When I was a child, our ancestral house was sold. For many, it would have been just another family decision. But for me, it became a turning point. Watching something so close to my heart slip away, I promised myself that one day I would be successful—and I would write a book. At that time, I had no idea what the book would be about. I only believed, as children often do, that authors were special, accomplished people. Writing a book felt like the ultimate mark of achievement.
Life, however, had other plans. My journey to Africa was never scripted. It was accidental, almost unexpected. Before I began, I repeated the same line that so many around the world say: “Africa has big profits, but too many risks.” I had no certainty, no clear map. All I had was a willingness to try and a belief that even risks can be opportunities in disguise.
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My father was in the electronics business, and I grew up watching both its promise and its decline. In many ways, knowledge of this trade was in my blood from childhood. Building my own consumer electronics brand, Maser, became the toughest chapter of my life every step demanded resilience, every market tested my limits.
The years that followed were anything but easy. I was debt-ridden at times, struggling to find the courage to take the next step. There were moments when failure seemed not just possible, but inevitable. Yet, through all of this, I discovered something powerful: resilience. Africa tested me in ways no other place could. It demanded patience, grit, and humility. And slowly, through persistence, mistakes, and relentless belief, those struggles gave birth to something extraordinary the making of a unicorn in Africa.
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Gateway to Africa was born out of this journey. It is not just a business book. It is my story told honestly, with all its scars and stumbles. It is about the sleepless nights, the fears I carried, and the strength I found in the most unlikely places. Too often, success is spoken of only in terms of wealth or valuation. But the truth is different: behind every story of growth is a story of doubt, of risk, and of persistence.
“I wrote this book not to celebrate success, but to share the lessons hidden inside struggle.”
But here is the truth: the day I reached those goals, I realized the meaning of my life had quietly shifted. Numbers can fill bank accounts, but they cannot fill the heart. What gave me peace was not another deal, but the chance to give back—to stand in orphanages, to support education, to think not only of profit but of legacy.
And when you finally arrive, you may find, like I did, that the real destination is not achievement itself, but the joy of using it to lift others.
This book is also a love letter to Africa. The continent has been described as both a goldmine and a gamble. But I found a reality that was far richer than stereotypes. Africa is not only about risks or rewards—it is about people. It is about the young entrepreneur in Lagos who dreams beyond boundaries, the farmer in Zambia who sees hope in better markets, and the communities in Tanzania who remind me that impact lasts longer than numbers.
Why did I write Gateway to Africa? Because I wanted to show that Africa is not just a frontier—it is a future. Because I wanted people to know that even if you start from loss, from debt, from uncertainty, you can still build a story that inspires. And because I believe that dreams, no matter how fragile in the beginning, can take root in the most unexpected soil.
For me, the book is a promise fulfilled—to the child who once thought authors were the most successful people in the world, and to the man who now knows that success is not in wealth alone, but in the courage to keep believing.
That is why I wrote Gateway to Africa.
* Prateek Suri is Founder and CEO, Maser Group
