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I’m a seasoned growth leader, portfolio builder and board member with deep experience…
Articles by Siddika
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Siddika Jaffer shared thisI’m betting on Africa as being one of the most exciting growth stories in global tourism - the data is showing the same story. In 2025, Africa welcomed 81 million international tourists, an 8% increase y-o-y. Twice as fast as the global average (UN tourism). At the same time, travellers are increasingly seeking meaningful experiences in nature, with 43% saying they would take a holiday to feel closer to the natural world (Booking.com 2026 travel predictions). Africa has incredible diversity, an extraordinary combination of wilderness, wildlife, beautiful coasts, culture and hospitality as Taqi Moledina at ATTA® highlights in the video below. We are just scratching the surface on its potential to hold some of the most compelling travel destinations globally. That’s a future I’m excited to help build. On a more personal note, in my travels to over 70 countries and having lived in 3 continents, nowhere surprises or delights me as much as Africa. If you’re considering traveling to Africa, please get in touch, I’d love to make it happen for you. #africantourism #safaris #luxurytravelSiddika Jaffer shared thisAfrica's next big tourism opportunity? We asked Taqi Moledina, ATTA®'s new Chair where he sees the biggest opportunities for African tourism. His answer? Growth. Africa currently accounts for a relatively small share of global tourism, yet the continent offers extraordinary diversity - from West to North, East to Southern Africa - with experiences, connections, warmth and hospitality that leave a lasting impression. The opportunity now is to build the right frameworks, strengthen collaboration and ensure the world understands the breadth of what Africa has to offer. How much further could African tourism go?
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Siddika Jaffer shared thisWe’ve made progress in talking about menopause. But are we making enough progress in supporting women through it? World Menopause Day last week brought some much-needed attention to women’s health in midlife. And while awareness is growing, there’s still a gap between recognising that something is changing and knowing what to do about it. 9 in 10 women said they lacked the information they needed about menopause (DHSC Women's Health Strategy call for evidence, 2021). This is not a personal failing. It’s a GAP. On top of this, medical understanding is one part of the picture. But what about the impact on our confidence, careers, relationships and sense of identity? These conversations are often happening in isolation, if they’re happening at all. I believe we need a more joined-up approach. One that connects women’s health with emotional wellbeing, personal development and the realities of modern life. That’s the thinking behind Pause & Reset, and in this second short film, we explore some of the gaps we’re hoping to address. We are bringing together specialist medical knowledge from Farah Ahmed , executive coaching by Anglie Johns and the space to reflect, away from the demands of everyday life. I’d love to hear your perspective: what do you think is still missing from the way we support women through midlife? For those interested in joining us at Hiddn in Addo, South Africa, next March, details are here: https://lnkd.in/eEFbCmRY #WomensHealth #MenopauseAwareness #Midlife #WomenInLeadership #wellnesstravel
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Siddika Jaffer shared thisWe've spent decades learning how to push through. Perhaps it's time we learned when to pause. For many women, particularly in midlife, life can feel like a constant balancing act. Careers, families, caring responsibilities, changing health and the expectations we place on ourselves. We're often so focused on looking after everyone and everything else that our own wellbeing slips further down the list. With World Menopause Day approaching on 18 October, it's a timely reminder that midlife brings changes that deserve more understanding, more open conversations and far greater attention than they've traditionally received. But midlife can also be an extraordinary opportunity to reassess. To understand what's changing, reconnect with what matters and make more intentional choices about the years ahead. It's something I've been reflecting on through my own experiences, and it inspired me to create something a little different. Pause & Reset is an intimate women's retreat taking place on the 19th of March 2027 at Mantis Hiddn in Addo, South Africa. Together with Farah Ahmed, a women's health specialist, and Anglie Johns, an executive coach, we've designed a few days that bring together evidence-based insights, meaningful conversations, time for reflection and the restorative power of nature. Not another programme about doing more, achieving more or becoming a better version of yourself. Neither is it a pampering spa day that doesn't do enough to drown out the endless questions and to do lists. It is an opportunity to pause, understand yourself a little better and think about what you want from your next chapter. I'm sharing the first of a series of short films exploring why this matters to me and what we're hoping to create. In truth, my own journey, the lack of an opportunity just like this one that took me far enough from the demands of daily life to actually learn, reflect, pause and reset is the genesis for this retreat. We're keeping the retreat intentionally small, with just 12 places. If this resonates with you, or someone you know, I'd love you to explore it. https://lnkd.in/eEFbCmRY #WorldMenopauseDay #WomensWellbeing #Midlife #WomenInLeadership #safaricircle
