# COUSINS — Africa's Tech Network

> COUSINS is the connective infrastructure for Africa's tech ecosystem — a
> platform that makes it discoverable, and a research practice that makes it
> legible. The platform connects founders, operators, builders, and investors
> with the collaborators, mentors, and co-founders they need, using AI to match
> on complementary skills, shared goals, and collaboration potential. COUSINS
> is starting in Ghana and expanding across the continent, and is currently in
> free early access.

## Key pages
- [Home](https://cousins.africa/): What COUSINS is and how to join.
- [About](https://cousins.africa/about): Mission, how it works, who it is for, and the team.
- [Ecosystem Intelligence](https://cousins.africa/intelligence): The research and advisory practice — thesis, service areas, writing, and convening. For funders, institutions, and consortium leads.

## What COUSINS does
- AI matching for African tech professionals based on complementary skills and shared goals.
- Every match includes a clear reason to connect — context before contact.
- Mentorship and collaboration discovery for founders, operators, builders, and investors.
- Research and advisory work making the ecosystem legible for funders and institutions.

## Research and advisory
COUSINS is also a research practice. Its thesis: Africa's tech ecosystem is not
primarily short of capital, compute, or hubs — it lacks connective
infrastructure, the layer that makes existing actors, skills, and resources
findable, verifiable, and trustworthy to one another.

Four claims the research tests, extends, and applies:
- Partnerships function as infrastructure.
- Opacity has measurable costs.
- Existing actors get stronger through better connection.
- "Build more" is incomplete without a connective layer.

Service areas (commissioned research and consortium contributions):
- Ecosystem assessment and mapping.
- Labour market and digital/AI skills analysis.
- Diaspora engagement design.
- Stakeholder mapping and partnership design.
- Programme positioning before design commits.
- Closed-door convening as primary research.

Evidence draws on platform signals, wider literature, expert interviews, and
convened events. Research enquiries: hello@cousins.africa

## Facts
- Category: Ecosystem intelligence company (professional networking, mentorship, and ecosystem research).
- Region: Africa, starting with Ghana.
- Pricing: Free.
- Contact: hello@cousins.africa
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cousins-africa/