewritten the narrative: Nigeria’s care economy has entered the global innovation spotlight.
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