Why this book

Three reasons to read Code and Capital

The next major economic story will not come from where you expect. This book shows you where it is already being written.

A new map of growth

The next Silicon Valley may not rise on the American coastline — but in Lagos, Nairobi, or Bangalore. See how AI is turning the world's "periphery" into its new growth engine.

Stories from real ground

From M-Pesa's first text message to AI credit scoring in Nigeria, drone-delivered blood in Rwanda, and algorithm-run farms in Kenya — reportage from a decade of investing and research across four continents.

A playbook for smart capital

Why solving real problems beats chasing valuations: a practical framework for investors, founders, and policymakers who want returns and impact in emerging markets.

About the Book

The story of wealth is being rewritten by code

For thirty years, innovation was written on the maps of the developed world — Silicon Valley, London, Shenzhen. But a new narrative is emerging from the Global South: AI, mobile internet, and digital payments are converging in Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, giving rise to entirely new economic life forms.

Code and Capital takes you inside this shift — the African AI ecosystem growing out of mobile money, the Asian playbooks that can (and cannot) be replicated, the rise of data sovereignty, and a new generation of "smart capital" that profits by solving real problems.

This is not a book that predicts the future. It is a record of the future being written.

"The true future is never predicted, but created."

— from the Foreword

"True growth is never about following in the footsteps of the center, but about creating your own center."

— from Chapter One

What's Inside

Seven chapters, one new world order

For investors, founders, policymakers — and anyone who wants to understand where the global economy goes next.

CH 1

New Geography

The center of global growth is shifting south — AI is turning peripheral regions into innovation hubs.

CH 2

Africa's Code Awakening

From a single M-Pesa text message to an AI ecosystem in fintech, farming, education, and health.

CH 3

Asian Experiences, African Future

What Africa can learn from China, India, and Southeast Asia — and what it must build its own way.

CH 4

The Wealth Logic of AI

Algorithms become capital, data becomes an asset — and wealth shifts from possession to cognition.

CH 5

The Republic of Code

AI redefines sovereignty: data, algorithms, and computing power as the new borders of nations.

CH 6

A New Blueprint for Investment

Smart capital's southern strategy — predictive, collaborative, impact-driven investing.

CH 7

A Co-created Future

AI-driven inclusive growth, and the social contract of the intelligent age.

Foreword & Conclusion

When code meets capital — and how the meaning of wealth itself is being reimagined.

The Author

About Susan Chen

Susan Chen

Investor · Researcher · Writer

Susan Chen walks the line between capital and research. For more than a decade she has lived, worked, and invested in Lagos — alongside the entrepreneurs, engineers, and policymakers who are quietly rewriting the world's growth map. Code and Capital is her testimony to that revolution.

Susan works with NewTrails Capital (增途资本), an investment firm active in African markets. The views in this book are entirely her own and do not represent NewTrails.

From the Author's Lab

Meet Doni

The book describes how AI can serve real life. Doni is where Susan practices it.

🐶

Doni — your AI accountability companion

Task care · Gentle nudges · Emotional support

Doni lives in your chat app. Tell it your plans in plain language and it remembers, reminds you at the right moment — gently at first, then like a worried little dog — and celebrates with you when things get done. It is built around two obsessions: the quality of every reply, and caring about how you feel, not just what you should do.

Try Doni on Telegram →