<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><channel><title>The Brief — Kofa</title><description>Kofa&apos;s publication on African market intelligence, practitioner knowledge, and the decisions that depend on both.</description><link>https://kofa.network/</link><language>en</language><copyright>2026 Kofa Insights Limited</copyright><managingEditor>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</managingEditor><webMaster>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</webMaster><lastBuildDate>Thu, 10 Sep 2026 05:28:00 GMT</lastBuildDate><ttl>60</ttl><image><url>https://kofa.network/favicon-32x32.png</url><title>The Brief — Kofa</title><link>https://kofa.network/blog</link></image><atom:link href="https://kofa.network/rss.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title>Ground Truth — Why Kofa Exists</title><link>https://kofa.network/blog/ground-truth-why-kofa-exists/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://kofa.network/blog/ground-truth-why-kofa-exists/</guid><description>The founder’s letter. On the difference between information and judgement — why the knowledge you need already exists, and why it rarely survives the journey to the people making decisions.</description><pubDate>Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Aminu Rabiu</dc:creator><category>Ideas</category><category>Manifesto</category><category>Pan-Africa</category><author>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</author></item><item><title>Why Cold LinkedIn Outreach to African Practitioners Never Works — And What Does</title><link>https://kofa.network/blog/why-cold-linkedin-outreach-to-african-practitioners-never-works/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://kofa.network/blog/why-cold-linkedin-outreach-to-african-practitioners-never-works/</guid><description>Every DFI analyst has felt this. The person you need is out there. They just never respond. Here is why — and what changes when the ask is structured differently.</description><pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Aminu Rabiu</dc:creator><category>Seeker</category><category>Access</category><category>Pan-Africa</category><author>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</author></item><item><title>What a Decision Asset Is — And Why Your Last Expert Call Wasn&apos;t One</title><link>https://kofa.network/blog/what-a-decision-asset-is/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://kofa.network/blog/what-a-decision-asset-is/</guid><description>A conversation is an event. A decision asset is something your organisation can search, cite, and build upon a year from now. Most expert calls produce the former.</description><pubDate>Fri, 17 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Aminu Rabiu</dc:creator><category>Seeker</category><category>Infrastructure</category><category>Global</category><author>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</author></item><item><title>The Informal Economy Runs African Markets. Here&apos;s Why Your Research Misses It</title><link>https://kofa.network/blog/informal-economy-runs-african-markets/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://kofa.network/blog/informal-economy-runs-african-markets/</guid><description>Formal systems and informal systems exist side by side. Only one usually appears in a report — and it is rarely the one that determines outcomes.</description><pubDate>Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Aminu Rabiu</dc:creator><category>Market</category><category>Ground Truth</category><category>Pan-Africa</category><author>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</author></item><item><title>Five Questions You Can Answer in 72 Hours With a Practitioner Session — And Five You Can&apos;t</title><link>https://kofa.network/blog/five-questions-you-can-answer-in-72-hours/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://kofa.network/blog/five-questions-you-can-answer-in-72-hours/</guid><description>Kofa is not a substitute for every kind of research. Here is what it is genuinely built for — and what it is not the right tool for.</description><pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Aminu Rabiu</dc:creator><category>Seeker</category><category>Guide</category><category>Pan-Africa</category><author>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</author></item><item><title>What Loan Officers in Lagos Know That Your Credit Model Doesn&apos;t</title><link>https://kofa.network/blog/what-loan-officers-in-lagos-know/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://kofa.network/blog/what-loan-officers-in-lagos-know/</guid><description>A credit model can tell you whether a borrower qualifies. A loan officer can tell you whether they will actually apply — and why, in this market, they often do not.</description><pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Aminu Rabiu</dc:creator><category>Market</category><category>Field Intelligence</category><category>Lagos · Nigeria</category><author>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</author></item><item><title>Why the Best African Practitioners Don&apos;t Have LinkedIn Profiles</title><link>https://kofa.network/blog/why-best-african-practitioners-dont-have-linkedin/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://kofa.network/blog/why-best-african-practitioners-dont-have-linkedin/</guid><description>The people with the deepest field experience are not in any directory. They are not conference speakers. They are busy doing the work. That is the problem Kofa&apos;s coordinator network exists to solve.</description><pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Aminu Rabiu</dc:creator><category>Network</category><category>Coordinator</category><category>Pan-Africa</category><author>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</author></item><item><title>How We Verify Practitioners — And Why It&apos;s Different From a Profile Review</title><link>https://kofa.network/blog/how-we-verify-practitioners/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://kofa.network/blog/how-we-verify-practitioners/</guid><description>A self-submitted profile is not verification. Here is what independent verification actually involves, why it happens before you ever see a brief, and what it protects.</description><pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Aminu Rabiu</dc:creator><category>Trust</category><category>Verification</category><category>Pan-Africa</category><author>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</author></item><item><title>Field Intelligence vs. Expert Calls: When You Need One and When You Need the Other</title><link>https://kofa.network/blog/field-intelligence-vs-expert-calls/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://kofa.network/blog/field-intelligence-vs-expert-calls/</guid><description>One question is best answered by one practitioner who knows it from the inside. Some questions only reveal their answer across fifty conversations. Knowing the difference changes how you brief.</description><pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Aminu Rabiu</dc:creator><category>Seeker</category><category>Product</category><category>Pan-Africa</category><author>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</author></item><item><title>The Problem With Research That Arrives After the Decision</title><link>https://kofa.network/blog/problem-with-research-that-arrives-after-the-decision/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://kofa.network/blog/problem-with-research-that-arrives-after-the-decision/</guid><description>Traditional research takes weeks. Your investment committee meets tomorrow. Most organisations have learned to make decisions without the intelligence they needed — and call it good judgement.</description><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Aminu Rabiu</dc:creator><category>Seeker</category><category>Timing</category><category>Global</category><author>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</author></item><item><title>Practitioner Knowledge in African Markets: A Reading List Worth Knowing</title><link>https://kofa.network/blog/practitioner-knowledge-reading-list/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://kofa.network/blog/practitioner-knowledge-reading-list/</guid><description>The best existing thinking on African market intelligence, development economics on the ground, and the informal economy — with commentary on why each piece matters.</description><pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Aminu Rabiu</dc:creator><category>Ideas</category><category>Reference</category><category>Pan-Africa</category><author>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</author></item><item><title>Knowledge Currency — What Happens to a Decision Asset When the Policy Changes</title><link>https://kofa.network/blog/knowledge-currency/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://kofa.network/blog/knowledge-currency/</guid><description>Every decision asset is a snapshot of what was true on the day it was made. Policies change, markets move, and a year-old record quietly becomes a liability. Keeping knowledge current is not the same as collecting it.</description><pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Aminu Rabiu</dc:creator><category>Seeker</category><category>Infrastructure</category><category>Global</category><author>aminu@kofa.network (Aminu Rabiu)</author></item></channel></rss>