Afrobility: Africa Tech & Business

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Overview: Today, we’re going to explore IHS Towers - the African telecommunications infrastructure company. We’ll discuss the story across the following areas:

Telecom tower infrastructure context
IHS Towers' early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on May 5, 2024

Companies discussed: IHS Towers, MTN, Airtel, Telkom, Orange, Etisalat / 9 Mobile, American Tower Company, Globacom, Libancell, Helios Towers Nigeria, Telkom, Vodacom, Goldman Sachs, (IFC), Public Investment Corporation of South Africa, Ecobank, Investec, Standard Bank.

Business concepts discussed: Tower Infrastructure, Shared communication infrastructure, Tower Leasing and Ownership Models, Market Expansion, Sale and Leaseback, Local vs Global Strategy, Capital-intensive business models, Currency devaluation

Conversation highlights:

(01:50) - What IHS does and why we’re talking about it
(04:37) - How Towers work
(12:47) - How Telcos work with Towers in Nigeria and parts of Africa
(23:22) - IHS Founding and Early History
(34:19) - Funding
(39:32) - Growth and International Expansion
(47:26) - IHS IPO and trends post IPO
(55:50) - Product Strategy & Monetization
(1:08:30) - Competition
(1:16:22) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:24:06) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:30:24) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Recommendation: Incredible Dance routine video to Sisa Song by King Promise: I love it so much I'm not sure how to put it into words. 1 minute of greatness
Recommendation: Chris Brown “Sensational” live performance : Watching Chris Brown dance is watching a master of his craft.
Recommendation: J. Cole - Let Nas Down
Recommendation: Nas - Make Nas Proud
Recommendation: Nas & Eminem - EPMD 2
Recommendation: Nas - Rare
Small win: Went back to reading older books to reset my reading palate

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: The Search for the Perfect Door - YouTube && Unusual Electric Car Features in Nigeria - Bloomberg
Small win: Running sprints
Other content: Palito FM Autoscan Radio

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to explore eTranzact - the African payments and switching platform. We’ll discuss the story across the following areas:

First, Nigerian payments context
Second, eTranzact's early history
Third, Product & monetization strategy
Fourth, Competitive positioning
Fifth, Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on Feb 11, 2024

Companies discussed: eTranzact, Interswitch, Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL), Systemspecs (Remita), Paystack, Flutterwave, Moniepoint, Paga, OPay, MTN & Airtel.

Business concepts discussed: Mobile money, Payments Collections, Payments ecosystem, payments partnerships strategy, card networks, payments infrastructure, low-end disruption, banking regulation & payments M&A strategy

Conversation highlights:

(00:57) - What is eTranzact and why we’re talking about it
(07:43) - Context of Nigeria’s payment sector before eTranzact
(16:45) - eTranzact founding story
(35:46) - Growth and geographic expansion
(45:10) - Product strategy
(01:02:56) - Monetization strategy
(01:20:41) - Competition
(1:31:10) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:34:38) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:43:20 - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Recommendation: Never Enough (Loren Allred). Incredible. I can listen to it on repeat for the whole day.
Recommendation: La Bachata (Maniel Turizo). Dope shit.
Recommendation: "Someone You Loved". Not the original but a fabulous cover. Best line, "I was getting kinda used to being someone you loved". Listen to the 3rd verse when they sing simultaneously. Incredible!
Recommendation: A Million Miles Away movie. It is a biographical drama film about the life of José Hernández, a Mexican-American migrant farm
Small win: Booked Cirque Du Soleil show. Looking forward to it.

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Comma - Burna Boy && Wolfram|Alpha as the Way to Bring Computational Knowledge Superpowers to ChatGPT
Small win: Clean shaven + the Nigerian AFCON semifinal win only to lose in the final a few hours after recording :(
Other content: History of Web Acquiring in Nigeria && Atlas Copco on Invest Like The Best && An Empirical Examination of Why Mobile Money Schemes Ignite in Some Developing Countries but Flounder in Most

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to explore Moove, the mobility fintech. We’ll discuss the story across the following areas:

African mobility and transportation context
Moove's launch & early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Our overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Jan 14, 2024

Companies discussed: Moove, Uber, Lyft, Autochek, Cars45, GoKada, Creditas, Swvl, Lori, Sendy & FairMoney

Business concepts discussed: Revenue-based financing, asset-based lending, Ridesharing & Mobility entrepreneurship

Conversation highlights:

(01:20) - What Moove does and why we’re talking about it
(06:57) - Context of mobility and public transportation in Nigeria
(21:50) - Founders’ background
(27:50) - Moove founding and early history
(32:16) - Fundraising
(43:20) - Growth and Geographical Expansion
(48:15) - Partnerships
(1:07:26) - Product and Monetization Strategy
(1:28:44) - Metrics
(1:33:50) - Competition and options for exit
(1:53:10) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:09:07) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:26:12) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Recommendation: The Gap and The Gain (by Benjamin Hardy & Dan Sullivan: Book about mindset and approach to life, measuring success, fulfilment and happiness.
Recommendation: Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life (Arnold Schwarzenegger): Great book by the legend about principles to approach life to get what you want. At this point, I've read all his books and can recommend them all. Arnold records the audiobook end-to-end by himself so be ready for awesomeness
Small win: Completely revamped by Body Skincare after getting deep into research about this

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Money Maze Podcast - Interview with the CEO of De Beers && We are different from all other humans in history && The Reality of the Danish Fairytale
Small win: Successful visa application to South Africa
Other content: Nigeria’s Secured Lending Opportunity - bankole.org

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

The Gap and The Gain: The High Achievers' Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success

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Overview: Today, we’re going to explore AFEX, the African commodities exchange. We’ll discuss the story across the following areas:

African Agriculture context
AFEX's launch & early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Dec 24, 2023

Companies discussed: AFEX, EAX (East African Commodity Exchange), Tony Elumelu Foundation, Heirs Holdings, Apollo Agriculture, NCX, Cargill, Louis Dreyfuss, 50 Ventures & Berggruen Charitable Trust

Business concepts discussed: Agriculture technology (AgTech, AgriTech or AgroTech), Agribusiness marketplaces, farming financing, Farmer market access opportunities, Agriculture insurance strategy, Commodity trading & Internal Entrepreneurship (Incubated company strategy).

Conversation highlights:

(01:10) - What Afex is and why we’re talking about it
(08:36) - Context of agriculture in Africa
(21:49) - AFEX Founding story
(33:28) - Fundraising
(39:56) - Growth, geographical expansion and partnerships
(49:42) - Product strategy, monetization and growth
(59:14) - Cost structure, revenue and margins
(1:10:00) - Business and user metrics
(1:13:14) - Competition and options for exit
(1:21:02) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:34:25) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:47:45) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Recommendation: I went back and re-read some of my classic books: How I found freedom in an Unfree world (Harry Browne), Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and It's All Small Stuff (Richard Carlson) & A Guide to the Good Life - The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (William B. Irvine)
Small win: Hiking with new friends in St Thomas. Cool

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: FiveBooks.Com - FiveBooks.com shares lists of the best five books on many topics, chosen by experts in that area
Recommendation: Jeff Bezos on Lex Fridman Podcast. A rare Jeff Bezos long form interview.
Small win: Running while listening to Big 7 - Burna Boy
Fact check: Tony Elumelu narrates How He Went from Second Class Lower Degree to Nigeria's Billionaire
Other content: FT ranking: Africa's Fastest Growing Companies 2023 & AFEX Nigeria loses maize worth N85m to 'police raid'

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and It's All Small Stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life, Gift Edition

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Nomba (formerly known as Kudi) , the FinTech payments solutions provider. We’ll explore the story across the following areas:

African & Nigerian SME context
Nomba's early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Our overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on December 3, 2023

Companies discussed: Nomba (Kudi), MoniePoint (TeamApt), Yoco, Kuda Bank, Flutterwave, Paystack, Stripe, Safaricom, Brass Banking, TradeDepot, Sabi, Paystack, Flutterwave, MTN, Airtel, Bumpa, Vendease, Orda, OPay, OnePipe, Paga, FairMoney, Omnibiz, Interswitch & Kippa

Business concepts discussed: SME Agency Banking, Informal retail, banking, Open banking & Mobile Money, Merchants solutions, Points-of-Sale devices, SME Lending & hardware and software bundling

Conversation highlights:

(01:25) - Nomba context
(06:29) - Context of African SMEs and Informal retail
(19:10) - Founding story and founders’ background
(29:02) - Fundraising
(43:07) - Partnerships, Geographical expansion and Team
(47:55) - User metrics
(52:55) - Product and Monetization strategy
(1:02:24) - Competition and options for exit
(1:12:35) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:18:50) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:24:40) - Recommendation and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Recommendation: Jay-Z at Madison Square Garden. Incredible. He performs so many of his hit songs with an ensemble of other artists. I was jumping of my chair rapping along.
Recommendation: Charlie Munger died last week.. What a hero. What a legend. What a mind. I love the guy. I can recommend all his books and videos

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Constellation Software on Business Breakdowns
Small win: Running in Paris and Ray-Ban Meta glasses

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to explore TymeBank - the South African neobank. We’ll discuss the story across the following areas:

African & Nigerian banking context
TymeBank's launch, early history, growth & fundraising
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook.

Companies discussed: TymeBank, African Rainbow Capital (ARC), MTN, Kuda Bank, Chipper Cash, FairMoney, Carbon, Discovery Bank, Branch, Pick N Pay, TakeAlot, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Bank Zero, Naspers & NuBank

Business concepts discussed: International expansion, Startups and Distribution, Deposit banking, International expansion, Data sovereignty,

Conversation highlights:

(00:30) - TymeBank context
(08:15) - Context of African Banking
(24:20) - TymeBank founding story
(52:20) - Fundraising
(55:01) - Growth and geographical expansion
(1:20:03) - Product & Monetization Strategy
(1:50:08) - Competition and options for Exit
(2:00:33) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:10:38) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:15:00) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Recommendation: AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future (Kai-Fu Lee): Great book about the potential of AI told across 10 stories
Recommendation: Dangote (song by Burna Boy). Incredible song
Recommendation: Good Bad Boy (song by Lil Kesh). Catchy and smooth chorus. With a deeper meaning about searching for companionship
Small win: I was in NYC book launch for FIREDOM Book launch. Dope.

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Plunder by Brendan Ballou - A book on the excesses of Private Equity. PE is an example of well-intentioned policy having (unintentional?) downstream impact.
Recommendation: Business Breakdown Podcast on Mobile Gaming: The uneven distribution of paying customers in mobile gaming reminds me of emerging market telco companies
Small win: Quest 3 Headset! VR is coming along nicely.
Other content: TymeBank Holdings 2022 Financial Statement & Substack on the history of Tyme Global

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to explore Carbon, the credit-led Neobank. We’ll discuss the Carbon story across the following areas:

African lending & consumer credit
Carbon's founding & early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on Oct 15, 2023

Companies discussed: Carbon (PayLater, One Credit, OneFi, One Finance), Diamond Bank, Cafe Neo, Kaizen Venture Partners, FairMoney, Branch, Paga, Kuda Bank, GTBank, Access Bank, Chipper Cash, NuBank, Lesaka (NET1 UEPS), Lendable, Interswitch, Visa, RenMoney, Tala & Safaricom (M-Pesa)

Business concepts discussed: Smartphone credit assessment, consumer lending, unbanked population, Neobank strategy, Personal Finance OS & Buy Now Pay Later

Conversation highlights:

(00:48) - Carbon context
(08:15) - Consumer lending in Africa and Neobanks
(15:32) - Background on African banking and Neobanks
(32:02) - Founding story of Carbon & Founders’ background
(54:04) - Fundraising
(1:01:15) - Growth and Geographical Expansion
(1:08:03) - Acquisitions and investments
(1:15:54) - Team and organisation
(1:19:35) - Key metrics
(1:40:46) - Product strategy and monetization
(2:00:08) - Competition and options for exit
(2:10:33 - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:20:38) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:30:15) - Recommendation and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Recommendation: Lil Kesh - Shoki Remix. Song is beyond nice. I probably understand 15% of it. Lil Kesh was 19 years old when the song was released. The power of young people to Incredible things. Wow!
Recommendation: Lil Kesh - Don't Call Me (feat. Zinoleesky) [Lyrics Visualiser].
Recommendation: Ruger - Ruger. The song literally starts with “Man, I spit fire…”. How can I not love it?
Small win: Switched to Instacart (from Amazon Fresh) for groceries. Not going back

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Fair Isaac Company on Business Breakdowns, MTN on Business Breakdowns
Small win: New phone
Other content: Building Magic - The Cafe Neo story & Chipper Cash AI Day

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about FairMoney, the credit-led Neobank in emerging markets. we’ll explore the FairMoney story across the following areas

African lending & consumer credit
FairMoney's founding & early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on Oct 1, 2023

Companies discussed: FairMoney, Branch, PalmPay, Kuda Bank, Carbon, 54Gene, GTBank, Access Bank, Ecobank, PalmPay, Carbon, PiggyVest, Upstart, Tala, Visa, Mastercard Safaricom (M-Pesa), PayForce & Chipper Cash

Business concepts discussed: Smartphone credit assessment, African customer segmentation strategy, Consumer lending, unbanked population, smartphone credit assessment, Neobank strategy & Personal Finance OS

Conversation highlights:

(03:01) - Intro
(07:19) - African consumer lending & neobank context
(18:35) - Neobanking context and background
(20:00) - FairMoney founding story and Founders’ background
(39:40) - Fundraising
(45:46) - Geographical expansion
(49:05) - Partnerships
(50:16) - Acquisitions
(55:42) - Team & Location strategy
(58:03) - User metrics and traction
(1:04:27) - Product and monetization strategy
(1:24:04) - Competition and options for exit
(1:35:44) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:47:30) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:55:17) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Recommendation 1: Arnold Schwarzenegger book 1: The Education of a Bodybuilder
Recommendation 2: Arnold Schwarzenegger book 2: Total Recall - My Unbelievably True Life Story

Recommendation 3: Richard Feynman's book: What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character (Feynman Book 2). I already read and recommended "Surely, you're joking Mr Feynman which was extraordinary) * Recommendation 4: Finnaus YT channel tells stories about financial companies and investors. Awesome. I watched the history of JP Morgan, Howard Marks, Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, Vanguard and on and on. I must have spent over 10 hours in the past week on it * Small win: Hanging out in Rio de Janeiro. It was fun!

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Zealot by Reza Aslan, Remember Me - Fireboy (FAEM remix) & Lonely At The Top - Asake (FAEM Remix)
Small win: Exercising after recovering from an injury
Other content: Laurin Hainy on TechPoint Africa, We Rich People Will Not Tell You How We Make Our Money - IG Reel, Moneylender licensing in Nigeria , Examples of spurious correlations & Titan: A Golden Case in Indian Retail

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story

What Do You Care What Other People Think: Further Adventures of a Curious Character

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Branch, the FinTech lending company and Neobank. We’ll explore the story across the following 5 areas:

African lending & consumer credit
Branch's founding early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on Sep 10, 2023

Companies discussed: Branch, Kiva, Kuda Bank, Chipper Cash, Earnin, Paga, FairMoney, MFS Africa, GTBank, Access Bank, Ecobank, PalmPay, Carbon, PiggyVest, Upstart, Tala, Visa, Mastercard & Safaricom

Business concepts discussed: Smartphone credit assessment, Consumer lending, neobank strategy, Personal Finance OS, unbanked population, smartphone credit assessment & Pan-African Banking

Conversation highlights:

(01:00) - What Branch is and why we’re talking about it
(07:40) - Africa consumer credit context and background
(19:17) - Branch International founding
(23:31) - Founders’ background
(39:12) - Fundraising and Growth
(51:40) - Geographical expansion
(1:02:01) - Acquisitions and Team overview
(01:15:14) - Product strategy
(1:33:20) - Monetization strategy and Costs
(1:41:58) - Competition and options for exit
(1:57:08) - Bankole’s overall thoughts
(2:10:59) - Olumide’s overall thoughts
(2:30:20) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Recommendation: Eminem - Rap God (OMFG I’m 12 years late, my mind exploded. WOW!)
Recommendation: Can’t Hurt Me (David Goggins). Incredible book about challenges David went to from parental abuse, racism to make something of himself. I went through waves of intense emotions while reading the book. At some points, I was crying in pain with David and other times I was in pure shock about what I was listening to.
Small win: Hosted FIREDOM book launch event in London. Amazing conversations about life, managing money and growth. Dope shit.

