Afrobility: Africa Tech & Business

Overview: Today we’re going to discuss cryptocurrency trading in Africa. We start with the global context of cryptocurrency, review crypto trading exchanges in Africa & end with our overall outlook. This episode was recorded on Mar 21, 2021.

Companies discussed: Coinbase, BitPesa, Xend, BuyCoins, eToro, Luno, Paxful, Quidax & Coinmama

Business concepts discussed: Asset allocation strategy, decentralized networks, cryptocurrency innovation, Fintech customer acquisition strategy, investment regulation & open-source decentralization

Conversation highlights:

• (01:30) - Why we’re talking about Cryptocurrency in Africa
• (03:20) - Background and context: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin and Altcoins
• (12:20) - Potential downsides of cryptocurrencies; Stablecoins background
• (22:40) - Rise of cryptocurrency in Africa
• (28:52) - Use cases for cryptocurrency in Africa
• (36:15) - Africa’s regulatory environment for cryptocurrency
• (40:30) - Crypto startups in West Africa
• (49:36) - Crypto startups in Southern Africa
• (55:20) - Crypto startups in East Africa
• (59:59) - Crypto startups in North Africa
• (1:07:44) - Bankole's overall outlook
• (1:18:03) - Olumide’s overall outlook
• (1:27:50) - Recommendations and small wins
  

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

• Recommendation: Sam Altman's Stanford course: "How to Start a Startup": 20 videos about startup life from 2014. Fabulous.
• Small win: Getting into the routine of chatting with friends on video call weekends. A lot of fun
• Other content: ARK Invest Bitcoin white paper Part 2 (from 2020-Sep) & Stablecoins explanation (by 99Bitcoins)
• Open question: How should African govt regulate cryptocurrency trading?
  

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

• Recommendations: Why Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland - Face2Face Africa & Okay by Adekunle Gold - YouTube
• Small win: Chelsea FC - unbeaten in 14, only conceded 2 goals.
• Other content: Why Crypto is coming out of the shadows - Morgan Stanley & Africa crypto landscape - StartupList Africa
• Open question: How can cryptocurrency drive financial inclusion?
  

We’d love to hear from you. Please email [email protected] to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com

Overview: Today, we're going to talk about Sendwave - the mobile remittances service that was acquired by WorldRemit in 2020-Aug. We start with the context of African remittances, discuss Sendwave's early history, growth, acquisition by WorldRemit & end with our overall outlook. This episode was recorded on May 2nd, 2021

Companies discussed: Sendwave (Remittances), Wave (Mobile money / Consumer FinTech), WorldRemit (Zepz), Chipper Cash, Transferwise, Remitly, Western Union, MoneyGram & Safaricom

Business concepts discussed: African remittances, personal finance OS, neobanks, Market expansion entry & Consumer Fintech (WealthTech) entry strategy

Conversation highlights:

• (01:15) - What is Sendwave and why we’re talking about it
• (05:10) - Global Remittances context, size and trends
• (11:30) - Remittances in Sub-Saharan Africa
• (21:00) - Sendwave founding and early history
• (25:15) - Product strategy - UX, fees, disbursement speed, integrations
• (31:12) - Fundraising - Seed, series A and expansion
• (43:20) - WorldRemit's $500M acquisition
• (49:40) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
• (58:30) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
• (1:09:38) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

• Recommendation: Software is eating the rest of the world (By Derin Adebayo): Fabulous.
• Recommendation: The Simple Path to Wealth (JL Collins). Amazing.
• Small win: Flew to ATL to catch-up with a friend visiting. Awesome.
  

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

• Recommendation: Promising Young Woman
• Small win: Started a garden to grow vegetables
• Other content: Symplifi & Wave Mobile Money Engineering blog

We’d love to hear from you. Please email [email protected] to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com

Overview: Today we’re going to talk about WealthTech & the rise of retail investing platforms in Africa. We’ll start with some context of stock market trading, review investment platforms in India & China & then dive into Africa's personal investing landscape. This episode was recorded on Feb 21, 2021.

Companies discussed: RobinHood, Zerodha, Futu, Ant Financial / AliPay, Bamboo, Chaka, Trove, Abacus, ARM Pensions, eToro, AvaTrade, Thndr, EasyEquities, Wealth.ng, RiseVest, PiggyVest & Cowrywise

Business concepts discussed: Personal finance strategy, retail investment strategy & wealth management

Conversation highlights:

• (00:40) - WealthTech & InvestTech context
• (03:40) - Stock trading & Brokerages context
• (15:40) - Indian investment platforms: Zerodha
• (20:40) - Chinese investment platforms: Futu & AliPay
• (28:52) - African retail investment context
• (30:08) - Currency risks and devaluation in Africa
• (42:26) - Retail investing stories
• (50:00) - WealthTech in West Africa
• (56:20) - WealthTech in East Africa
• (1:00:15) - WealthTech in Southern & Northern Africa
• (1:15:50) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and general outlook
• (1:24:22) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and general outlook
• (1:31:15) - Recommendations and small wins
  