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Siddika Jaffer shared thisOne of the most important decisions I've made building Safari Circle is what NOT to build. As a founder, it's tempting to own everything. Your infrastructure, technology, operations and supplier relationships. You retain control, protect your margins and build things your way. But experience building several ventures at IAG Loyalty, BCG X and McKinsey & Company as well as my own startups, has taught me that carefully chosen partnerships can accelerate growth, increase runway, reduce risk and, importantly, deliver a better client experience. In luxury African safari travel, that matters enormously. I was born in Kenya and have spent years travelling on safari across Africa, with family, friends and as a couple. I bring that lived experience and personal perspective to Safari Circle. But no single person can know every destination, lodge or changing condition across this vast continent. That's why I've deliberately built Safari Circle around partners with exceptional depth of expertise. Our on-the-ground African safari partners have decades of experience living and working in their countries. Some have been guides or worked in the camps themselves. They know the lodge owners, the guides, the seasons and the small differences between properties that you simply won't find online. They're constantly visiting lodges, checking what's changed and keeping their recommendations current. They also manage the complex logistics behind multi-destination African safaris, with local teams available 24/7 when unexpected changes occur. I add my own layer of scrutiny, travelling regularly to experience lodges, meet suppliers, other travel advisors and form independent views about what genuinely suits different travellers. We've also partnered with 360 Private Travel, a highly selective luxury travel group, part of Virtuoso and among a select number of agencies endorsed by Forbes Travel Guide. This gives us access to established global hospitality relationships and the operational infrastructure required to deliver luxury travel at a high standard. Not something I can replicate easily. It's easy to underestimate the regulatory, financial and operational complexity of building a travel business. My approach has been to invest where we can genuinely differentiate, accelerate the parts others can't easily replicate and work with people who have spent decades getting the other parts right. Sometimes the smartest decision as a founder is knowing what you don't need to build. #LuxurySafari #AfricanSafari #VentureBuilding #TravelTechAI
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Siddika Jaffer shared thisA nice way to start Monday as Safari Circle is in PhocusWire's Startup Stage this week, talking about what we’re building, why we believe there’s a different way to approach safari planning, and where we want to take Safari Circle next. For me, one of the most exciting parts of that next chapter is partnerships. We’ve built Safari Circle direct-to-consumer first. Now we’re starting conversations about how our technology, Safari DNA and specialist safari expertise could sit behind other trusted brands - helping their customers discover and plan the right safari for them. Travel. Loyalty. Financial services. Membership communities. And potentially some categories we haven’t thought of yet. If you have an audience that wants to travel to Africa, there may be something interesting for us to build together. Thank you to the PhocusWire team for featuring our story. And to the potential partners in my network, my inbox is open. Full interview 👇 #Traveltech #Partnerships #Safari #AIinTravelStartup Stage: Safari Circle takes a matchmaking approach to safari planningStartup Stage: Safari Circle takes a matchmaking approach to safari planning
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Siddika Jaffer shared thisThank you Business Matters Magazine for the coverage. I shared a bit about why I started Safari Circle and why pairing AI together with lived human experience in high stakes travel experiences is imperative. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the landscape of AI startups promising to transform travel planning and booking journeys. Unfortunately not one has produced decent results when it comes to safari trips. One confidently recommended a tall building in Moshi as part of my Serengeti itinerary. Moshi is about 400km away! It was one that has recently received a very large VC injection and lots of praise. We use AI to speed up our back end systems, and remain human first at the front end. Have you tried to plan a safari using AI? I’d love to hear how it went. #traveltech #aiintravel #safariSiddika Jaffer shared thisSafari Circle launched in the UK this September with a three-minute quiz that asks who you are before it asks where you want to go. In our latest Getting To Know You interview, founder Siddika Jaffer, a sixth-generation Kenyan, explains why even she has booked safaris that disappointed, and why the category is still sold like any other holiday. She talks about bootstrapping at a time of AI valuation hype, pairing technology with human expertise in a high-trust purchase, and her mission to make Africa a place people return to rather than a once in a lifetime trip. Would you trust an AI-native service to plan your biggest trip of the decade? https://bit.ly/3TDqlsD #TravelTech #Safari #FoundersGetting to know you: Siddika Jaffer, founder, Safari CircleGetting to know you: Siddika Jaffer, founder, Safari Circle
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Siddika Jaffer shared thisWhat do Richard Branson and I have in common? If you thought entrepreneurship first, I thank you for your kindness 😊 The answer is we are both rarely happier than when on safari. I saw this post by Richard Branson and it made me stop and reflect. There are few people as privileged and perhaps as adventurous as him. For him to say that he is rarely happier than when on safari -and also highlighting his beautiful property in Kenya’s Masai Mara - is worth a moment of reflection. What is it about a safari that has this incredible impact on people? I’ve had this conversation with a number of people and a few variations come up repeatedly. For some it’s an experience that is truly humbling, you realise there is something bigger than you. The elephant doesn’t care who you are - when you’re out in the bush, Mother Nature rules. For others, it’s the ability to truly connect and be present with their loved ones or even themselves. Silencing out the constant noise of our digital lives whilst in a remote location with no WiFi or mobile reception. Forced to be present whilst witnessing a wilderness encounter play out in front of you. The roar of a lion a few metres away goes through your soul in a way no documentary can ever capture. And for some it’s the adventure, the excitement, memorable moments with your loved ones, learning from cultures completely different to yours and letting that shift your perspective on what’s truly important. If you’ve been on safari, I would love to hear what moved you. At Safari Circle we have developed a Safari DNA profiling system that helps us uncover who you are in the wild so we can match you up with the right destination and the right property. Mahali Mzuri is perfect for The Conservationist and The Connector. If safari is not yet on your travel plans, I’ll leave you with this question. If it’s one of Richard Branson’s favourite things to do, shouldn’t it be on your bucket list? #safari #luxuryholidays #traveltech
