Question: How do you see the U.S. market, and what is the new normal from an African perspective?

My Response: The new normal is that the U.S. economic architecture is being redesigned, and what we are witnessing is not a single adjustment but a series of unfolding “new normals” that will play out over the next few years. I saw a similar pattern when Britain exited the European Union. The country cycled through leaders, each searching for a magic wand. None appeared because structural redesigns do not yield instant solutions.

So, what is happening in the United States? America is now experiencing jobless growth. If you track average monthly job creation since 2021, the trajectory is unmistakable: from the exuberant highs of nearly 600,000 jobs per month to fewer than 100,000. Last month, the U.S. added just 64,000 jobs. Yet, unemployment rates remain relatively low, not because the economy is firing on all cylinders, but partly because immigration has slowed, reducing new entrants into the labor force. That demographic slowdown is masking a deeper structural shift.

President Trump understands this reality. Tariffs became one lever to stimulate domestic production. But tariffs alone cannot bridge a fundamental cost gap where a worker in Cambodia earns $10 a day, making relocation to Los Angeles economically unattractive even with a 100% tariff. The Federal Reserve, bound by its dual mandate of employment and price stability, watches this paradox unfold: low unemployment on paper, but slowing job creation beneath the surface.

Meanwhile, Wall Street is euphoric. Equity markets rally, corporate profits rise, and capital flows remain strong. But for the newly graduated American seeking a first job, the experience feels very different. Somewhere between AI-driven productivity gains, corporate efficiency pushes, and shifting demographics lies an unresolved equation.

Many blame AI for the disappearance of entry-level roles. But the truth is more nuanced. The U.S. economy was already losing momentum before AI adoption accelerated following ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022. AI did not create the imbalance; it simply amplified it. And no one has yet figured out how to unwind this paralysis without trade-offs.

From an African perspective, I drop this Igbo proverb: “onye na-amaghi ebe mmiri bidoro mawa ya, agaghi ama ebe o kwusiri” [he who does not know where the rain began to beat him cannot know where it will stop]. Ask an Igbo elder around you to explain that because as Mazi Chinua Achebe noted, proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May Resigns as Illusion of “The Rise of Me Only” Ravages

Lovable, the Stockholm-based artificial intelligence startup riding the surge of interest in so-called “vibe coding,” has vaulted into the top tier of Europe’s startup ecosystem after a new funding round valued the company at $6.6 billion, according to people familiar with the deal who spoke to CNBC.

The round, which has not yet been formally announced, includes U.S. venture capital firm Accel, a returning investor that has become one of the most influential backers of AI-native software companies. Khosla Ventures is also participating, one of the sources said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because the transaction is private. Forbes reported in November that Lovable was raising at a valuation of around $6 billion.

If confirmed, the deal marks a dramatic step-up from Lovable’s $1.8 billion valuation in July, when it raised $200 million. The new price tag means Lovable has more than tripled its valuation in a matter of months, making this its third funding round in 2025 and underscoring the intensity of investor demand for fast-growing AI developer platforms.

Founded in 2023, Lovable has become one of the fastest-scaling software companies in Europe. In November, the company disclosed that it had reached $200 million in annual recurring revenue, an extraordinary jump from the $1 million ARR milestone it crossed less than a year earlier. At the time, Lovable said users were creating roughly 100,000 projects per day on its platform, a figure that highlights both strong adoption and heavy daily usage.

Lovable’s core product allows users to build applications and websites through natural language prompts, without needing to write code. The platform relies on large language models from providers such as OpenAI and Anthropic, translating text instructions into functioning software. This approach has resonated with founders, designers, and small teams that want to move quickly, as well as with more experienced developers looking to speed up prototyping and iteration.

The company’s rise places it at the center of a broader shift in how software is created. Investors increasingly believe that AI-assisted development tools can dramatically expand the number of people who are able to build digital products, lowering technical barriers and compressing development timelines. That thesis has already driven eye-catching valuations in the United States, where Anysphere, the maker of coding tool Cursor, raised $2.3 billion at a $29.3 billion valuation in November.

Replit reached a $3 billion valuation after a $250 million round in September, while Vercel closed a $300 million funding round valuing it at $9.3 billion.

Against that backdrop, Lovable’s valuation looks less like an outlier and more like Europe’s answer to a U.S.-dominated category. Accel’s continued backing is notable in that context. The firm has emerged as a key conduit for capital flowing into “vibe coding” startups, having also participated in billion-dollar rounds for Cursor and for Thinking Machines, the AI company founded by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati.

Lovable’s July funding round already drew a mix of prominent European and global names, including Creandum, Klarna founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski, ElevenLabs founder Mati Staniszewski, and Synthesia founder Victor Riparbelli. The fresh capital further strengthens its balance sheet as competition intensifies and as well-funded rivals push aggressively to capture developers and non-technical users alike.

The company is also signaling global ambitions. While headquartered in Stockholm, Lovable is opening offices in Boston and San Francisco, a move that would put it closer to major customers, partners, and talent pools in the U.S. market. That expansion suggests the company sees itself not as a regional champion but as a global contender in AI-powered software creation.

The key question for investors will be whether Lovable can sustain its growth trajectory as the market matures and as large AI model providers continue to move up the stack, offering more end-to-end product-building tools themselves. For now, the latest funding round confirms that capital markets are willing to pay a premium for companies that sit at the intersection of AI infrastructure and everyday productivity.

In doing so, Lovable has become a rare example of a European startup reaching multi-billion-dollar valuation territory at speed, reinforcing the view that the next wave of globally significant AI companies will not be built in Silicon Valley alone.