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: American Prometheus by Kai Bird, A/B Testing with Fat Tails & Remember Me - Fireboy DML
Small win: Chin-chin from a recent trip to Lagos
Other content: Mobile overdraft facility Fuliza outshines Silicon Valley-backed lending apps in Kenya- TechCrunch & Inside Branch’s 20 percent interest investment push to beat Nigerian bank offerings - TechCabal

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Sabi, the B2B retail & supply chain services platform. We’ll explore the story across the following areas:

Africa’s and Nigeria’s informal retail sector
Sabi’s early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall Outlook.

This episode was recorded on July 23, 2023

Companies discussed: Sabi, Rensource, TradeDepot, Twiga Foods, Wasoko (Sokowatch), Omnibiz, Alerzo, & Marketforce

Business concepts discussed: Informal retail penetration, SMB retail OS, B2B Operating systems, Equity carve-outs, Power as a service, Channel margins & Supply chain logistics

Conversation highlights:

(01:00) - Sabi context
(06:30) - Africa and Nigeria informal retail context and background
(20:39) - Background on the founders
(30:04) - Quick Rensource detour - overview and background
(37:05) - Background on Sabi founding
(47:52) - Fundraising
(56:40) - Geographic expansion, partnerships and metrics, and growth
(1:10:15) - Product Strategy
(1:21:17) - How Sabi makes money
(1:32:06) - Competition and options for exit
(1:46:16) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:55:59) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:07:49) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Recommendation: Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity (book by Peter Attia)
Recommendation: I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression (book by Terrence Real)
Small win: Organized House party with friends yesterday, it was fun.
Small win: Got a new backpack for future travelling, very nice.

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Invest Like The Best with the co-founder of FIGS & Spiderman Song - Nigerian Remix
Small win: New keycaps!!!
Other content: How Equifax became a private IRS, Mission.org podcast episode with CEO Sabi & Norrsken22-Backed Nigerian Startup Plans $125 Million Round

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about TradeDepot. We’ll explore the story across the following areas:

Africa’s and Nigeria’s informal retail sector
TradeDepot's early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall Outlook.

This episode was recorded on June 25, 2023

Companies discussed: TradeDepot, Twiga Foods, Wasoko (Sokowatch), Omnibiz, Alerzo, Marketforce, Sabi, Multipro, FMCG Distributions Limited & Kellogg

Business concepts discussed: Informal retail penetration, SMB retail OS, B2B Operating systems, Informal markets, B2B retail, Buy Now Pay Later, Trade Finance & last-mile distribution

Conversation highlights:

(01:00) - TradeDepot intro and why we’re talking about them
(06:50) - Africa’s informal retail sector
(20:55) - Differences in informal retail across Africa
(25:43) - Founders’ background and early history
(36:45) - Launch strategy
(42:54) - Fundraising and Growth
(49:55) - Growth and geographical expansion
(1:02:33) - Product strategy and evolution
(1:15:26) - Monetization strategy and costs
(1:13:11) - Competition
(1:25:05) - Options for exit
(1:32:52) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:42:22) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:53:03) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Recommendation: Eleven Rings (Phil Jackson). Great book about the unbelievable career of Phil Jackson who won rings with the Bulls (Michael Jordan) & Lakers (Shaq & Kobe).
Recommendation: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse movie. Best movie I’ve seen in years. Remarkably good. Great story. Great visuals. Fun!
Small win: Friends together for a birthday party on a boat and at the club. It was incredible.
Small win: FIREDOM book launch party in Washington DC. I wasn't even there but I felt the energy all the way from here in Miami.

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Voyager Playlist, Basquiat - Asake & Iya Eba’s Legacy
Small win: Switched to a new keyboard - the Keychron K2

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Wasoko (Sokowatch) We’ll explore the story across the following areas:

Africa’s and Kenya’s informal retail context
Wasoko's early history
Wasoko's Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on June 11, 2023

Companies discussed: Wasoko (Sokowatch), Twiga Foods, TradeDepot, OmniBiz, Alerzo, mPharma, Nestle, Unilever, Multipro, Marketforce, Udaan & Flipkart

Business concepts discussed: Informal retail penetration, Agency banking adoption, B2B Operating systems, Informal markets, & last-mile distribution

Conversation highlights:

(00:40) - Sokowatch background and why we’re talking about it
(08:35) - African informal retail context
(16:11) - Founder background and Founding story
(29:55) - Fundraising and early growth
(36:56) - Geographic expansion, growth and partnerships
(45;12) - Team strategy
(54:00) - Product strategy and monetization
(1:10:00) - Competition and options for exit
(1:23:13) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:33:05) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:43:30) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Recommendation: The Slight Edge. Amazing Personal Development book about a mental framework to apply daily actions to get what you want in life. I have read it about 6 times at this point.
Recommendation: Temu.com. Started using it for shopping. It has some cool gamification ideas to nudge ecommerce purchases
Small win: Hosted house party with friends. It was great to see everyone together

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Artificial Intelligence, a guide for Thinking Humans by Melanie Mitchell & Would You Sell Your Extra Kidney - Dylan Walsh
Small win: won my physical activity mini-league
Other content: FT fastest growing companies 2022 & Modularity Theory - Christensen Institute

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness

Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Twiga Foods. We’ll explore the story across the following 6 areas

Africa Agricultural context
Kenya farming & market access context
Twiga Foods’ early history
Twiga Foods’ Product & monetization strategy
Twiga Foods’ Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Future outlook.

This episode was recorded on May 28, 2023

Companies discussed: Twiga Foods, Apollo Agriculture, Vendease, Kibanda, Kellogg, Tolaram, Multipro, Olam, Dangote, Coca-Cola, Shoprite, Cargill, Nestle, Unilever & Safaricom (M-Pesa)

Business concepts discussed: Agriculture technology (AgTech, AgriTech or AgroTech), Agribusiness marketplaces, farming financing, Farmer market access opportunities, SMB Retail, B2B solutions and Agriculture Logistics.

Conversation highlights:

(01:00) - Twiga Foods context
(08:53) - Africa Agriculture context
(18:30) - Kenya background and agriculture context
(23:34) - Market access context in Africa
(31:20) - Market access context at Twiga Foods' founding
(40:12) - Founders’ background and farming context
(56:10) - Fundraising
(1:04:10) - Geographical expansion, Partnerships and Hiring
(1:15:00) - Metrics
(1:20:15) - Product & Monetization strategy, Cost structure
(1:32:58) - Competition
(1:35:00) - Options for exit
(1:45:50) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:58:58) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:06:31) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Berkshire Hathaway story on the Acquired podcast. It has multiple parts and is really good. The Acquired podcast is like the non-African version of Afrobility. They tell stories of companies in developed markets. Alternatively you could say Afrobility is the African version of Acquired.
Recommendation: Exxon-Mobil analyses on Business Breakdown podcast. Business Breakdowns is like a more serious suit-and-tie version of Acquired. As you can tell from my recommendations I like podcasts that analyse businesses.
Small win: Sao Paulo trip. It was fun.
Small win: To physically touch and hold the Firedom (financial independence) book. I and Samon released the paperback and hardcover versions in May and I just received my author copy. It feels magical, the book is beautiful and bright red.

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Article about end of Life Dreams, Hallmarks of Good Product Sense & This Company Will Give You A Free TV In Exchange For Your Data | AdExchanger
Small win: The EPL season is over, and the suffering of being a Chelsea fan is on pause…
Other content: Winning in Africa’s agricultural market, After 18 Months, Your Investment Probably Isn’t Getting Marked Up - Angellist & Kellogg purchases 50% of Multipro for $450M

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Yoco, the South African Point-Of-Sale FinTech company. We’ll explore the story across the following areas:

South African payments context
Yoco’s early history
Yoco’s Product & monetization strategy
Yoco’s Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Apr 9, 2023

Companies discussed: Yoco, Square, Flutterwave, PayFast, PayThru, PayU, DPO, Flutterwave, Paystack, Stripe, Ikhokha, MTN, Safaricom, Zapper, Visa, Interswitch, Nedbank, ABSA, FNB (First National Bank South Africa) & Wave

Business concepts discussed: Merchants solutions, Points-of-Sale devices, SME Lending & hardware and software bundling

Conversation highlights:

(01:30) - Yoco context
(07:30) - Africa / SA payments context
(23:11) - Yoco Founding Story and Founders’ background
(40:45) - Fundraising and Growth
(51:52) - Partnerships, Acquisitions, and Team
(59:20) - Key metrics
(1:02:16) - Product Strategy
(1:19:42) - Monetization strategy
(1:30:50) - Competition
(1:36:42) - Options for exit
(1:49:06) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:57:01) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:07:14) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: I released my book called Firedom = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. It was an incredible journey to get it out and I’m very excited about it. I think many people will really enjoy it. You can buy the audiobook, ebook or print here. Here's an excerpt from the full blog post announcement:
- Book Creation context: Around the end of 2022, I made a new friend when I met Samon, we instantly got along because we shared a lot in common: African immigrants who moved to America/Europe, worked in Management consulting and are in love with personal finance. We decided to embark on a project together and write a financial independence book we are calling Firedom!
- What is Firedom book about? Living life intentionally + Personal finance + Financial independence + Personal Development + Freedom + Exploring your own unique path in life + Life adventures of two African immigrants
- Who is it for? Underdogs, outsiders, expats, nomads, minorities, immigrants interested in :
  - Living their lives more intentionally to achieve Financial Independence
  - Learning about people's life stories (turning points, challenges, flameouts, etc)
  - Changing their mindset and psychological relationship with wealth
  - Recommendation: Owl City - Unbelievable. I love the song so much because it reminds me of adventures and experiences growing up
  - Recommendation: Good Hair - Documentary by Chris Rock. Good shit. Reduced my ignorance level about African women hair
  - Small win: Virgin Voyages cruise - First ever cruise. Very cool.
  - Small win: No scrubs Karaoke on cruise. Too much fun. It was an experience.

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Economist Article on Nitrogen & Asake - 2:30
Small win: Moderating a panel at the Harvard Business School Africa Business Conference
Other content: The Prosperity Paradox by Efosa Ojomo, Karen Dillon, Clay Christensen, Adyen pricing page & PayFast pricing page

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

Join our substack mailing list where discuss more & find all episodes on Afrobility.com

The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about DPO Group. We’ll explore the story across the following areas

African payments context
DPO group’s early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Mar 5, 2023

Companies discussed: DPO Group, Network International, Flutterwave, Paystack, Interswitch, Safaricom, MTN, Airtel, Takealot.com, Superbalist.com, Safaricom, Yoco, PayPal & Chipper Cash

Business concepts discussed: Bootstrapping, Payments ecosystem, payments partnerships strategy, payments infrastructure, low-end disruption, banking regulation, Mobile Money, E-commerce payments, Virtual cards & payments M&A strategy

Conversation highlights:

(04:40) - Africa Payment Context at time of DPO’s founding
(12:46) - DPO Group Founding and early history
(14:05) - Founder Background
(25:57) - Fundraising and Growth
(29:48) - Acquisitions and Partnerships
(51:30) - Product and Monetization Strategy
(1:00:05) - Competition
(1:08:35) - DPO’s exit to Network International
(1:27:15) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:39:10) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:47:01) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: The War of Art: Book for creators and artists to get over the hump and release their inner creative expression to the world
Recommendation: Naval Ravikant podcast with David Deutsch talking about Physics. Amazing episode. Having two of them together is incredible. Like having a rap collabo.
Recommendation: Fela in Versace. Shit is too nice.I love songs that combine unrelated ideas
Small win: Soul Cycle for the First time. Dope shit.

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Stratechery Podcast - Eric Seufert and Ben Thompson & Mike Munger on EconTalk on Decision-making
Small win: I signed up for a gym membership for the first time ever

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about MFS Africa. We’ll explore the MFS Africa story across the following 5 areas:

African payments context
MFS Africa’s early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Jan 29, 2023

Companies discussed: MFS Africa, Safaricom (M-Pesa), Opay, Flutterwave, Paystack, MTN, Airtel, Orange, Chipper Cash, Ecobank, Safaricom, Homesend, TransferTo, MasterCard & Visa

Business concepts discussed: Financial interoperability, mobile money (agency banking), banking regulation, acquisition strategy, payment processing, payment gateways & closed-loop payment networks

Conversation highlights:

(09:50) - Africa payments context and background
(20:26) - MFS Africa founding and early history
(22:06) - Founder background
(31:40) - Fundraising and early growth
(38:44) - Partnerships and M&A
(1:02:15) - Product Strategy
(1:06:30) - Monetization Strategy
(1:13:59) - Competition and Options for Exit
(1:28:51) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:34:00) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:47:00) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Recommendation: Be Happy 35 Powerful Methods for Personal Growth & Well-Being. Talks about practices for a positive mental health. Fun short read that you can refer to time and time again
Small win: Birthday celebrations with friends in Miami, NYC & SF. It was epic!

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Accidental Gods by Anna Della Subin
Small win: I read 3 books in January
Other content: Afrobility Chipper Cash episode , Inside the MFS Africa acquisition of Beyonic & Follow me on Goodreads

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

Be Happy: 35 Powerful Methods for Personal Growth & Well-Being (Volume 1) (Live Well, 1)

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about M-Kopa, the African asset financing platform. We’ll explore the M-Kopa story across 5 areas:

African electrical power context
M-Kopa's early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & exit options
Then we'll end with our views on its overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Jan 15, 2023

Companies discussed: M-Kopa, Safaricom (M-Pesa), d.light, Zola Electric, Transsion, Samsung, Nokia (HMD global), Airtel, MTN, Mobisol, Carbon & Fairmoney

Business concepts discussed: Rural electrification, Payment infrastructure, Pay-as-you-go Solar, Off-grid energy, asset financing, credit scoring, risk assessment & renewable energy

Conversation highlights:

(05:45) - Africa electricity access context
(09:45) - Kenya electricity access context
(14:55) - M-Kopa early history
(16:55 ) - Founders’ background
(25:07) - Other ideas before M-Kopa and M-Kopa launch
(28:44) - Launch strategy - partnerships, sales and distribution
(32:05) - Fundraising, Growth, Geo Expansion, Team
(54:01) - Product strategy and how the product works
(1:06:04) - Monetization strategy
(1:14:16) - Competition and options for exit
(01:29:50) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:38:06) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:48:08) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Recommendation 1: Descript: We use it for afrobility and even though I didn't initially think we needed it, it's grown on me. Especially now that I'm using it more aggressively for my personal finance book (myfiredom.com) editing
Recommendation 2: Dances with wolves movie. So so good!
Small win 1: Hung out with mum during thanksgiving break. It was cool!
Small win 2: New years day with friends in London. It was nice!

