The struggle to find care that sparked a business
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 20 March 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We meet Chika Madubuko, the founder and CEO of Greymate Care, an online platform that connects people that need support with professional caregivers in Nigeria. It’s a business that was born in 2016 after her family struggled to find a trustworthy carer for her grandmother.
If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Leanna Byrne Producers: Ahmed Adan and Niamh McDermott
Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.
Each episode is a 17-minute, daily deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.
Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, the economic impact of the war in the Middle East, and why bond markets are so powerful.
We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include Google's Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and the CEO of Canva, Melanie Perkins.
(Picture: Chika Madubuko. Credit: Chika Madubuko)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Hello, I'm Leanna Byrne and welcome to meet the founders from Business Daily on the BBC World |
| 0:13.0 | Service. This is where we speak to innovators around the world about the ideas, risks and realities |
| 0:18.9 | behind starting a business. Today, how a family crisis sparked an idea |
| 0:24.3 | that's now helping thousands of people find care across borders. The first thing that I learned was |
| 0:30.8 | compatibility, using my grandma as the first person, because I just thought it was enough to get someone who knew how to do the job. |
| 0:40.1 | Chika Madibuco is the CEO and founder of Greymate Care, an online platform connecting elderly |
| 0:46.6 | and vulnerable people with professional carers in Nigeria. That's our founder today. |
| 0:54.0 | In many parts of the world, caring for older relatives is something families do themselves. |
| 1:00.1 | It's expected. |
| 1:01.1 | It's cultural. |
| 1:02.2 | But that model is being tested. |
| 1:04.3 | People are moving away for work, for education, and suddenly that support system isn't there the same way. |
| 1:11.8 | That's something Chica Madibuco experienced firsthand when her grandmother became seriously ill. |
| 1:18.4 | What followed was the idea for a business, one that uses technology, to bridge that gap. |
| 1:24.2 | I started by asking her about her early life. |
| 1:26.6 | I grew up in the northern part of Niger in a big |
| 1:30.9 | family. I started schooling in Niger and then I finished at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK. |
| 1:38.6 | Did you like any particular subjects in school? Was there anything that maybe you look back back and say, yeah, that is where I am |
| 1:45.8 | because of where I am today? One trait that I had in school and I had till today would be |
| 1:51.0 | curiosity. My core subjects would be chemistry, biology, physics, but it didn't matter because |
| 1:58.4 | I excelled in the arts, which were like literature in English, |
... |
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