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Siddika Jaffer shared thisFor an industry built around personalisation, luxury travel often starts by asking surprisingly impersonal questions. Where do you want to go? When? Who's travelling? What's your budget? The OTA model taught the industry to design digital travel journeys largely around the booking - it is transaction optimised. That works brilliantly when I already know I want a hotel in Rome for three nights in October. It doesn't work nearly as well for complex, high-consideration travel like safari. One of of the biggest findings from our research Safari Circle was remarkably simple: People don't know what they don't know. Someone planning their first safari often can't tell you whether they should go to Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana or South Africa. Or they may come to you wanting to go to South Africa because that's where their friend went and had a great time - that removes discussion about whether that is right for you. Starting trip planning with questions like where or when means we are asking people to make those decisions before we've really understood them - and before they've understood the trade offs. I've been looking at the online enquiry journeys of a number of leading luxury travel and safari companies recently. I found the majority starts with some variation of Where? When? With whom? How much? There are exceptions, of course. And great travel advisors often ask much deeper questions once you speak to them. The personalisation comes afterwards - if it comes. I think that's the wrong way around. It's one of the reasons we built Safari DNA. Before trying to work out where you should go, we want to understand how you travel and what kind of safari is likely to make you happiest. Would you trade some comfort for an extraordinary location? Do you favour depth versus contrast. How much do privacy and exclusivity matter versus value? Is this your first safari or your tenth? If your answer is "I have absolutely no idea where I should go — you tell me", that's perfectly fine and we also build around that We still need the practicalities, but our start points are fundamentally different. We use Safari DNA, AI and our safari intelligence to interpret those signals and narrow the possibilities. Then human safari expertise adds the judgement and lived experience that technology can't. The best advisors have always understood that getting under the skin of the traveller is what makes a trip truly personal. The question we've been asking is: why should that only start once you speak to one? That's the thinking behind Safari DNA. A couple of weeks ago when we announced the launch of Safari Circle, Nabeel Shariff took the DNA quiz and said "it's like it knows me". How many other travel planning journeys have you come across that made you feel the same way after just 3 minutes? What are the best examples? #luxurytravel #safaricircle #traveltech #ai
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Siddika Jaffer shared thisBooking a safari is probably one of the most complex and daunting purchases in the travel sector. Even for regular safari goers like me, going to a completely new destination means everything you thought applied to your last safari is now not relevant. Just last week, I was talking to a recently wed couple who told me they had really wanted to go on safari for their honeymoon but found the research process so overwhelming, they just gave up. They're not alone, a recent survey run by Safari Circle, talked to 100 people who had considered a safari in the last 3 years but did not go. Most of them researched deeply, spending several hours or days, even weeks but did not book. The biggest reason for not booking, at 40%, was that they found it too difficult to research or book - feeling overwhelmed by the options or complexity. Our bet as Safari Circle is that we can facilitate the growth of safari tourism - there isn't a demand problem. The planning and booking journey is broken. We exist to close the gap between inspiration and a confident decision. I'll share more in the coming days about what our approach includes and what else is wrong with the current approach to helping people book safaris. For now, if this is you and you too have abandoned your safari plans, I'd love to hear what stopped you from booking. #safaricircle #traveltech #luxurytravel #wildlifetourism
Siddika Jaffer replied to a comment
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Bo Finn Poulsen I agree there is overcrowding but I’d say 2 things. The first is we are trying to help people discover countries beyond the 3 most popular for safari. Secondly, even within these “busy” countries there are still regions that have capacity and lower tourism numbers eg Ruaha. So having the right advisor and promoting responsible tourism is part of the solution
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I’ve heard so many women say they’re stressed, exhausted, have no social battery left - a myriad of ways to try to make sense of what is going on with them. Often it takes someone else to suggest that it might be hormones. It’s so important to equip women to be able to distinguish what’s normal for them and what is actually new and needs more than just a good nights rest
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Siddika Jaffer liked thisSiddika Jaffer liked thisFrom Smartstream Bangalore Ballroom to Smartstream Mumbai Beach 2026 Annual Event - Congratulations to all our winners and enjoy the evening!