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

• Recommendations: How to do the things you keep avoiding: Excellent article about dealing with procrastination & Building for the Enterprise (Aaron Levie): Video about building B2B products. Insightful & funny
• Small wins: Spent time with friend’s dog & Feedly pro+: Excellent
• Other content: India Investments sub-reddit, Zerodha story: Wonderful story, inspirational and heartfelt, Stock market participation in Zimbabwe paper & PiggyVest vs CowyRise vs RiseVest comparison video
• Open question: How should retail investing apps adapt their business models in the next 1-3 years?

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

• Recommendations: The startling convexity of expertise & Why Explore Space?
• Small wins: FPL on a tear! Crushing all my mini-leagues :) + Visit from a good friend
• Other content: The harder you work, the luckier you get, Flash Boys & Market cap of domestic companies (% of GDP) & Contracts for Difference
• Open question: What do you think about the chances for foreign investors in African wealthtech?

If you have feedback or just want to say hello, please email [email protected]

Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com

Overview: Today we’re going to talk about African Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) using Softbank as a reference point. We'll talk about Softbank's early history, transition from operational to investment company, and finally dive into the current state and future potential of CVC in Africa. This episode was recorded on Feb 7, 2021

Companies discussed: Softbank, Naspers / Prosus, MTN, Nedbank, Safaricom, Orange, Stripe, Visa, MasterCard, Tencent & Alibaba

Business concepts discussed: Corporate Venture Capital (CVC), M&A strategy, Internal vs External innovation & developing market investment strategy

Conversation highlights:

• (01:05) - Why we’re talking about Corporate Venture Capital
• (03:50) - Why we picked Softbank as a reference point
• (07:30) - Masayoshi Son background Softbank History
• (16:14) - Softbank acquisitions, investments & the Vision Fund
• (28:24) - Southern Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates
• (36:40) - West Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates
• (43:00) - East Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates
• (51:56) - North Africa CVCs - current potential candidates
• (53:40) - Non-African CVCs investing in Africa
• (59:30) - Bankole’s closing thoughts
• (1:11:55) - Olumide’s closing thoughts
• (1:23:38) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

• Recommendation: Billionaire's Build (Paul Graham): Wonderful article from PG about entrepreneur billionaires and how to get into YC.
• Recommendation: ESI millionaire interview 220: Great article telling the story of a 57 yr old woman journey to become a millionaire. Very inspirational!
• Recommendation: History of Japan video: Crazy 9 minute video. Fun!
• Small win: 4hr dinner with friends by the ocean. :)
• Other content: Techpoint Visa article & Packy McCormick's wonderful Tencent article (on Not Boring)
• Open question: What African companies would you like to see invest more in startups? And why?
• Special thanks: Ato Bentsi-Enchill

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

• Recommendation: Text Expander
• Small win: Fifa Seasons Division 2 -> 1 promotion
• Other content: MEST Article on MTN investments in African startup ecosystem
• Other content: GSMA report on Emerging Markets Corporate Venture Capital
• Open question: Are you optimistic about the CVC investment in African startup ecosystem, or do you think it’s never going to happen.

We’d love to hear from you. Please email [email protected] to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com

Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Paga, the fintech payments company. We'll discuss its founding, early history, growth, impact & end with our overall outlook. This episode was recorded on May 30, 2021.

Companies discussed: Paga, Safaricom (M-Pesa), bKash, GTBank, First Bank, Chipper Cash, MTN, Airtel, FairMoney, Flutterwave, Paystack, Interswitch (Quickteller) & OPay

Business concepts discussed: Unbanked population, Financial inclusion, Mobile money, Payment platforms, government regulation, global expansion & telco competition

Conversation highlights:

• (00:40) - What Paga does and why we’re talking about it
• (04:27) - Founder background, Paga founding
• (07:20) - Payments context at the time of Paga’s founding
• (19:40) - Fundraising - Seed, Series A, B, B2
• (24:30) - Expansion plans to Ethiopia, Mexico, Philippines
• (26:30) - Product strategy and features
• (40:50) - Monetization and user growth over time
• (50:46) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
• (58:13) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
• (1:09:00) - Recommendation and small wins
  

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

• Recommendations: Countdown to retirement (part 1, part 2 and part 3), LinkedIn Feed Blocker & Twitter Timeline eradicator
• Small win: Didier Drogba's message to Chelsea before 2021 CL & Kai Havertz response after winning CL
  

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

• Recommendation: Eni Duro - Olamide, 0809ja for life - Etisalat advert & Correct models are bad
• Small win: CHELSEA FC ARE CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE! Big win!
  

We’d love to hear from you. Please email [email protected] to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com