

Episode 336 - Ex-Royalty Goes All-In on Africa’s $1 Trillion Underground Economy | Sadiq Edu
Join host Justin Forman as he sits down with Sadiq Edu, co-founder of Pika, in Lagos, Nigeria, for an extraordinary conversation about faith transformation, entrepreneurial courage, and the power of data to lift nations. Sadiq shares his remarkable journey from being the grandson of a Sultan to encountering Christ through a series of miraculous events, including being baptized by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
This episode explores how God works through business to address both spiritual and financial poverty, the challenges of building a fintech startup in Africa's informal economy, and the importance of staying true to your calling even when it costs everything.
Key Topics:
- The miraculous conversion story: From Islamic royalty to follower of Christ
- Being baptized by the Archbishop of Canterbury after a divine appointment
- Building Pika: Transforming Africa's $1 trillion informal retail sector through data
- Why you can't address spiritual poverty without addressing financial poverty
- The cost of faith: Navigating family rejection while honoring God and spouse
- From Techstars rejection to acceptance: Trusting God's timing in business
- How bookkeeping apps can unlock credit, insurance, and economic development for 40 million traders
Notable Quotes:
"You don't have the license to speak on someone's spiritual poverty until you've addressed their financial poverty." - Sadiq Edu
"Entrepreneurship is pulling back all the noise to see what's true - whether in faith or business." - Justin Forman
"If we lost everything tomorrow, doesn't matter. We know that the most important thing we have is Jesus." - Sadiq Edu