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Siddika Jaffer liked thisSiddika Jaffer liked thisWe've been invited to introduce Kyra Law at today's Plug and Play Friday Pitch Session for AI-native* services firms. So C̶l̶a̶u̶d̶e̶ I got to make some slides about where we are with Kyra. No external funding, charging our startup clients a fraction of what City firms charge, and 6 months in we've already crossed a few nice milestones 🚀 Thank you to the 100+ clients who trust us, and to the partners who keep sending clients our way. If you’re in the virtual West Coast room today, come and say hello. *𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥! 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘐-𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦?! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩!
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Siddika Jaffer liked thisSiddika Jaffer liked this52% of students at universities and colleges say faith is important to them, Equi's report 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘌𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 finds, with data from National Union of Students (UK). In this video, Ali Yaqoob explains what that means for campuses. Faith-based student charity serves people of all faiths and none, and Charity Week, predominantly student-led, has helped raise over £20 million globally since 2000. The report recommends proportionate faith spaces and more support for chaplains, so students do not have to choose between their faith and their classes. Read the new report 👉 https://lnkd.in/eAKiMsDH #HigherEducation #FaithOnCampus #SocialCohesion #PublicPolicy #HaveFaithInHigherEducation
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Siddika Jaffer reacted on thisSiddika Jaffer reacted on thisIf your body is whispering - or shouting out - that it’s time for a change? This is your sign to listen. 🌿✨ Next year, we are heading to South Africa for a transformative retreat designed specifically for mid-life and perimenopausal women. This isn't just a getaway; it’s a chance to step out of the daily juggle, reset your rhythm, and navigate this powerful transition alongside women who truly understand. #pause #priotitise #nextchapter Siddika Jaffer Farah Ahmed
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Siddika Jaffer liked thisSiddika Jaffer liked thisAI is changing more than how travelers plan—it’s changing how they decide where to go in the first place. 🌍🤖 I’m excited to join the Travel Trends Podcast Summit V3: Beyond AI for: Destination to Decision: AI’s New Role in How Travelers Choose I’ll be speaking alongside C.A. Clark of Miles Partnership, Michelle Denogean of Mindtrip, Inc., and Ben M. of Maya about how AI is reshaping travel discovery, inspiration, and decision-making—and what that means for destinations and travel brands. 📅 Wednesday, October 28 🕛 12:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM London 💻 Virtual and free to attend The full Travel Trends Summit runs October 28–29, from 9:00 AM–5:00 PM ET. Register here: https://lnkd.in/eZDiqtNh Thank you to Melissa Christian, Dan Christian and the Travel Trends Podcast team for bringing this conversation together. See you there! ✈️ #TravelTrendsSummit #TravelTechnology #ArtificialIntelligence #TravelAI #DestinationMarketing #FutureOfTravel #TravelIndustry #NaviSavi
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Siddika Jaffer liked thisSiddika Jaffer liked thisSteve Jobs 2005: “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards… So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future” I'm excited to announce that I'm joining Mistral . Mistral's mission of championing sovereign AI, building at the frontier, and pushing the boundaries of enterprise AI could not be more relevant for the Middle East and Africa, where governments and businesses want AI they can own, control, and trust. We are here to empower customers to harness the full power of frontier AI and create meaningful value. This also means closing a thirteen-year chapter at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) , and I'm immensely grateful. It is a place that challenges the norm and encourages dreaming ambitiously, and above all, a place where I met extraordinary people and made true friends. Thank you to everyone who was part of this journey. From consulting to Digital Ventures to BCG X , each step built on the last, and today that path naturally leads me to Mistral! The dots are connecting :)
Experience & Education
Honors & Awards
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Emerald 100 Inspiring Muslims
Emerald Network
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Top 500 Global Leader of the Islamic Economy
Islamica 500
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Top 5 Muslim Startups to Watch
Forbes
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James Tabor
James Tabor
Founded four start-ups over the past ten years predominantly leveraging Big Data, AI and block chain technologies. During my time in the UK tech scene I have mentored many founders getting going on their start-up journey.<br><br>Now building new companies for large LPs at BCGDV. Working on how the Enterprise will be able to embrace emerging deep-technologies.
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