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Building an AI Chatbot off Podcast Transcripts
Small win: Happy to be back home after months of travelling in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa
Other content: M-Kopa Solar Is Making a Profit on Poor Africans

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to have a creator roundtable to discuss the African tech ecosystem. We’ll discuss the biggest 2022 moments in Africa Tech & our hopes for the tech ecosystem in 2023. This episode was recorded on Dec 10, 2022

Companies discussed: Flutterwave, FTX, 54gene, Swvl, Chipper Cash, TeamApt, QED, Binance, Remitly, Flutterwave & Jumia

Business concepts discussed: Economic recessions, fundraising, bootstrapping, Cryptocurrency, M&A, Creator monetization & Pan-African Expansion

Conversation highlights:

(07:35) - Biggest moments in 2022 in Africa Tech
(00:53) - Impact of Recession on Africa Tech
(1:00:05) - What we would like to see in Africa Tech 2023
(1:28:00) - Creator Q&A
(2:00:24) - Recommendations & Small Wins

Olumide:

Recommendation: Knives Out 2 (Movie). Excellent and funny sequel :)
Win: Opened Fidelity HSA. I had used Vanguard only previously. Fidelity has nice functionality & UX (especially for HSAs)

Bankole:

Recommendation: Unauthorized Shein boutiques are popping up across Mexico & Co-founding considered harmful
Win: Seeing Emeka in person

Emeka:

Recommendation: Magical Text Expander (tool), Friction (article), Afridigest (newsletter)
Win: Finally meeting & taking a picture with the Oga of Ogas, Bankole. Plus: Afridigest crossing 4500 page followers on LinkedIn — help us on the push to 5000!
Other content: Why super apps are proliferating across emerging markets, The hierarchy of venture opportunities in emerging markets

tin:

Recommendation: ChatGPT & the Dissect podcast
Small win: My alma mater the University of Michigan beating our rivals Ohio State in football for the second year in a row. Getting to spend a lot of in-person quality time with people in the African tech ecosystem over the past few weeks in Cape Town.

Samora:

Recommendation: “The Founders Podcast” by David Senra. Michael Jordan The Life - by Roland Lazenby
Big Win - Getting my 2nd born daughter.
Other content: Amp it Up by Frank Slootman is a great read - Narco Saints on Netflix is superb!

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Reliance Health, the African HealthTech company - we’ll explore the Reliance Health story across the following areas:

African health context
Reliance Health's early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on October 30, 2022

Companies discussed: Reliance Health, Y Combinator (YC), Hygeia HMO, CribMD, AXA Mansard, RedCare & BIMA Health

Business concepts discussed: Insurance monetization, Insurance partnerships, consumer distribution, telco partnerships, product development, consumer market penetration & pricing strategy

Conversation highlights:

(01:00) - Intro and why we’re talking about Reliance Health
(06:12) - Context of Africa and Nigeria’s healthcare
(13:03) - Reliance Health Founding + Early History
(39:25) - Fundraising & Geo expansion
(52:16) - Product strategy and monetization
(1:36:00) - Competition and options for exit
(1:45:57) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:59:57) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:14:17) - Recommendation and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Recommendation: Kinky Boots: Musical show in NYC. It was incredible.
Recommendation: Paying for Status: Talks about loyalty strategy
Recommendation: The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution (by Gregory Zuckerman)
Small win: Finishing Included VC fellowship. It was incredible especially meeting everyone in Included VC live in Barcelona la

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Podcast: Sandy Kemper of C2FO on Fintech One-on-One & Podcast: Invest Like The Best with Karen Karniol-Tambour
Small win: Getting ready for upcoming travel
Other content: Podcast: Femi Kuti on Aid Evolved

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about African Insurtech. We’ll discuss the consumer insurance landscape & analyze InsurTech players. This episode was recorded on October 17, 2022

Companies discussed: Reliance Health, BIMA, Naked Insurance, Pineapple Insurance, Amenli, Creditas, Minutos Seguros, Acko, Policy Bazaar, Casava Insurance, Lami, Curacel, Turaco, Amanleek & Avidea

Business concepts discussed: New product development, consumer market penetration & pricing strategy

Conversation highlights:

(01:20) Consumer InsurTech context
(12:30) Insurtech in other emerging markets - India
(23:40) Insurtech in other emerging markets - Brazil
(34:50) Insurance context in Africa
(47:17 ) Southern Africa startups
(1:02:20) Western Africa startups
(1:14:19) Eastern Africa startups
(1:24:34) Northern Africa startups
(1:31:42) Olumide’s & Bankole’s thoughts
(1:55:05) Recommendations & small wins

Olumide:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech : Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me
Recommendations: Miracle morning (Hal Elrod), 5AM club (Robin Sharma), How I found freedom in an unfree world (Harry Browne) & Early retirement extreme (Jacob Lund Fisker)
3 songs: Burna Boy - For My Hand (ft Ed Sheeran), Black Sherif - Second Sermon (Remix ft Burna Boy) & Craig David - I know you (ft Bastille) - Shoutout to my friend Jason Mothersill
Small win: House party with friends

Bankole:

Recommendation: Ku Lo Sa - Oxlade, HBO - House of Dragons & Facebook Love - Jaywon / Essence
Small win: Africa Tech Mixer in New York
Other content: Baobab Network report on InsurTech & Standard Bank report

All episodes at afrobility.com

The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8am)

Early Retirement Extreme: A Philosophical and Practical Guide to Financial Independence

The 5AM Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life.

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Thrive Agric, the Nigerian Agricultural technology company - we’ll explore Thrive Agric's story across 5 areas:

First we'll start with some context about African agriculture
Thrive Agric's launch & early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on September 25 2022

Companies discussed: Thrive Agric, Apollo Agriculture & FarmCrowdy

Business concepts discussed: Agricultural Technology (AgriTech or AgTech), smallholder farmers acquisition strategy, Agriculture financing, Crowdfunding, Agriculture value and supply chains & Debt financing

Conversation highlights:

(10:41) - Africa Agriculture context
(19:38) - Nigeria Agriculture context
(26:14) - Nigeria crowdfunding backgroun
(32:30) - Founders’ background and launch story
(46:48) - Fundraising
(55:47) - Product and monetization strategy,
(1:09:15) - Competition & options for exit
(1:19:20) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:24:45) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:32:25) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Recommendation: Jim Rohn - How to change your life video - Incredible. He just drops non-stop knowledge bombs. Remarkable
Recommendation: Toucan chrome extension to learn languages
Small win: Exercise of writing 50 goals. Brought up a lot of interesting ideas. Shout to Alan Donegan for facilitating this
Other content: A Thrive Agric Story. One Farmer at a Time.

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: AI And The Limits Of Language, Lindy Hacker News & Lying For Money

Small win: Strength workouts

Other content: Asake - Mr Money with the vibe, ThriveAgricPR - product overview, Leadway Insurance response on Twitter, SEC Nigeria rules on Crowdfunding, Invest Like The Best - Jeff Jordan & Kevin Systrom on Lex Fridman

All episodes on Afrobility.com

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Apollo Agriculture, the Kenyan AgTech company - we’ll explore the Apollo story across the following areas

African agriculture context
Apollo's launch & early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & exit options
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on Aug 21, 2022

Companies discussed: Apollo Agriculture, The Climate Corporation (WeatherBill), Pula, FarmDrive, Monsanto, FairMoney & Kuda Bank

Business concepts discussed: Agricultural Technology (AgriTech or AgTech), smallholder farmers, Risk mitigation, Debt funding, Customer acquisition costs (CAC) & Customer lifetime value (LTV, CLV)

Conversation highlights:

(01:30) - What Apollo agriculture is and why we’re talking about it
(06:10) - Agriculture context in Africa
(21:00) - Context on Agriculture in Kenya
(27:33) - Apollo founding story and founder background
(40:55) - Fundraising and growth
(55:14) - Product and monetization strategy
(1:17:58) - Competition and exit options
(1:27:53) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:34:50) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:49:36) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Recommendation: Little Ways The World Works: Article by Morgan Housel. Great article talking about how learning from different fields is very helpful. He goes over learnings from evolution, astronomy, biology, anatomy, etc
Recommendation: University of Berkshire Hathaway: Auto recommended by Kindle. Great. Chronicles 30 years of Berkshire Hathaway Annual meeting discussions
Small win: Beach gathering with friends, it was fun
Small win: Just got back from NYC 30 minutes before recording this episode, a lot of fun

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Soul In The Game - Vitaly Katsenelson && Asake - Terminator && For My Hand - Burna Boy and Ed Sheeran
Small win: Beat my previous Readwise streak of 190 days!
Other content: CIA Factbook on Kenya, FAOStat Food production, Interdependence and modularity - Christensen institute , All I Want To Know Is Where I'm Going To Die So I'll Never Go There: Buffett & Munger – A Study in Simplicity and Uncommon, Common Sense

Investors, Operators, Entrepreneurs - We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com to share feedback

All I Want To Know Is Where I'm Going To Die So I'll Never Go There: Buffett & Munger – A Study in Simplicity and Uncommon, Common Sense

University of Berkshire Hathaway: 30 Years of Lessons Learned from Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger at the Annual Shareholders Meeting

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Swvl, the Egyptian and Dubai based mobility platform. We’ll explore the Swvl story across 5 areas:

Egypt transportation context
Swvl's early history
Product & monetization strategy
Swvl's SPAC public offering
Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on July 17, 2022

Companies discussed: Swvl, Careem, Uber, Treepz & Rocket Internet

Business concepts discussed: Mobility strategy, Ridesharing, Bus sharing, Public transportation, infrastructure dependencies, IPOs & Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)

Conversation highlights:

(01:00) - Intro and why we’re discussing this topic
(06:15) - Context on Egypt and Africa ridesharing
(13:50) - Founders’ background and Swvl founding
(25:22) - Fundraising and geographical expansion
(31:15) - Expansion strategy and acquisitions
(38:12) - Product and monetization strategy
(59:16) - Competition and SPAC
(1:16:55) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:30:15) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:44:35) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: The Power Law book - About the history of venture capital
Recommendation: Nas - One Mic
Small win: Upgraded RAM in my old laptop, I haven't done that in a while. It feels awesome to do something mechanical like that
Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: What Does A Batsman See & Matter - Reading App & Build by Tony Fadell
Small win: Started taking long walks again. No music, just walks over an hour
Other content: More Money Than God - Sebastian Mallaby & Dial 911 and Wall Street answers - NY Times

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Art of Disruption

More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite (Council on Foreign Relations Books (Penguin Press))

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Overview: Today, we discuss Konga, the Nigerian e-commerce company. We’ll explore the Konga story across 5 areas:

We'll give some context about the Nigerian e-commerce sector
Konga's early history
Product & Monetization strategy
Konga sale
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on July 3, 2022

Companies discussed: Konga, Jumia, Naspers, Kinnevik, Jiji, OLX, Amazon, Takealot, Yudala & Zinox

Business concepts discussed: Ecommerce, marketplaces, classifieds, fundraising strategy, Blitzscaling risks, market readiness & Africa expansion

Conversation highlights:

(01:13) - Konga background and why we’re talking about it
(09:19) - Nigeria background and context
(14:00) - Nigeria commerce context c. 2012
(17:00) - Background on Sim Shagaya
(29:02) - Konga launch strategy and fundraising
(45:55) - Konga monetization
(50:51) - Competition with Jumia
(1:04:35) - Konga’s business lines
(1:08:10) - Konga’s declining fortunes and sale to Zinox
(1:27:00) - Lessons for startups from Konga
(1:39:28) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:53:57) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:57:34) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Eboys - Book about the history of Benchmark
Recommendation: Different kinds of smart (Morgan housel blog post). Article so good that I subscribed to his entire blog
Small win: Listening to 20MinVC episode with Fabrice Grinda (OLX founder) the day after I published Afrobility OLX episode
Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Business Breakdowns Podcast - Amazon Aggregators
Small win: in-person meetings with friends at work
Other content: Chinese E-Commerce to Surpass 50% of Total Retail Sales | BoF - link

Listeners, Operators & Investors: Email info@afrobility.com, we’d love to partner or get your feedback.

All episodes on Afrobility.com

eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about OLX - the classifieds & marketplace platform. We’ll explore the OLX Africa story across 4 areas:

OLX's early history
OLX's growth in other emerging markets
OLX Africa's early history & Naspers acquisition
Naspers OLX exit from Africa

This episode was recorded on June 5, 2022.

Companies discussed: OLX, Jiji, Craigslist, Konga, Naspers, Kalahariads, Dealfish, Pricecheck, Mocality & Tradestable

Business concepts discussed: Classifieds platforms, classifieds monetization, M&A strategy, e-commerce, social commerce, lift and shift business models & international expansion

Conversation highlights:

(01:30) - OLX context
(06:30) - How classifieds work
(12:00) - OLX founding and early history
(26:03) - OLX entry into other emerging markets
(31:10) - OLX entry into Africa
(45:32) - Product and monetization strategy
(58:17) - Discussing OLX’s Africa exit
(1:22:54) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:10:58) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:38:39) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Microsoft 365. I’ve used it for 17 years and it just gets better and better
Small win: Using my old Lenovo ThinkPad from 2016. My computer crapped out on Friday and so I had to dust the cobwebs and it still works
Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Cryptocurrency 161, Reversion to the mean: the real long COVID - by John Luttig & Heartwarming story - Installing a payphone in my house
Small win: 4 mile run after a long break
Other content: Why I am leaving OLX - Fabrice Grinda, Margin Call - IMDB & Larry Tesler - Inventor of Copy and Paste

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Jiji - the African classifieds platform. We’ll explore the Jiji story across 6 areas:

Classifieds platforms in other emerging markets
Classifieds platforms in Africa
Jiji’s early history
Jiji’s product & monetization strategy
Jiji’s competitive positioning & potential exit options
overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on May 15 2022.

Companies discussed: Jiji, Genesis Group, Naspers, OLX, Craigslist, Avito.ru, Adevinta, Jumia, Konga, Cars45, Cheki.ng, Autochek, Tonaton, Saltside Technologies, Bikroy, Dubizzle, Kalahari, Autotrader & Property24

Business concepts discussed: Classifieds platforms, classifieds monetization, M&A strategy, e-commerce, social commerce, agency banking & marketplace

Conversation highlights:

(01:36) - Why we’re talking about GG today
(09:51) - Classifieds platforms in other emerging markets
(23:15) - Africa classifieds context
(27:12) - OLX in Africa
(36:48) - Jiji founding and early history
(45:33) - Fundraising and Growth
(1:03:09) - Product and monetization strategy
(1:09:33) - Competition and options for exit
(1:30:06) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:32:13) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:38:55) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Re-watched Amelie - Great movie
Small win: Setup 2nd whiteboard in my room. Fun times ahead
Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Last Last - Burna Boy & Business Breakdowns Podcast - DigitalBridge
Small win: Planting season in Seattle :)
Other content: Tweet about Twilio stock-based compensation & History of the United States in 5 crashes

Investors, Operators, Entrepreneurs - We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com 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 on Afrobility.com

A History of the United States in Five Crashes: Stock Market Meltdowns That Defined a Nation

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Wave, the African consumer payments company. We’ll explore Wave’s story across 5 areas:

We'll start with some context about payments in Africa
Wave's launch & early history
Wave's Product & monetization strategy
Wave's competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on May 1, 2022

Companies discussed: Wave, Sendwave, Safaricom (M-PESA), bKash, TeamApt, Chipper Cash, Orange (Sonatel), Free (Tigo), Opay, Paga, MTN, Airtel, Zedbank & Kuda Bank

Business concepts discussed: Consumer Fintech (Agency banking & mobile money), International expansion, banking regulation, low cost pricing strategy, customer acquisition strategy, innovator’s dilemma & low end disruption

Conversation highlights:

(01:02) - Wave context
(09:13) - Financial inclusion context in Africa
(30:10) - Founder background and Sendwave origins
(36:06) - Wave Launch in Francophone Africa
(54:20) - Fundraising strategy & investors
(1:12:15) - Product and monetization strategy
(1:34:28) - Competition and exit options
(1:55:44) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:08:57) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:27:30) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Brené Brown was on the "We can Do Hard Things" podcast, on an episode called "What to Say to Get What You Need". Spoke about human connection. Truly awesome. I liked it so much I started reading Brene's book "Atlas of the heart".
Recommendation: Samora Kariuku's substack post about Wave
Recommendation: Everett Randle’s (from Founders Fnnd) Substack post about Wave
Small win: Got lost on the internet prepping for this episode and ended up watching hours of boxing matches. Don't ask
Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Laws of Trading & Only Murders In The Building
Small win: Lots of dinners with friends and travel
Other content: State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money & 406 Na D Code - Tekno and Falz

Investors, Operators, Entrepreneurs - We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

The Laws of Trading: A Trader's Guide to Better Decision-Making for Everyone (Wiley Trading)

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about Globacom - The Nigerian telecommunications company. We’ll explore the Globacom story across 5 areas:

Nigerian telco sector context
Globacom's early history
Globacom's telco & non-telco businesses
Globacom's potential exit options
Outlook

This episode was recorded on Apr 10, 2022

Companies discussed: Glo (Globacom), MTN, Airtel, NITEL (Nigerian Telecommunications Limited), Econet Wireless & 9mobile (Etisalat)

Business concepts discussed: Telecommunications (Telco) strategy, Mobile money, Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), Telco regulation, Celebrity advertising, Low-price telecoms strategy.

Conversation highlights:

(01:00) - Globacom background and why we’re talking about it
(07:40) - Globacom founding and spectrum auction
(20:30) - Mike Adenuga background
(30:20) - Globacom launch
(44:36) - Globacom African Expansion
(56:50) - Globacom core Telecom business
(1:07:58) - Globacom non-telco business
(1:19:50) - Competition and IPO / spinoff?
(1:29:48) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:40:10) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:46:30) - Recommendations & small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Marc Andreessen Blog archive ebook. Aggregates some of Marc's posts from the late 2000s. Insightful and very funny
Small win: Hung out with my friend who was visiting from out of town (on a Wed night!)
Thanks to Ifunanya Chiegboka for helping me think about Glo Story
Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Invest Like The Best with David Rubinstein, We Need A Standard Unit Of Measure For Risk & The Next Google | DKB
Small win: New whiteboard markers, changed the game. Good example of something small that changed the quality of my whiteboarding
Other content: Nigerian Songs Referencing Mike Adenuga, Wizkid, Davido, Sunny Ade etc in Globacom advert & MTN - I don port commercial

Investors, Operators, Entrepreneurs - We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about Telkom - The South African telecommunications company. We’ll explore the Telkom story across 5 areas:

We'll start with some context about the South African telecoms sector
Telkom's early history
We'll deepdive into Telkom's primarily telco & non-telco businesses
Telkom's operating & financial performance
.Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Mar 27, 2022

Companies discussed: Telkom, Vodacom, Vodafone, Cell C, MTN, Southwestern Bell Communications (now AT&T), Safaricom (M-Pesa), Rain Networks & Multilink

Business concepts discussed: Telecommunications (Telco) strategy, Mobile money, Internet connectivity, International telecommunication expansion, Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), Cell Towers spinoffs & Telco regulation

Conversation highlights:

(01:10) - Telkom and why we’re talking about it
(07:12) - South Africa context
(13:20) - Telkom’s transition to commercial company
(15:30) - SBC and Telekom Malaysia investment in 1997
(18:44) - 2003 IPO
(31:20) - Telkom sale of Vodacom stake
(33:00) - Telkom market expansion
(42:17) - Telkom’s mobile business
(53:08) - Telkom’s non-telco businesses
(57:38) - Investments and Partnerships
(1:00:38) - Financial results and stock performance
(1:06:44) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:22:40) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:34:55) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: The Wealthy Gardner, Generalist AngelList article (AngelList is probably my favorite company in the world), Live life with Passion (Brendon Burchard)
Recommendation: AwardLogic & Point.me. There's never really been an Expedia of airline miles
Small win: Got Samsung Galaxy S22, looks nice. Just need to set it up
Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Margin of Safety by Seth Klarman & Encanto
Small win: Played basketball for the first time in several months
Other content: San Francisco Has Become a Shoplifter’s Paradise

Investors, Operators, Entrepreneurs - We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor

The Wealthy Gardener: Life Lessons on Prosperity between Father and Son

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about Vodacom - The South African telecommunications company. We’ll explore the Vodacom story across 5 areas:

South African telecoms sector context
Vodacom's early history
Vodacom's telco & non-telco businesses
Vodacom's operating & financial performance
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on Mar 13, 2022

Companies discussed: Vodacom, Vodafone, Safaricom (M-Pesa), Telkom, MTN, Airtel & Glo

Business concepts discussed: Telecommunications (Telco) strategy, Mobile money, Internet connectivity, International telecommunication expansion, Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO), Cell Towers spinoffs, Rain & Telco regulation

Conversation highlights:

(00:45) - Vodacom context
(07:50) - Vodacom early history
(20:50) - Vodacom International expansion
(38:04) - Vodacom’s telco business
(45:44) - Non-telco businesses
(55:50) - VodaPay and Safaricom (M-Pesa)
(1:10:12) - Vodacom - Financials & customer
(1:19:15) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:29:52) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:36:10) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: The Truman show: I rewatched this, it's marvelous, dystopian and funny. That movie is a work of art.
Recommendation: I got a satchel aka man bag aka man purse. I like it, it works because I typically have too much shit to fit in my pockets
Small win: Bankole's wedding in Chennai. It was epic
Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or Food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Good Economics for Hard Times by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo & Cold Outside - Timaya and Buju
Small win: I got the new Macbook M1 Pro. Beautiful, sweet machine.
Other content: Governance of Telecommunications: Two Decades of Reform in South Africa & Vodacom and DHL in Africa

Listeners, Operators & Investors: Email info@afrobility.com, we’d love to partner or get your feedback.

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about MAX - the Nigerian mobility tech platform. We’ll explore Max's story across 6 areas:

Context on motorbike transportation platforms in other emerging markets
Background on Nigeria transportation
Max.'s launch, early history, growth over time & fundraising
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on Jan 30, 2022

Companies discussed: MAX (Max.africa, Max.ng), GiG Logistics, Red Star Express, Gokada, GoJek, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Jumia Food, Konga, Uber, Africa Courier Express (ACE), Pathao, Flutterwave & Safeboda

Business concepts discussed: Ridesharing, Mobility in emerging markets, Debt Fundraising by startups,

Conversation highlights:

(01:20) - MAX.Africa context
(07:20) - Ridesharing in emerging markets (GoJek)
(10:30) - Transportation Mobility in Nigeria
(15:00) - Background on the founders - Tayo Bamiduro and Chinedu Azodoh
(18:50) - Founding and early history of MAX
(22:05) - Fundraising and early growth
(38:20) - Metrics and traction
(59:39) - Product & monetization strategy
(1:16:51) - Competition and options for exit
(1:31:30) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:45:25) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:53:55) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Good time (Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen): Love it! I can listen to on repeat for the rest of my life, Thinking in bets (Annie Duke). Life's Most Bitter Truth: What Your University Never Taught You (MJ Demarco):Talks about the value of time and having experiences and building financial independence in your youth. I'm one of the biggest Mj Demarco Fans so no doubt I love this video
Small win: Celebrating birthday with friends
Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or Food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Levels - Flavour & Rebel - Shenseea
Small win: Lots of sports weekend of Jan 27 - NFL, Chelsea FC, AFCON, UFC
Other content: Jukedeck, AI- generated music startup acquired by TikTok - Jukedeck - https://soundcloud.com/jukedeck & Nearly All The Men in Lagos Are Mad - Amazon & How to Decide by Annie Duke - Amazon

Listeners, Operators & Investors: Email info@afrobility.com, we’d love to partner or get your feedback.

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

How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices

Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Gokada - the Nigerian mobility tech platform. We’ll explore the Gokada story across 5 areas:

African ridesharing context
Gokada's launch, early history, growth over time & fundraising
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on Jan 9, 2022.

Companies discussed: Gokada, GoJek, Max.ng, Pathao, Bolt, Uber & Jumia

Business concepts discussed: Mobility, logistics, delivery, bike-sharing & tech regulation

Conversation highlights:

(01:00) - Gokada context
(06:50 - Bike-sharing platforms in other markets - GoJek
(17:44) - Nigeria transportation context
(48:00) - Gokada founding & early history
(1:02:00) - Fundraising & growth
(1:08:00) - Product & monetization strategy
(1:28:00) - Competition & exit options
(1:36:13) - Olumide’s overall thoughts & outlook
(1:44:45) - Bankole’s overall thoughts & outlook
(1:54:44) - Recommendations & small wins

Olumide:

Recommendation: How Airlines quietly became banks: Wonderful video that matches a bunch of my interests. Reward programs + corporate finance. Sweet!
Recommendation: 9 things I learned about Productivity this year (David Cain). Amazing article about productivity and procrastination
Win: Got Logitech Brio & started using Windows Hello
Other content: Lagos BRT case study
Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or Food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

Bankole:

Recommendations: Moxie Marlinspike My first impressions of web3, Why Is There Confetti In So Many Taser Guns & Come My Way (Wande Coal)
Win: Saw Kamaru Usman in Lagos!
Other content: Gokada finds new growth in logistics, Gokada is not okada, History of Gokada, road quality report (WEF) & The Flip Podcast - S2E3: Finding Fit - Opportunities in the Global South

Listeners, Operators & Investors: Email info@afrobility.com, we’d love to partner or get your feedback.

All episodes on Afrobility.com

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Pathao - the largest mobility tech platform in Bangladesh. This episode was co-hosted with Shammi Quddus and recorded on Nov 21 & Dec 5, 2021.

Conversation highlights:

(10:15) - Motorbike sharing platforms in emerging markets - GoJek
(11:00) - Bangladesh context
(44:40) - Pathao founding story
(1:05:20) - Fundraising and growth
(1:19:10) - Product & monetization strategy
(1:49:13) - Competition & Exit options
(2:10:30) - Overall thoughts (Bankole, Shammi & Olumide)
(2:32:04) - Recommendation &small wins

Companies discussed: Pathao, bKash, Uber, GoJek, Shohoz, Tootle, Chalo, RC Ventures & Battery Road Digital Holdings

Business concepts discussed: Ride-sharing platforms, Transportation in emerging markets, Transportation + FinTech Super apps

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Mastery (George Leonard) & Derek Sivers’ wonderful article about emotions and life
Win: Hung out with a bunch of folks at Miami Art Basel
Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or Food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Ozumba Mbadiwe - Reekado Banks & 52 things I learned in 2021 by Tom Whitwell
Win: First real corporate party in a while -
Other: Nigeria highest importer of used vehicles in Africa & F-commerce: a double-edged sword

Shammi’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Beginner’s Moonshot: Podcast on Bangladeshi tech founders (English) by Salman Hossain
Win: Watching comedian Hassan Minhaj perform. The King’s Jester is on the road now!
Other: Registered vehicles in Dhaka, Pathao GoJek raise and write-off, Uber launch story in Dhaka

Listeners, Operators & Investors: Email info@afrobility.com, we’d love to partner or get your feedback.

All episodes on Afrobility.com

Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment

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Overview: Today, we’re going to have a creator roundtable to discuss the African tech ecosystem. We’ll discuss the biggest 2021 moments in Africa Tech and our hopes for the ecosystem in 2022. This episode was co-hosted with Justin Norman & Samora Kariuki and recorded on Nov 28, 2021.

Companies discussed: Adamantium Fund, The Flip Podcast, Frontier Fintech newsletter, Wave, Andela, Flutterwave, Entrepreneur First, Safeboda, Chipper Cash, FTX, Upstart, Helium Health (Magic Fund), Twiga Foods, Omnibiz, Safaricom, mPharma & Paystack

Business concepts discussed: M&A, regulation, employment enablement, infrastructure moats, Web3 decentralization, fundraising strategy, operator-investors & Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) strategy

Conversation highlights:

(01:10) - Adamantium Fund (early stage Africa Tech investment fund) announcement
(07:50) - 2021 moments in Africa Tech: Samora, Justin, Bankole & Olumide
(1:08:20) - What I would like to see in Africa Tech 2022: Samora, Justin, Bankole & Olumide
(1:40:08) - Roundtable creator questions
(2:22:30) - 2022 plans: The Flip Podcast, Frontier FinTech newsletter & Afrobility Podcast
(2:33:40) - Recommendations & small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Workout dance/aerobics classes & Encanto movie
Small win: Talking to people about the about-to-launch Adamantium Africa Tech fund (memo). Great conversations with potential LPs. Exciting! Email olumide@afrobility.com if you're interested in investing

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: The Reckoning (Jacob Soll)
Small win: Great holiday over thanksgiving

Samora’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: The Box (by Marc Levinson)
Small win: Moving to Kenya permanently next week (from Burundi) with my German Shepherd

Justin’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Micah Johnson’s NFT project Aku
Small win: My alma mater the University of Michigan beating Ohio State in football.

Interested in investing in Africa Tech. Read about Adamantium fund & contact olumide@afrobility.com for more info

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger

The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Andela - the software developer recruitment platform. We’ll explore the Andela story across 6 areas:

Labor markets in Africa context
Andela's founding and early history
Fundraising & Growth
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook.

This episode was co-hosted with Iyinoluwa "E" Aboyeji & recorded on Nov 7, 2021

Companies discussed: Andela, Fora, 2U, Bookneto, Spark Capital, CRE Ventures, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), SoftBank (Vision Fund), Gebeya, Semicolon, Decagon, CRE Ventures, Spark Labs & Generation Investment Management

Business concepts discussed: Emerging market talent recruitment, economic development, remote work, labor productivity, outsourcing, youth unemployment & economic development

Conversation highlights:

(01:00) - Andela context & Background
(01:30) - Context on Africa’s labor markets
(21:20) - Bookneto, Fora & 2U
(53:50) - Andela cofounders & early founding story
(1:00:00) - Fundraising and investors
(1:11:00) - Traction - Revenue, users, employees, margins
(1:14:23) - Product and monetization strategy
(1:25:22) - Competition and options for exit
(1:48:46) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:55:17) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:01:00) - E’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:09:01) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Syncback Pro (works better than OneDrive & Google Drive clients for backing up stuff) & Money Talks Bloomberg article about how Zillow stopped selling houses: By Afrobility legend Matt Levine
Small win: Got a new larger air fryer. It's awesome

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Tete Muo Bu Muo by Tony Tete Harbor & The Infinite Machine by Camila Russo
Small win: Great birthday dinner :)

E’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Prosperity paradox (by Efosa Ojomo) & Founders at work (Jessica Levingston)
Small win: 3 companies I’m working with got into YC Winter 2022 batch

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you to drive the ecosystem forward. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

The Infinite Machine: How an Army of Crypto-hackers Is Building the Next Internet with Ethereum

Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about SafeBoda - the Ugandan motorbike hailing platform. We’ll explore the SafeBoda story across 7 areas:

Motorbike hailing platforms in other emerging markets (GoJek/GoTo)
African mobility context
SafeBoda's founding & early history
Fundraising and growth
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on Oct 31, 2021.

Companies discussed: SafeBoda, GoJek (GoTo), Gokada, Pathao, Allianz X, CRE Ventures, Uber Boda, Bolt / Taxify Boda, Tugende, Chipper Cash, Musha ventures, Go ventures & Gozem

Business concepts discussed: Mobility Tech, Pan-Africa expansion, Transportation + FinTech Superapps

Conversation highlights:

(05:20) - Motorbike hailing platforms in other emerging markets (GoJek)
(05:30) - Africa transportation context
(07:40) - Uganda country & transportation context
(24:50) - Founder background - Rapa Thomson, Maxime Dieudonne, Alastair Sussock
(38:20) - SafeBoda's launch
(43:36) - Fundraising
(52:50) - Geographic expansion
(1:15:00) - Product & monetization strategy
(1:25:00) - Competition and exit options
(1:37:00) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:48:01) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:51:10) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Founders podcast (by Dave Senra) & Don't Sweat the Small Stuff . . . and It's All Small Stuff (by Richard Carlson)
Small win: Was in Chicago hanging out with friends for birthday, Hung out with friends in a Miami night out & installed Windows 11 which is sweet and beautiful
Other content: Get.Africa #46 article about SafeBoda's Kenya exit (by Chiagoziem Onyekwena), Twitter conversation (by Stone Atwine) about SafeBoda's disintermediation

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Azonto Ghost song & movie || How Big Tech Runs Tech Projects and the Curious Absence of Scrum
Small win: Chelsea FC can’t stop winning. Big win.
Other content: So, Where did the Popular Uganda Boda Bodas Come From?

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you to drive the ecosystem forward. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Fawry - the Egyptian payments platform. We’ll explore the Fawry story across 6 areas:

Egypt context
Founding and early history
Fundraising & Growth
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning
Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on October 17, 2021

Companies discussed: Fawry, Egypt National Post Office (ENPO), IFC, Helios Investment Partners, Raya Holding, Technology Development Fund (Ideavelopers), Arab African International Bank, HSBC, Bank of Alexandria (Alexbank), Paymob, Banque Misr, Ebtiikar, Khales, Bee, Masary, Meeza, elmenus & Cashi (alsoug).

Business concepts discussed: Payment Platforms, IPOs, startup incubation, African conglomerates, DFIs (Development Finance Institutions) & FinTech monetization strategy / Personal Finance OS

Conversation highlights:

(01:20) - Fawry context
(04:00) - Egypt context, startups, financial inclusion
(23:59) - Ashraf Sabry background
(29:38) - Fawry founding and early history
(38:15) - Fundraising and early growth
(49:38) - Fawry IPO
(52:40) - Product strategy
(1:14:26) - Monetization strategy
(1:19:30) - Competition in Egypt
(1:27:07) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:35:45) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:45:00) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Chris Sacca on 20 Minute VC - Wow. Chris Sacca is amazing. I can listen to him talk for hours.
Recommendation: Ben Horowitz - What You Do Is Who You Are. Great book about how to think about the tradeoffs when creating culture in a company. Has some awesome stories.
Recommendation: Acquired episode on Oprah - Spoke about Oprah's legendary story. Wow
Small win: Got ticket to Wizkid show later tonight in Miami. Good times

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Kanye West 2013 interview on Breakfast Club, Wizkid - Anoti & Keychron K2 Mechanical Keyboard
Small win: Had crypto-curious friends over for dinner and now I’m crypto-curious

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: We'd also love to link up with you to drive the ecosystem forward. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture

Keychron K2 75% Layout Bluetooth Mechanical Keyboard with Gateron G Pro Red Switch/White LED Backlit/Anti Ghosting/N-Key Rollover/Compact 84 Key USB C Wired Computer Keyboard for Mac Windows-Version 2

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about BIMA - the HealthTech insurance company. We’ll explore BIMA's story across 6 areas:

African Health care status & context
BIMA Health founding and early history
Fundraising & Growth
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Oct 3, 2021

Companies discussed: BIMA (Milvik), Kinnevik, LeapFrog investments, Allianz X (Allianz Group), Millicom, Digicel, China CreditEase, Jamii, M-Tiba, BlueWave, MicroEnsure & Gates Foundation

Business concepts discussed: HealthTech (Healthcare technology), InsurTech (Insurance Technology), Telco partnership, geographical expansion & Health policy

Conversation highlights:

(00:45) - Why we’re talking about BIMA Health
(05:15) - African Health care context
(05:58) - Insurance context in Africa
(28:58) - Founder background - Gustaf Agartson
(35:40) - Fundraising and early growth
(45:10) - BIMA Health traction- markets, users, etc
(49:50) - Product , go-to-market and monetization strategy
(1:05:38) - Geographical expansion
(1:07:36) - Competition and options for exits, M&A
(1:29:52) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:37:05) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:51:04) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Vusi Thembekwayo (VT Podcast) episode Wealth & Wande Coal - Ololufe
Small win: Noticed someone cited my MIT thesis on Smartphone Operating systems. Nice
Other content: Life Expectancy stats (World Bank)

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Love Nwantiti by CKay & Everything is a Remix - Drill Sergeant Remix & Business Breakdowns Podcast - Sky Mavis
Small win: Spent last weekend in Atlanta and Memphis visiting friends and family
Other content: Africa Renewal - UN

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: We'd also love to link up with you to drive the ecosystem forward. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about 54gene - the genomics HealthTech company. We’ll explore the 54gene story across 6 areas:

African Health care status & context
54gene early history
Fundraising & Growth
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Sep 19, 2021

Companies discussed: 54gene, llumina, African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Y Combinator (YC), 50 Years, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gilead, IMS Health, Broad Institute, Novartis, Cathay AfricInvest, Helium Health & mPharma

Business concepts discussed: Genomics, Capacity development / Local knowledge development, Healthcare technology, Health insurance coverage, commercial biobanks & public policy

Conversation highlights:

(00:54) - Why we’re talking about 54Gene today
(06:25) - Context on Healthcare and Genomics in Africa
(27:02) - 54Gene founding and early history
(34:13) - Fundraising and early growth - Seed, Series A, Series B
(54:15) - Product and monetization strategy
(1:11:00) - 54Gene capacity building
(1:17:00) - Competition in this space, exit opportunities
(1:30:39) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:42:38) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:56:03) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Afridigest newsletter (by Emeka Ajene) Awesome and well done. Combines threads from multiple angles. Fabulous.
Recommendation: Frontier FinTech Newsletter (by Samora Kariouki) So thorough and detailed. Love it.
Recommendation: Kate Nash - Foundations. So good
Small win: Galaxy Buds 2 - Small, ANC (Active Noise Cancellation), great battery life, good software controls
Other content: Boom - Supersonic Passenger Airplanes

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Slow Down - King Promise, Code Breakers by Walter Isaacson & Sarah Tavel on 20 minute VC
Small win: Chelsea FC 3-0 W vs Tottenham
Other content: 54Gene partnership with Illumina & Colonialists are coming for blood - Literally

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: We'd also love to link up with you to drive the ecosystem forward. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about mPharma - the Ghanaian prescription drug inventory management company. We’ll explore the mPharma story across 6 areas:

African Health care status & context
mPharma founding and early history
Fundraising & Growth
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Sep 5, 2021

Companies discussed: mPharma, Novartis, DrugStoc, Medsaf, Helium Health, Golden Palm Investments, Novastar ventures, CDC & Gates Foundation

Business concepts discussed: Healthcare Logistics, drug distribution, Healthcare technology, Health insurance coverage, Health platforms, IFC & Public policy

Conversation highlights:

(01:14) - Why we’re talking about mPharma
(05:18) - Background of Healthcare in Africa
(19:41) - Healthcare and Pharmacy / Drugs access in Nigeria
(26:05) - Healthcare context and insurance in Ghana
(27:15) - mPharma founding and early history - Gregory Rockson background
(43:56) - Fundraising - Seed, Series A, B, C
(56:00) - Traction - users, reported revenue, etc.
(1:01:50) - Product strategy - Quality (Shop) Rx, Mutti, etc.
(1:11:57) - Monetization strategy
(1:14:17) - E-Commerce logistics vs healthcare logistics
(1:21:48) - Competition
(1:34:22) - Options for exit - mergers, acquisitions
(1:36:56) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:45:36) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:55:47) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: The World After Capital (Albert Wenger)
Small win: Setup Galaxy Z Flip3. Different experience.
Other content: Life expectancy (World Bank database)

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Donald Shoup on the economics of parking & Heaven and Hell - Kanye West
Small win: Attended a wedding in New Jersey this past weekend. Lots of fun celebrating with friends. Happy Married Life Joan & Chris!!!
Other content: Accelerating improvements in Health Product Distribution by Salient Advisory & How the QWERTY Keyboard Broke the Chinese Language

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com with your feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about you & what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: We'd also love to link up with you, to partner to drive the ecosystem forward. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Helium Health - the Nigerian HealthTech infrastructure company. We’ll explore the Helium Health story across 6 areas:

African Health care status & context
Helium Health founding and early history
Fundraising & Growth
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Aug 22, 2021

Companies discussed: Helium Health, Epic, MAGIC Fund, Y Combinator (YC), KingsChat & Tencent ventures

Business concepts discussed: Healthcare technology, Operator-Investor dynamics, Health insurance coverage, Health platforms, Electronic Medical Records, Electronic Health Records & Health policy

Conversation highlights:

(01:20) - Why we’re talking about Helium Health and HealthTech
(04:15) - African Healthcare context
(18:05) - Context of healthcare records in Africa
(25:05) - Founder backgrounds and early history of Helium Health
(37:00) - Fundraising and growth
(47:50) - Product & monetization strategy
(55:30) - M&A and Partnerships
(1:00:12) - Competition and potential exit options
(1:12:25) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:24:05) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:36:12) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Unscripted - The Great Rat-Race Escape: From Wage Slavery to Wealth: Amazing!
Small win: Las Vegas weekend with friends. Insane.
Other content: World Bank database

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Peru - Fireboy DML & Business Breakdowns podcast on ZoomInfo
Small win: Back playing basketball regularly after 18 months out
Other content: Managing in an Age of Modularity

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com with your feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about you & what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: We'd also love to link up with you, to partner to drive the ecosystem forward. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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

Unscripted - The Great Rat-Race Escape: From Wage Slavery to Wealth: How to Start a Purpose Driven Business and Win Financial Freedom for a Lifetime

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about MultiChoice - The African video entertainment provider. We’ll explore the MultiChoice story across 5 areas:

South African video entertainment market context
MultiChoice's launch & growth over time
MultiChoice's product & monetization strategy
Competition, primary & emerging businesses
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on August 15, 2021

Companies discussed: MultiChoice (M-Net), Naspers, MTN, ShowMax, BetKing, Comcast, Sky, DSTV, MTN, Iroko TV, HiTV, StarTimes, Vivendi Canal+, ROK Media, English Premier League, Netflix, HBO Max, ShowMax, Showtime & BBC

Business concepts discussed: Pan-African expansion strategy, Entertainment content acquisition strategy, subscription & hardware monetization strategy

Conversation highlights:

(02:20) - Why we’re talking about MultiChoice
(06:50) - South African TV context
(15:28) - Origin and early history of MultiChoice
(26:10) - Product & monetization strategy
(34:05) - MultiChoice device / decoder strategy
(38:20) - Content, Partnerships & M&A
(42:30) - MultiChoice Financials and key metrics
(46:54) - Competition across different business lines
(51:40) - Non-core businesses and investments, BetKing
(1:05:00) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:12:02) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:26:28) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Die with Zero (Bill Perkins)
Small wins: Night out with SF friends & Sailing with friends in Sausalito

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Omah Lay - Understand & Robert Smith of Vista Equity on Money Maze Podcast
Small wins: Attended a wedding last weekend, Happy Married Life Dami! + Chelsea FC Winnning!
Other content mentioned: South Africa as TV’s last frontier

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com with your feedback!

Founders: We'd love to hear about you & what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: We'd also love to link up with you, to partner to drive the ecosystem forward. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

Episodes at Afrobility.com

Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life

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Overview: Today, we’re going to discuss Kuda Bank - the African neobank. We’ll explore the Kuda story across 6 areas:

Neobanks in other emerging markets (Brazil & NuBank)
African & Nigerian banking context
Kuda's launch, early history, growth over time & fundraising
Kuda's product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning, potential exit options
Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on July 25, 2021.

Companies discussed: Kuda Bank, Nubank, Carbon, N26, Monzo, Chime, GTBank, Stanbic IBTC, Sparkle, Rubies, Monzo, Xinja, Chime & Chipper Cash

Business concepts discussed: Neobank / Challenger bank / digital bank strategy, consumer FinTech monetization strategy, consumer lending, retail banking strategy, customer segmentation strategy & low-end disruption

Conversation highlights:

(01:00) - Why we’re talking about Kuda Bank
(05:50) - Neobanks in other emerging markets - Nubank background
(18:30) - Africa banking background
(26:50) - Traditional banks vs Neobanks
(35:20) - Banking context in Nigeria; Nigeria’s banking sector
(47:40) - Founding and early history
(1:02:27) - Seed fundraising
(1:11:50) - Series A fundraising
(1:18:40) - Product strategy
(1:26:30) - GTM & partnerships strategy
(1:33:47) - Monetization strategy
(1:50:16) - Competition - Neobanks, traditional banks & other FinTechs
(2:05:00) - Potential exit options
(2:10:29) - Olumide’s overall thoughts
(2:18:18) - Bankole’s overall thoughts
(2:32:35) - Recommendations & small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: What did I spend my money on after selling twitch (by Justin Kan. Fascinating conversation about wealth, managing money after a windfall, investments, private companies, exits, etc) & The Everything store (by Brad Stone) - Amazing book, amazing story. Amazing company. Favorite part is when author talks about Jeff's most famous insults. Hilarious!
Small win: NYC trip last weekend - So much fun partying with friends.
Other content: Monzo is “struggling"

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Where you are is not who you are by Ursula Burns & Justin Kan interview of Conor White-Sullivan (YouTube)
Small win: I spent the last week in Lagos! New friends, stimulating conversations and catching up with old friends
Other content: Kudimoney pitch at Startup Bootcamp & 2015 NYTimes article on Amazon’s work culture

We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com 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

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon

Where You Are Is Not Who You Are: A Memoir

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Chipper Cash - The African Fintech payments & remittances player. We’ll explore the Chipper story across 6 areas:

Intra-Africa remittances context
Global remittances (outside Africa to Africa) context
Chipper Cash’s launch, early history, growth & fundraising
Chipper Cash's Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
End with our overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on July 11 & Aug 1, 2021.

Companies discussed: Chipper Cash, Venmo, PayPal, Square, Flutterwave, EcoBank, Safaricom, Sendwave, MTN, Airtel, Deciens Capital & Liquid2 Ventures

Business concepts discussed: Consumer FinTech (Personal Finance OS) monetization strategy, FinTech exit strategy, Intra-African Remittances, International remittances, Cryptocurrency, Decentralized Finance, Stock trading & closed-loop payment networks

Conversation highlights:

(01:07) - Why we’re talking about Chipper Cash
(06:20) - Intra-African trade context
(13:12) - Intra-African remittances context
(21:40) - Global remittances (outside Africa to Africa) context
(36:50) - Founder backgrounds - Ham Serunjogi & Majid Moujaled
(46:06) - Chipper Cash founding and early history
(52:30) - Fundraising and Growth - Angel, Series A, B & C
(1:07:25) - Product strategy
(1:08:25) - Monetization strategy
(1:35:24) - Competition - horizontal and vertical
(1:45:55) - Potential exit scenarios
(1:54:12) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:01:32) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:08:40) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Nailing Capital vs Scaling Capital (by Sajith Pai) , Essentialism (by Greg McKeown) & Owning Chinese Companies Is Complicated (by Matt Levine from Bloomberg)
Small win: American Express Platinum new benefits: Clear! & Audible!

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Why startups fail by Tom Eisenmann & How to build an engine to find product market fit by Rahul Vohra
Small win: Dinner with friends on a rooftop in Seattle
Other content: Chipper Cash pitch at 500 Startups & A columnist Makes Sense of Wall Street Like None Other - The New York Times

We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com 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

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Why Startups Fail: A New Roadmap for Entrepreneurial Success

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about consumer lending in Africa. We start by discussing lending in other emerging markets, discuss Africa’s credit landscape, analyze lending tech companies across Africa & end with our overall outlook. This episode was recorded on June 27, 2021.

Companies discussed: Navi, Creditas, Jumo, Carbon, Branch, Tala, Tugende, FairMoney, Shahry, Khazna, NuBank, Safaricom (M-Pesa), Alibaba (Ant Financial & AliPay), Migo (Mines), Numida, Tyme Bank, Lulalend & Evolve Credit

Business concepts discussed: Consumer lending, SME lending, unbanked population, Agency banking, credit assesment, lending risk management & lending (financial services) regulation

Conversation highlights:

(00:40) - Why we’re talking about Lending
(04:40) - Consumer lending context in India
(10:10) - Navi deepdive & what African startups can learn
(13:14) - Consumer lending context in Brazil
(18:30) - Creditas deepdive
(31:29) - Consumer lending context in China
(38:30) - Consumer lending in Africa
(51:18) - Lending startups in Southern Africa
(1:04:06) - Lending startups in Western Africa
(1:05:00) - Lending startups in Eastern Africa
(1:16:16) - Lending startups in Northern Africa
(1:26:50) - Olumide’s overall thoughts
(1:31:50) - Bankole’s overall thoughts
(1:45:30) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins

Recommendation: Howard Lindzon on Angel Podcast - Amazing banter, really funny and insightful
Recommendation: Feeling by Ladipoe - Amazing. I can basically listen to it on repeat for hours
Recommendation: Eni Duro - Olamide - Real life. Epic.
Small win: Windows 11 announced. Can't wait to use it
Other content: Decoding India's consumer lending opportunity
Other content: Chinese microlending is getting weird and dangerous
Special thanks to Deji Olowe for helping me think about lending (checkout his blog here)

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins

Recommendation: The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future & The Grid: A Journey Through the Heart of Our Electrified World
Small win: Attended a Seattle Sounders game v Real Salt Lake. Sounders W.
Other content: Samora Kariuki Frontier Fintech & @getCarbon on Medium

We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

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The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future

The Grid: A Journey Through the Heart of Our Electrified World

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about Sports betting & gambling tech in Africa. We share some context about betting in developed and emerging markets, analyze betting tech companies across Africa & end with our overall outlook. This episode was recorded on Jun 13, 2021.

Companies discussed: BetKing, Betway, Bet9ja, BetBonanza, SportPesa, BetFair, Bet365, Flutter entertainment, Paddy Power, Walletec, 22Bet, William Hill & Multichoice

Business concepts discussed: Gambling, Betting, Tech policy, Taxation strategy & Government Tech

Conversation highlights:

(01:00) - Why we’re talking about sports betting / gambling + how it works
(11:10) - Betting & Sports gambling in the UK
(18:20) - Betting & Sports gambling in India
(21:20) - Context of sports betting in Africa
(31:57) - Gambling regulation across African countries
(37:39) - Western Africa betting startups
(43:32) - Southern Africa betting startups
(49:40) - Eastern Africa betting startups
(57:30) - Northern African betting startups
(1:00:17) - Bankole’s overall thoughts
(1:10:09) - Olumide’s overall thoughts
(1:16:05) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: The Ride of a lifetime (by Bob Iger). Loved it. Email info@afrobility.com with autobiography recommendations
Small win: Las Vegas last weekend (fun getaway) with friends :)

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Caught In The Study Web & Feeling by Ladipoe
Small win: UFC 263. Ask about Izzy. Aya bi Ekun.
Other content: Nigeria needs to raise tobacco taxes, Collar option strategy & Brandon Moreno UFC 263 Octagon interview

We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

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The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company

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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 info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about bKash - The largest Fintech player in Bangladesh. We start with some background on Bangladesh, discuss bKash’s founding, growth & impact on Bangladesh's economy. We also discuss what other emerging markets can learn from the bKash story & end with our overall outlook. This episode was co-hosted with Shammi Quddus & recorded on May 16, 2021.

Companies discussed: bKash, CellBazaar, Money in Motion, Grameenphone, Grameen Bank, BRAC, BRAC Bank, Safaricom (M-Pesa), Nagad, Telenor, Gates Foundation, IFC (World Bank) & Alibaba (Ant Financial)

Business concepts discussed: Agency banking, ecosystem partnerships, microfinance expansion, Nonprofit fundraising, impact investing, Telco distribution & serial entrepreneurship

Conversation highlights:

(00:30) - Why are we talking about bKash and Bangladesh FinTech
(04:40) - Bangladesh context and similarities to African countries
(14:50) - Fintech context in Bangladesh before bKash in 2011
(16:20) - Founder background - Kamal Quadir background, CellBazaar
(22:05) - bKash background - Iqbal Quadir, Grameenphone, etc.
(30:48) - bKash founding
(47:18) - Fundraising - IFC , BMGF, Ant Financial
(59:30) - Product & monetization strategy
(1:22:22) - Impact of bKash on the tech sector and economy
(1:23:56) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:36:26) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:42:20) - Shammi’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:50:41) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life (by Nir Eyal) & Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger (by Peter Bevelin)
Small win: Dinner with friends with a live band. Some chatting, some drinking & some dancing. Marvelous!

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Prescription Drug Commercials - why they are the way they are by Packy McCormick and Nikhil Krishnan
Small win: Spending a week in New York
Other content: M-Pesa rate card, FT Partners

Shammi’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Fintech podcast 11fs.com/podcast
Small win: Got my COVID vaccine! Vaccines for the win!
Other content: Bangladesh Bank MFS guidelines, bKash gives a boost to the poor

We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

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Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life

Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger, 3rd Edition

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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 info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

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The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Takealot - the largest ecommerce platform in South Africa & one of the largest across Africa. We'll start by giving some context of e-commerce in South Africa, discuss Takealot's early history, Naspers' 2018 acquisition of Takealot, analyze Takealot business strategy & end with our overall outlook. This episode was recorded on April 18, 2021.

Companies discussed: Takealot, Take2, Naspers, Tiger Global, Jumia, Kalahari.net, BidorBuy, Kilimall, Amazon, Konga, Alibaba, Everyshop (JD Group), Pick n Pay, Woolworths, Massmart, Spar & MIH Africa

Business concepts discussed: Developing markets e-commerce, Pan-African expansion strategy & ecommerce marketplaces

Conversation highlights:

(01:20) - E-commerce and Takealot intro
(04:50) - South Africa Retail & e-commerce context
(15:30) - Takealot founding story: Take2, Tiger Global & Kim Reid
(21:30) - Acquisition of Superbalist, Mr Delivery; Tiger Global investment
(28:25) - Naspers takeover of Takealot from Tiger Global
(33:46) - Takealot today: Product and monetization, business units, key metrics
(45:10) - Competion: local, international & non-traditional
(54:55) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:04:07) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:14:40) - Recommendation and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Super forecasting (by Phil Tetlock): Article & Book
Recommendation: Profit first (Mike Michalowicz)
Small win: Dinner with friends in Old Havana in Miami. Fun conversations
Other content: Notts County jersey vs Juventus jersey (story)

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendations: Leaving The Tarmac & Bring Back our Girls
Small win: Vaxxed, booked and busy!
Other content: Fantasy M&A: Takealot should get its head in the game & The New Futuristic Takealot Pick-up Point - YouTube

All episodes at Afrobility.com

Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine

Bring Back Our Girls: The Untold Story of the Global Search for Nigeria's Missing Schoolgirls

Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction

Leaving the Tarmac: Buying a Bank in Africa

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Overview: Today, we discuss the opportunity for Agriculture technology to make a difference in Africa. We'll start with some context of African Agriculture, discuss AgriTech in developed and emerging markets, analyze Agritech players across Africa & end with our overall outlook. This episode was recorded on Apr 4, 2021.

Companies discussed: Twiga Foods, Pula, SunCulture, Releaf, FarmCrowdy, DeHaat, Arya, WeFarm, Aerobiotics, Gro Intelligence, SwiftVee, Agroop, Pure Harvest, Naspers & Agrocenta

Business concepts discussed: Agriculture technology (AgTech, AgriTech or AgroTech), Agribusiness marketplaces, farming financing, Farmer market access opportunities & Agriculture insurance strategy

Conversation highlights:

(00:30) - Why we’re talking about Agriculture & AgriTech
(05:20) - AgriTech in developed markets
(08:50) - AgriTech in emerging markets countries
(11:30) - AgriTech startups in India - DeHaat, Arya
(15:30) - AgriTech in China
(16:50) - African Agriculture - background, challenges
(26:50) - AgriTech in Africa
(28:06) - AgriTech startups in East Africa
(40:40) - AgriTech startups in Southern Africa
(45:55) - AgriTech startups in Northern Africa
(48:44) - AgriTech startups in West Africa
(58:20) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:07:55) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:14:35) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendations: Skip the Line (James Altucher) & Green Book (2018)
Small win: Day off work to re-energize
Other content: Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) (World Bank) & US Agricultural workers data in 1900 (11M out of 76M population)

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Readwise.io
Small win: Set up wiretamers for my WFH space. The Art of the Desk Setup
Other content: Planet Money Episode 454: The Lollipop War & Blues Wireless

We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

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Skip the Line: The 10,000 Experiments Rule and Other Surprising Advice for Reaching Your Goals

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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 info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

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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:

Recommendations: The Creator Economy (by Packy McCormick) & Frontier Fintech Substack (by Samora Kariuki)
Small win: Fixed my routine and exercising regularly
Other content: Invest Like The Best podcast episode on Tinkoff Bank
Open question: Are you optimistic or pessimistic on the potential for neobanks? What are we missing?

We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

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UNSCRIPTED: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship

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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 info@afrobility.com

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

The Harder You Work, the Luckier You Get: An Entrepreneur's Memoir

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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 info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about uLesson - the African EdTech platform. We'll start with some context about education in Africa & Nigeria, talk about uLesson's early history, fundraising, product strategy & end with our views on its future outlook. This episode was recorded on Jan 24, 2021.

Companies discussed: uLesson, Byju’s, School Visual, WhiteHat Jr, Yuanfudao & Owl Ventures

Business concepts discussed: Education technology, monetization strategy, African expansion, product localization, new product development, growth/profitability trade-offs & equity fund raising

Conversation highlights:

(01:30) - Why we are talking about uLesson
(04:15) - Nigerian / African educational context
(22:08) - Sim Shagaya background, work experience
(24:20) - Entrepreneurial ventures: e-Motion, DealDey, Konga
(32:16) - uLesson founding and seed round
(40:02) - $7.5M Series A overview
(45:30) - Expansion to other African countries
(50:45) - uLesson product & pricing strategy
(1:02:45) - uLesson user growth and engagement
(1:03:26) - uLesson competition across Africa
(1:18:14) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:28:45) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:36:55) - Recommendations, small wins & open questions

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: The Chicken or the Exit (by Osarumen Osamuyi), Africa tech summit & How to make friends as an adult
Small win: Spent Birthday singing (Airbnb experience) with Broadway star (Stephen Carlile). Beyond Amazing!
Other content: Techpoint tweet summarizing Sim's exits & Sim's uLesson announcement
Other content: Blitzscaling: How not to go off the rails (David Sacks)
Open question: What are the biggest challenges uLesson could face in 1-3 years?

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Ask Your Developer & Gravity visualized - YouTube
Other content: Sequoia funded companies tweets
Small win: More walks, and been trying this new thing where I only play video games one day a week
Open question: Question for Sim - What did you know at the start of Konga, that by the end of it, you realized you were wrong about?

We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email info@afrobility.com Find more episodes at Afrobility.com

Ask Your Developer: How to Harness the Power of Software Developers and Win in the 21st Century

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Paystack - the African payments infrastructure company that was acquired by Stripe in 2020 October. We’ll give some context of the Nigerian payments sector before 2015, Paystack's founding, early history, acquisition by Stripe & end with our views on its future outlook. This episode was recorded on January 10th, 2021.

Companies discussed: Paystack, Stripe, Flutterwave, Interswitch & Y Combinator (YC)

Business concepts discussed: Payments infrastructure strategy, low-end disruption, product-market fit (PMF), capital fundraising (Angels, Strategic investors, VCs), Corporate venture capital (CVC) strategy, payments infrastructure & payments M&A strategy

Conversation highlights:

(01:00) - Why we’re talking about Paystack
(03:12) - Payments landscape before Paystack
(06:15) - Founders’ background - Ezra Olubi and Shola Akinlade
(17:00) - Paystack products and services
(22:46) - Paystack fundraising - Y Combinator, Angels, Seed & Series A
(31:18) - Broader payment ecosystem in Nigeria, transaction volumes, etc
(43:30) - Stripe’s acquisition of Paystack in 2020 October
(52:10) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and future outlook
(58:17) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and future outlook
(1:14:02) - Recommendations, small wins and open questions

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Intelligence Trap (Why smart people make dumb mistakes)
Recommendation: Matt Levine (Money Stuff): Awesome Bloomberg columnist back from paternity leave
Small win: Using Project Gutenberg for free eBooks. Used it to get Adam Smith - Wealth of Nations.
Other content: Paystack fundraising, valuations & founders ownership (detailed spreadsheet estimates)
Other content: Paystack is joining Stripe video announcement
Open question: What will be the biggest impact of the Stripe acquisition on the Africa tech ecosystem when we look back in 2025?

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation:Pinduoduo and Vertically Integrated Social Commerce , by Turner Novak
Recommendation: Wolf Warrior 2 the movie - highest grossing Chinese movie of all time
Recommendation: Shola's interview on the YC podcast link
Small win: First run of the year yesterday.
Open question: Re: Paystack’s exit to Stripe. Do you think the Paystack exit is the exception or a sign of more exits to come? It's tempting to think that this is validation, or a cynic would say - yes, it had to be them.

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The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes

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Overview: Today, we’re going to discuss the future of the African tech ecosystem. We’ll discuss our hopes for African entrepreneurs, startups, investors & tech businesses in 2021 and end with a quick discussion of future podcast plans. This episode was recorded on December 27th, 2020.

Companies discussed: Naspers, Mono, OnePipe, Okra, MTN, Airtel, Paystack & Interswitch

Business concepts discussed: Platform businesses, government impact / investments in tech, corporate venture capital (CVC), investment portfolio diversification, private market investments & scaling startups

Conversation highlights:

(01:14) - Bankole’s wishlist for 2021 Africa tech
(12:48) - Olumide’s wishlist for 2021 Africa tech
(24:52) - Olumide -> Bankole: Rapid fire Afrobility-related Q&A
(27:40) - Bankole -> Olumide: Rapid fire Afrobility-related Q&A
(34:02) - Olumide -> Bankole: Rapid fire general Q&A
(39:24) - Bankole -> Olumide: Rapid fire general Q&A
(42:17) - Podcast plans for 2021
(48:22) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Modern monopolies (by Alex Moazed)
Recommendation: Index companies (article by Elad Gil)
Small win: Hanging out with friends who visited (good to see people in person)
Small win: Watched original Rocky from 1976 & Rocky 2 from 1979. Fabulous! Planning to watch Creed soon.

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn
Recommendation: You and your research by Richard Hamming
Small win: Division 1 in EA Sports FIFA online seasons
Other content: The Journal by Wall Street Journal

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Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Flutterwave - the African payments infrastructure company - we’ll give some context of the Nigerian payments sector before 2014, Flutterwave's founding, early history, growth over time & end with our views on its future outlook. This episode was recorded on Dec 13, 2020.

Companies discussed: Flutterwave, Y Combinator (YC), Fora.com, Interswitch, Adyen, Visa, MasterCard, Stripe, Shopify & Paystack

Business concepts discussed: Payments ecosystem, payments partnerships strategy, startup accelerators, payments infrastructure, low-end disruption, banking regulation & payments M&A strategy

Conversation highlights:

(1:35) - Why Flutterwave is important
(04:10) - Background on Iyin “E” Aboyeji
(11:38) - How payments worked before Flutterwave (before 2014) in Nigeria
(16:40) - Flutterwave closed beta and Y Combinator 2016
(19:36) - Flutterwave growth and product launches
(30:15) - Fundraising - Series A, Series B and valuation
(42:50) - Partnerships - Visa, AliPay & WorldPay
(48:00) - Payments landscape and competition
(57:56) - Flutterwave today
(1:02:42) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:06:10) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:14:29) - Recommendations, small wins and open questions

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Millionaires Unveiled podcast episode 47: $40K salary and $1.4M net worth. Loved the story of happiness and perseverance and being contrarian to live a unique life
Small win: Drinking Kale/berry smoothie mix (vs 2 blending vegetables and berries separately)
Open question: What are the next FinTech platforms? What can be built on top of flutterwave?

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Productive Uncertainty | Reaction Wheel - link
Small win: Getting to Division 2 in FIFA 21 Online seasons
Other content: Flutterwave on Y Combinator
Open question: What do you think are potential exit options for Flutterwave?

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Interswitch, the African fintech payments company. We'll discuss its founding, early history, growth, place in the broader African fintech ecosystem & end with our views on its future outlook. This episode was recorded on Nov 29, 2020.

Companies discussed: Interswitch, Telnet, Visa, Helios Investment Partners, Stripe, Flutterwave, Paystack & Jumia Pay

Business concepts discussed: Nigerian Payments ecosystem, payments partnerships strategy, card networks, payments infrastructure, low-end disruption, banking regulation & payments M&A strategy

Conversation highlights:

(02:40) - Why Interswitch is important
(10:50) - Nigeria payments ecosystem and pre-Interswitch context
(18:12) - Interswitch founding
(22:40) - Interswitch fundraising from Helios, Visa etc and expansion
(34:24) - Interswitch competition across Nigeria’s payment landscape
(40:34) - Interswitch today - size, financials, margins
(45:17) - Interswitch relative to competitors
(56:37) - Bankole’s general thoughts and outlook
(1:02:15) - Olumide’s general thoughts and outlook
(1:04:15) - Recommendations, small wins and open questions

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Reddit FATFIRE thread: "What asymmetric bets are you currently placing? Good discussion. A little bit of crypto, a little bit of leveraged investments, some talk about options, individual stocks, etc
Small win: Using Fitbit Inspire 2 for sleep tracking (switched from Oura ring)
Other content: Visa's 2020-Feb Investor day (slide 124) (from Visa's investors site)
Open question: What can we learn from the founding of interswitch?

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Invest Like The Best podcast ft Nick Kokkonas
Small win: Easy does it in my Fantasy Premier League this season. Not doing exceptionally or doing well.
Other content: Interswitch 2019 Bond Prospectus
Open question: What do you think? Are you bullish on Interswitch vs the competition? Why? Let us know via email / twitter.

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about IROKO TV, the Nollywood video platform, we'll give some background on the Nigerian cinema industry, talk about IROKO's founding, early history, different businesses over time and our views on its future outlook. This episode was recorded on Nov 15, 2020.

Companies discussed: IROKO TV, Rok studios, iROKING, Netflix & Spark Capital

Business concepts discussed: Entertainment Technology, Backward integration, media distribution, Streaming Video on Demand (SVOD) & African streaming video

Conversation highlights:

(03:10) - Why we’re talking about Iroko TV
(03:40) - Market context for Iroko founding: Nollywood, media consumption, etc
(17:02) - Jason Njoku and Iroko TV: founding and early history
(27:05) - Iroko TV and fundraising
(29:03) - Spark Capital - investments and exits
(30:05) - ROK Studios - founding, growth and exit / closure
(34:20) - iROKING - music label
(40:00) - Iroko TV 2015 pivot to mobile and focus on product
(45:25) - Iroko TV 2020 layoffs and pivot to NA / Europe
(52:20) - Iroko TV and competitive landscape
(59:20) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:04:15) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:10:00) - Recommendations, small wins and open questions

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: "Earnings calls" by Borsa Finance --> It's earning season! Great app to listen to earnings calls
Recommendation: Maximum achievement (by Brian Tracy)
Small win: Standing during all meetings experiment (going well so far)
Other content: Jason's TED talk: Failing All the way to success
Other content: Jason's talk: Be Experimental & Find New ways to create things (1m to 10m)
Open question: What lessons did you learn from Jason's approach to running IrokoTV?

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Shape up - A book about a differentiated approach for product teams to ship high quality products often.
Recommendation: Trust The Process - Resignation from Sam Hinkie, former GM for the Philadelphia 76ers
Small win: Lots of walking first thing in the morning
Open question: Is there hope for an African content business? Or are African consumers going to be subsumed by the global behemoths e.g., Netflix or Spotify?

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Maximum Achievement: Proven System of Strategies & Skills That Unlock Powers

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about Orange - The 2nd largest telco in Africa, we’ll discuss its French founding, global expansion, success in Africa, non-telco businesses & end with our views on its future outlook. This episode was recorded on Nov 1, 2020.

Companies discussed: Orange S.A. (France Telecom), Orange Africa, Airtel Africa, Bharti Airtel Group, Celtel, Zain, MTN, Reliance Jio, Safaricom, Sonatel, Orascom, Mobinil, Ivoiris & Meditel

Business concepts discussed: Telco developing markets growth strategy, mobile money, telco M&A strategy & developing markets growth strategy.

Conversation highlights:

(01:22) - Why we’re talking about Orange and why it’s important to African tech
(05:19) - History of Orange Group and France Telecom
(10:22) - History of Orange Africa
(17:56) - Europe's historical influence in Africa tech (vs Indian and Chinese influence today)
(29:10) - Orange Africa’s non-telco businesses (primarily Orange Money)
(41:58) - Orange Africa today and growth opportunities
(47:18) - Orange expanding to South Africa and Nigeria?
(53:55) - Bankole’s thoughts and overall outlook
(1:01:27) - Olumide’s thoughts and overall outlook
(1:05:59) - Recommendations, small wins and open questions

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Millionaires unveiled podcast
Small win: Standing during all meetings experiment (going well so far)
Other content: “Cell C is not an MVNO” article
Open question: What other non-telco businesses should Orange consider?

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Hey Email
Small win: Spent the weekend visiting White Salmon, Washington
Other content: Minitel, the open network before the Internet - The Atlantic
Other content: Signal v Noise - Blog by the founders of Basecamp
Open question: What other companies that are dominant in North Africa or French West Africa should more people be aware of?

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about the opportunity for technology to make a difference in African healthcare. We'll start with the context of health in Africa, deepdive into health verticals and African companies, investigate Health Tech in other developing countries & how technology can help. This episode was recorded on Oct 18, 2020.

Companies discussed: Babyl, MobiHealth, mPharma, BIMA, Helium Health, Ilara Health, Zipline, Life Bank, 54gene, MTN Ayo, Ping An Good Doctor, Dr. Consulta, Practo & PharmEasy

Business concepts discussed: Healthcare technology, African Access stack, Health care coverage, Health insurance, Health platforms & Public policy.

Conversation highlights:

(01:40) - Central role of Health care to economic development
(03:40) - Africa’s under-resourced and under-staffed healthcare system statistics
(11:50) - Health care challenges in African countries
(15:55) - Healthcare verticals by target customers: Patients, Payers, Providers, Manufacturers, Distributors & others
(17:10) - Companies in Africa HealthTech across verticals
(41:06) - Health tech in non-Africa emerging markets
(53:00) - What’s needed to spur HealthTech innovation across African markets
(55:04) - New business models and innovation for Africa HealthTech
(58:10) - Potential business models for African healthcare providers
(1:01:10) - Lessons from other governments
(1:06:50) - Olumide’s thoughts overall outlook
(1:07:50) - Bankole’s thoughts & overall outlook
(1:13:50) - Recommendations, small wins & open questions

Olumide:

Recommendations: The Halo Effect, The Little Book of Lykke & Paired app
Small win: Watched video of professor telling colleague they had won the Nobel Prize (really nice)
Small win: Watched Paystack CEO video about Stripe acquisition. Made me so happy. Biggest exit for young technical African founders?
Other: World Bank database & Zipline mechanics
Question: How can we balance impact of health tech between the private & public sector?
Special thanks: Aisha Kasali & Nour Sharara

Bankole:

Recommendations: How to get promoted & How Normal Am I?
Small win: Working out more thanks to my Whoop band
Other: Africa Renewal - UN,Ping’An Good Doctor article & India Health Blueprint
Question: Can Africa have a step change in healthcare outcomes without govt involvement?

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The Little Book of Lykke: Secrets of the World's Happiest People (The Happiness Institute Series)

The Halo Effect: ... and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about Airtel - The third largest telco in Africa (& second largest telco in the world), we’ll discuss its founding, early history, success in India, expansion into Africa, non-telco businesses & end with our views on its future outlook. This episode was recorded on October 4, 2020

Companies discussed: Airtel Africa, Bharti Airtel Group, Celtel, Zain, MTN, Reliance Jio, Safaricom, Econet Wireless & Vmobile

Business concepts discussed: Telco diversification (voice vs data vs emerging businesses), VOD (video on demand), mobile money, telco M&A strategy & developing markets growth strategy.

Conversation highlights:

(02:10) - Why we are talking about Airtel today
(04:47) - Bharti Airtel founding, Sunil Mittal and early history
(14:45) - Airtel Africa - early origins from Celtel and then Zain
(21:00) - Zain acquisition of Celtel
(22:54) - Nigeria naming journey - from Econet to Airtel
(27:02) - Airtel Africa + MTN attempted merger / acquisition
(36:31) - Airtel Africa IPO in 2019
(39:50) - Airtel Africa’s non-telco businesses
(48:45) - What Airtel Africa looks like in 2020
(59:56) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:05:32) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:10:23) - Recommendations and small wins
(1:16:05) - Open questions

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Hotel Sweet Home (by Libby Rome) - Fun book about living in a hotel. For travel & point nerds
Recommendation: The Treasury of Quotes by Jim Rohn - Amazing book of various smart & insightful quotes from one of my favorite personal development coaches
Small win: I listened to Owl City - Unbelievable (ft Hanson) while I wrote script for Health Tech episode
Small win: I used background ambient sounds from Mynoise.net to focus while I prepared for this episode
Open question: What can entrepreneurs today learn from Mo Ibrahim or Sunil Mittal?

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendations: Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino
Small win: FIFA 21 released! A veritable time sink has a new installment!
Other content mentioned: Chillhop jazzy lofi - YouTube live channel with good background music to work
Other content mentioned: Opomulero by Ruggedman feat 9ice [YouTube] - entry music by UFC athlete Israel Adesanya
Open question: What other examples can you think of where events outside Africa dictate an African company’s strategy or market outcomes?

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Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

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Overview: Today, we discuss how African innovation hubs are nurturing entrepreneurship, the history of CCHub / iHub & end with our views on the future outlook of African innovation hubs

Companies discussed: CcHub, iHub, Entrepreneur First, Y Combinator (YC), TechStars & Station F

Business concepts discussed: Innovation Hubs, sustainable business models & Entrepreneurial support/financing

Conversation highlights:

(01:07) - Why innovation hubs / entrepreneur support organizations are important
(02:45) - What are innovation hubs
(04:37) - Different types of innovation hubs
(15:24) - Private vs Government innovation hubs
(18:15) - Challenges faced by innovation hubs
(19:58) - Problems that African innovation hubs solve
(27:10) - iHub, Kenya - founder, history, incubated startups
(31:11) - CcHub - founder, history, incubated startups
(40:30) - CcHub acquisition of iHub
(43:30) - Trends across Africa’s innovation hubs
(48:50) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(53:52) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(58:15) - Bankole and Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: The Psychology of Money (by Morgan Housel): Great book about finance & decision making
Recommendation: Reddit summary post about book: Great group focused on financial independence
Recommendation: Personal Information Management Assistants: Proposes idea of PIMAs - summarizers + curators of high quality content (e.g., podcasts, articles & books)
Small win: Played Stadia games: Spiritfarer & The Turing test
Open question: What successful business models have you seen work well for corporate & government innovation hubs in Africa?

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendations: Anatomy of a Swipe by Ahmed Siddiqui - A book about how payment systems work
Small win: The weather got much better and I was able to resume going out on walks.
Open question: What kind of innovation hubs would you like to see? Something like Entrepreneur First, or “traditional” hubs like ccHub?
Other content: Invest Like the Best episode with founder of Entrepreneur First, Matt Clifford - link
Other content: Afrilabs and Briter: Tech Hubs Report Q4 2019 - link

We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback or just want to say hello, please email info@afrobility.com.

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The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness

The Anatomy of the Swipe: Making Money Move

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Byju's & Edtech in Africa. We'll start with some context about African education, discuss Byju's success in India as a reference point, major edtech African players & the future of the African edTech ecosystem

Companies discussed: Byju’s, Naspers, uLesson, Kio Kit / BRCK, Gebeya, Ubongo, M-Shule, BeBlocky, Elham Inspire, MySkoolPortal, Tuteria, MTN, Vodacom & ZEduPad

Business concepts discussed: Educational technology, Africa infrastructure development, product localization, new product development, technological leapfrogging & equity fund raising

Conversation highlights:

(02:21) - Why the Byju’s story is important to Africa
(03:35) - What is “EdTech” & what are the different segments?
(05:41) - Context of education in Africa pre-colonial and colonial influence
(08:44) - Challenges with formal education in different African countries
(18:12) - Challenges for EdTech in Africa
(20:35) - India education & Byju's background
(25:53) - Byju’s growth, localization, expansion & fundraising
(33:31) - Byju’s today
(35:20) - How can EdTech be adapted to African conditions?
(39:54) - Profiles of EdTech companies in Africa
(55:45) - uLesson overview & similarity to Byju’s
(01:05:17) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(01:11:55) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(01:17:41) - Bankole’s recommendation and small wins
(01:23:08) - Olumide’s recommendation and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: TEDx - The Importance of Education | Edna Adan Ismail
Small win: Spending hours getting lost on Byju's YT channel

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: The Book of Why by Judea Pearl
Small win: Got a Whoop Band this week - it is an always-on, no-display, no notification wristband that tracks performance and recovery metrics and transmits to your phone.
Other content mentioned: How Indian Tutoring App Provider Byju’s Got So Big | EdSurge News - link
Other content mentioned: Lagos and Manila: A Tale of Two Cities | bankole.org - link
Other content mentioned: 94 companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2020 Demo Day 2 | TechCrunch - link
Other content mentioned: Electricity and education: The benefits, barriers, and recommendations for achieving the electrification of primary and secondary schools | UNDESA - link

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The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about MTN - The largest telco in Africa, we’ll discuss its founding, early history, success in Africa, global expansion, diversification into non-telco businesses & future outlook

Companies discussed: MTN Group (M-Cell, MTN Nigeria, MTN Irancell), Investcom, Telkom, Vodafone (Vodacom & Safaricom), Naspers (Multichoice, M-Net) & Transsion

Business concepts discussed: Telco diversification, Telco license acquisition strategy, Fintech services, messaging platforms, conglomerates, government private sector influence & developing markets expansion.

Conversation highlights:

(01:03) - Why we’re talking about MTN today
(03:34) - MTN's founding, early history and context
(10:15) - MTN’s African expansion strategy 1997+
(12:20) - MTN's expansion into Nigeria, market share and controversies
(24:42) - Global expansion into Iran and M&A with Investcom
(28:14) - Expansion strategy (compared to other African telcos)
(30:30) - Why MTN was successful expanding outside Africa
(33:30) - MTN’s non-telco businesses
(43:40) - MTN 2020 asset sales and refocus on Africa business
(45:20) - MTN today - financials, segment growth, etc
(48:00) - Why MTN wants to leave the Middle East
(51:20) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(55:04) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(61:40) - Olumide’s recommendations and small wins
(65:22) - Bankole’s recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Something Ventured (2011 Documentary about the origin of the VC industry)
Recommendation: My life philosophy (JD Roth)
Recommendation: Unusual ideas about self-care (by Paula Pant)
Small win: Amazon Fresh Prime for groceries (reminds of 2010 when I used to order groceries from Tesco in the UK)

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Collection of notable essays in Notion - Link
Small win: Daily long walks
Other content mentioned: South Africa's MTN asks U.S. court to dismiss anti-terrorism case in Afghanistan - Reuters
Other content mentioned: How an African telecom allegedly bribed its way into Iran - Reuters

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about OPay - The African Payments startup, we’ll discuss its early history, initial focus on African payments, blitzscale attempt to become Africa’s Super App & OPay's future outlook. This episode was recorded on August 9, 2020

Companies discussed: Opera Group, OPay (Opera Pay), OCar, OFood, ORide, OExpress, OBus, OTrike, Beijing Kunlun, Meituan Dianping, Tencent (WeChat), Go-Jek, Grab, Jumia (Jumia Pay), AliPay & GTBank.

Business concepts discussed: Blitzscaling, Super App strategy, Equity fundraising, Venture Capital (VC) / Entrepreneur risk dynamics, China Tech, Fintech, Betting Technology & Chinese investments in Africa tech.

Conversation highlights:

(00:40) - Why the OPay story is important
(02:39) - Background on Opera and market share in Africa
(05:24) - Background on Zhou Yahui and Beijing Kunlun Opera acquisition
(08:25) - OPay fundraising
(12:40) - OPay Blitzscaling approach, trade offs and other examples
(23:15) - Super App strategy discussion: Great and not-yet great examples
(32:30) - OPay in Nigeria and multiple business lines
(37:22) - OPay refocusing on Fintech and reacting to COVID
(43:30) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(49:00) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(54:30) - Bankole’s recommendations and small wins
(56:07) - Olumide’s recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: How Innovation Works (by Matt Ridley)
Small win: Good to be back in the gym after 5 months
Other content mentioned: Blitzfail: How Not to Go off the Rails (by David Sacks)

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: The Worst Epidemic (from Waking Up Podcast by Sam Harris)
Small win: Eloquent Chrome extension
Other content mentioned: GTBank Habari - customer review

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How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about the potential for a Reliance Jio moment in Africa. We'll start with some context of the Reliance parent group, its telco subsidiary - Reliance Jio (& its digital services subsidiary Jio Platforms) & their impact on India. Then we'll end by discussing ways Africa can also have a Reliance Jio moment. This episode was recorded on July 26, 2020.

Companies discussed: Reliance group, Reliance Jio / Jio Platforms, Dangote Group, Remgro, Transcorp, Naspers, Safaricom / Vodacom, Transsion, América Móvil & MTN

Business concepts discussed: India Tech, vertical integration, government relationships, pricing strategy, import substitution, industrialization, debt financing & equity fund raising

Conversation highlights:

(00:33) - Why the Reliance Jio story is important to Africa
(02:29) - Background on Reliance parent group - founding & IPO
(03:50) - Reliance backward integration & expansion
(07:20) - Similarities to African conglomerates
(11:04) - Starting Reliance Jio Telecoms
(13:17) - Jio impact on competition, Indian economy & consumers
(18:55) - Jio 2020 fundraising
(24:24) - How can we have a "Jio moment" in Africa?
(25:47) - Western Africa candidates to create a Jio moment
(28:27) - Southern Africa candidates to create a Jio moment
(35:27) - Eastern Africa candidates to create a Jio moment
(37:00) - African governments or Non-African candidates to create a Jio moment
(42:13) - Bankole’s overall thoughts & outlook
(46:26) - Olumide’s overall thoughts & outlook
(50:30) - Bankole’s recommendation & small wins
(54:18) - Olumide’s recommendation & small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Designing your life book (by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans)
Small win: "Earnings calls" app by Borsa Finance --> It's earnings season!
Small win: Kuda bank --> First digital-only Nigerian bank

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters
Small win: Watched football this weekend with my friends on a conference call. Potential for a unified co-watching experience product --> Have ideas? E-mail us!

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Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life

You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about technology & Internet censorship in Africa. We’ll discuss internet access across African countries, how censorship works, examples of censorship and end with our views on internet censorship across Africa. This episode was recorded on July 12, 2020

Companies discussed: ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), Loon & ByteDance (TikTok)

Concepts discussed: Internet access, Internet censorship, Technology censorship, China Tech, India Tech & Government influence on technology

Conversation highlights:

(01:22) - Highlights from public launch - listener breakdown
(04:22) - Background on internet access in Africa
(09:30) - Loon launch in Kenya and licenses in other African countries
(12:13) - Introduction to internet censorship
(13:21) - Common reasons for internet censorship
(14:36) - The internet is not as decentralized as you think
(15:14) - Autonomous Systems and Internet access
(17:25) - Examples of internet censorship and highly censored countries
(22:20) - Indian internet ban on 59 Chinese apps (most notably TikTok & WeChat)
(24:09) - Internet censorship in Africa - Heavy, Medium and Low levels of censorship
(29:10) - How users respond to internet censorship
(34:16) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(34:42) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(39:42) - Bankole’s recommendations and small wins
(41:58) - Olumide’s recommendation and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Business model canvas (by Alexander Osterwalder)
Small win: Stumbled on childhood music that made me happy

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: How to take smart notes (by Sonnke Ahrens)
Small win: Started using Roam Research for my note taking this past week
Other content mentioned: Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University - For metrics about autonomous systems and points of control

We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email info@afrobility.com

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How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about Safaricom - The largest telecom carrier in Kenya. We’ll discuss its early history, M-Pesa launch, M-Pesa success, attempted M-Pesa global expansion & Safaricom's future outlook

Companies discussed: Safaricom, Vodacom, Vodafone, Telkom, MTN & M-Kopa

Business concepts discussed: Unbanked population, Financial inclusion, Mobile money, Payment platforms, government regulation, global expansion, telco competition, state-owned companies & product launch timing

Conversation highlights:

(00:36) - Kenya context and contrast with other major African countries
(01:10) - Safaricom history and ownership structure
(03:53) - Safaricom financials and market share
(06:58) - M-Pesa background
(08:27) - How M-Pesa works
(09:45) - M-Pesa ownership - Safaricom, Vodafone and Vodacom
(10:15) - How M-Pesa become successful in Kenya
(13:50) - M-Pesa’s international expansion
(21:20) - M-Pesa in India
(24:50) - Safaricom’s other products (Home Internet, M-Kopa solar, Ridesharing, etc)
(34:05) - Bankole’s thoughts and overall outlook
(37:02) - Olumide’s thoughts and overall outlook
(41:17) - Bankole’s recommendations and small wins
(45:42) - Olumide’s recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Angel (by Jason Calacanis)
Recommendation: Angel Investing (by David Rose)
Small win: Link to Text Fragment (Chrome extension)

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution
Small win: Roam Research

We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email info@afrobility.com

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

Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution

Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups--Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100,000 into $100,000,000

Angel Investing: The Gust Guide to Making Money and Having Fun Investing in Startups

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Overview: In this episode, we talk about Naspers - The South African conglomerate, investment group & most valuable company in Africa. We’ll discuss its early history, transition from newspaper publisher to tech investment firm, Tencent investment, broader investment portfolio & Naspers' future outlook.

Companies discussed: Naspers, Prosus, Tencent, PayU, Media24, Takealot, M-Net, Swiggy, OLX, PayU, Delivery Hero

Business concepts discussed: VC investments, developing market investing, portfolio diversification & conglomerate discounts

Conversation highlights:

(00:40) - Naspers founding and early history
(02:18) - Koos Bekker background and influence
(05:25) - Tencent investment
(06:10) - Tencent overview
(09:50) - Naspers broader (non-Tencent) investment portfolio
(13:36) - Naspers classifieds businesses
(18:05) - Naspers in FinTech and payments
(20:50) - Naspers investment strategy and portfolio vs Softbank
(28:10) - Prosus spin-off
(30:30) - Naspers conglomerate discount
(35:00) - Prosus discount
(38:30) - Naspers ownership structure
(42:48) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(46:25) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Passive Income, Aggressive Retirement (by Rachel Richards)
Recommendation: How to build wealth (Naval Ravikant podcast)
Small win: LazyFA.com

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Ultraworking
Small win: Focusmate
Other content mentioned: Naspers strategy document 2018

We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email info@afrobility.com

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Passive Income, Aggressive Retirement: The Secret to Freedom, Flexibility, and Financial Independence (& how to get started!)

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Overview: In this episode, we discuss ridesharing in Sub-Saharan Africa. We discuss transportation in major African cities, the entry, impact & business models of ridesharing platforms & end with our views on the future outlook of ridesharing platforms

Companies discussed: Uber, Bolt / Taxify & OPay (Opera Pay)

Business concepts discussed: Low end disruption, Bottom of the pyramid (BOP) solutions, customer segmentation, product localization & marketplace differentiation

Conversation highlights:

(00:30) - Transportation and Mobility context in sub-Saharan African cities
(04:35) - Uber’s history and entry into Africa via South Africa
(09:05) - Uber’s advantages in African markets
(11:00) - Uber’s adaptations to succeed in African markets
(16:00) - Uber’s pricing strategy in African cities
(21:40) - How drivers in African cities choose between different services
(22:55) - Ridesharing companies and government relations
(27:00) - Ridesharing competition in Nigeria
(33:00) - “Driver-friendly” vs “Rider-friendly” ridesharing services
(36:50) - Ridesharing business models in Nigeria
(39:15) - OPay (Opera Pay) competition
(40:15) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(42:25) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index
Khan Academy bankruptcy video
China Tech Podcast

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

The future of work is not all that remote (by Byrne Hobart)

We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email info@afrobility.com

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

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about Transsion - The Chinese phone manufacturer that has sold the most phones in Africa since 2017. We’ll discuss its early history, entry & success into Africa, progress in other developing markets, eventual 2019 IPO & Transsion's future outlook

Companies discussed: Transsion (Tecno, Infinix and Itel), PalmPay & Jumia

Business concepts discussed: Customer segmentation, product localization & revenue diversification (hardware vs services businesses)

Conversation highlights:

(00:33) - Transsion: Founding and early history
(03:20) - Entry into Africa and design changes for the African market
(11:10) - Transsion’s focus on hardware and building services (Payments and Music)
(11:30) - Transsion’s Boomplay Music service
(17:30) - Transsion’s hardware business
(18:30) - IPO
(24:06) - Transsion Post-IPO performance
(27:10) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(39:35) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Blitzfail: How Not to Go off the Rails (by David Sacks)
Recommendation: The Deep Reset (by Cal Newport)
Recommendation: Location & Work (by Fred Wilson)
Recommendation: Poor Charlie’s Almanac (by Charlie Munger)

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: A Man for all Markets (by Ed Thorp)

We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email info@afrobility.com

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

Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, Expanded Third Edition

A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market

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Overview: Today we’re going to talk about Jumia - The largest ecommerce player in Africa. We’ll discuss its founding, seminal points in its history, eventual 2019 IPO & Jumia's future outlook. This episode was recorded on May 3, 2020.

Companies discussed: Jumia, Africa Internet Holding (Africa Internet Group), Rocket Internet, Kasuwa, Sabunta, Konga, Naspers, Takealot, Kaymu (Jumia Travel), Hello Food (Jumia Food), Lamudi (Jumia House) & Carmudi (Jumia Cars)

Business concepts discussed: E-commerce, Payments, Logistics, Retail, Marketplaces, Revenue growth vs profitability, Stock short-selling & IPOs

Conversation highlights:

(1:00) - E-Commerce and Retail context in African markets
(2:20) - What is Jumia? Businesses, Numbers
(4:35) - Jumia Founding and History
(5:45) - Rocket Internet and Jumia
(12:30) - Jumia Fundraising rounds and transition to Jumia Group
(12:40) - Konga story relative to Jumia
(15:50) - Jumia IPO
(17:12) - Citron report, J-Force agents & returns
(21:47) - Post IPO decline and lockup
(23:20) - Shifting focus to Jumia Pay & Rocket Internet divestment
(25:00) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(35:00) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Dangal (directed by Nitesh Tiwari)
Recommendation: Upheaval (by Jared Diamond)

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution (by Gregory Zuckerman)
Recommendation: The Halo Effect: ... and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers (by Philip M. Rosenzweig)
Other content mentioned: Most popular sites in Nigeria (Alexa ranking)

We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email info@afrobility.com

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

Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis

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Overview: This episode covers major recent fintech investments in Africa. We start with some context on why fintech is important, why the majority of Africans are unbanked, discuss the early history of mobile money & then discuss the largest fintech investments in 2018 and 2019

Companies discussed: Cellulant, Migo, Paga, Yoco, Jumo, Flutterwave, Branch, OPay (Opera Pay), Visa, PalmPay (Transsion), Interswitch & Jumia Pay

Business concepts discussed: Unbanked population, financial inclusion, Mobile money, M-Pesa & financial services regulation

Conversation highlights:

(0:38) – Why Fintech is important to Africa
(1:18) – Unbanked population in Africa
(4:20) – Mobile money & M-Pesa
(6:06) – 2018 May: Cellulant raised $47.5M
(8:19) – 2018 Aug: Mines/Migo raised $13M
(10:00) – 2018 Sep: Paga raised $10M
(12:54) – 2018-Sep: Yoco raised $16M
(16:00) – 2018-Sep: Jumo raised $52M (also raised $55M in 2020-Feb)
(20:10) – 2018-Oct: Flutterwave raised $10M extension round (had raised $10M Series A in 2017-Jul, also raised $35M in 2020-Jan)
(23:50) – 2019-Jan: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) allows non-banks to offer mobile payment services
(25:28) – 2019-Apr: Branch raised $170M
(28:30) – 2019-July: Opay raised $50M Series A (also raised $120M Series B in 2019-Nov)
(35:16) – 2019-Nov: PalmPay raised $40M
(37:30) – 2019-Nov: Interswitch raised $200M ($1B valuation)
(40:17) – Bankole’s summary thoughts
(41:15) – Olumide’s summary thoughts

Olumide’s recommendations

Recommendation: Undo It (by Dean Ornish)
Recommendation: Bogleheads introduction to TLH, Tax Loss Harvesting

Bankole’s recommendations:

Recommendation: No Filter (by Sarah Frier)

We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email info@afrobility.com

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

Undo It!: How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse Most Chronic Diseases

No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram

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Overview: Today we’re going to give an introduction to the podcast, we’ll talk about our backgrounds, why we wanted to make this podcast together and what you can expect from Afrobility in the future

We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email info@afrobility.com

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

Afrobility: Africa Tech & Business: Recent Episodes

Olumide Ogunsanwo & Bankole Makanju