Afrobility: Africa Tech and Business

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 con...

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. Com...

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

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. Comp...

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, De...

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,...

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 & Be...

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...

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, Safa...

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 Vent...

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, St...

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 d...

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...

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...

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 dis...

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...

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, mPha...

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...

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/financi...

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, Tute...

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   Busin...

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, Te...

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. Compan...

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) C...

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, Pa...