Afrobility: Africa Tech and Business - #23: Stock trading services (African WealthTech Pt 1) - How retail investment platforms are racing to build the African Robinhood and Zerodha

#23: Stock trading services (African WealthTech Pt 1) - How retail investment platforms are racing to build the African Robinhood and Zerodha

02/22/21 • 99 min

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

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

Previous Episode

#22: African Corporate VCs & Softbank - Why African corporates are not investing in tech startups

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

Next Episode

#24: Neobanks (African WealthTech Pt 2) - How TymeBank, Kuda & other digital banks are delivering banking services across Africa

Overview: Today we’re going to discuss the rise of Neobanks in Africa. We’ll start with reviewing Neobanks in other emerging markets, discuss the landscape of neobanks across different African regions & end with our general thoughts and outlook. This episode was recorded on Mar 7, 2021.

Companies discussed: Nubank, TymeBank, Kuda Bank, Umba, DoPay, Zazu, PiggyVest, Cowryrise, Risevest & Bettr

Business concepts discussed: Retail banking strategy, African customer segmentation strategy & low-end disruption

Conversation highlights:

(01:00) - Neobanks context and background
(02:20) - Why we’re discussing neobanks
(03:20) - The Nubank story: Brazil background, growth, strategy and fundraising
(17:09) - Context and background on banking in Africa
(17:40) - Banking context in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya
(23:50) - Opportunities and challenges for Africa’s neobanks
(34:54) - Neobank startups in South Africa
(35:40) - Tyme Bank deepdive
(44:25) - Neobank startups in West Africa
(45:10) - Kuda Bank deepdive
(53:40) - Neobank startups in East Africa
(56:40) - Neobank startups in North Africa
(1:01:30) - International candidates to create neobanks in Africa
(1:05:40) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:18:10) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:28:56) - Recommendations, small wins and open questions

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendations: Unscripted: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship (MJ Demarco), When 95% of your customers can’t afford $30/year (by Jason Njoku): Great article, it has similar themes to our uLesson pricing strategy discussion & 3 Idiots (2009 movie): Outstanding movie about friendship, creating your own path in life & education
Small win: Setup my Staples Dexley chair. Gotta get the right gear if you're working from home all the time
Open question: What's the best starting point of features if you want to build a consumer wealthtech app?

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions: