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

Overview: Today we’re going to talk about 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. Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com

Overview: Today, we're going to talk about Sendwave - the mobile remittances service that was acquired by WorldRemit in 2020-Aug. We start with the context of African remittances, discuss Sendwave's early history, growth, acquisition by WorldRemit & end with our overall outlook. This episode was recorded on May 2nd, 2021 Companies discussed: Sendwave (Remittances), Wave (Mobile money / Consumer FinTech), WorldRemit (Zepz), Chipper Cash, Transferwise, Remitly, Western Union, MoneyGram & Safaricom Business concepts discussed: African remittances, personal finance OS, neobanks, Market expansion entry & Consumer Fintech (WealthTech) entry strategy Conversation highlights: (01:15) - What is Sendwave and why we’re talking about it (05:10) - Global Remittances context, size and trends (11:30) - Remittances in Sub-Saharan Africa (21:00) - Sendwave founding and early history (25:15) - Product strategy - UX, fees, disbursement speed, integrations (31:12) - Fundraising - Seed, series A and expansion (43:20) - WorldRemit's $500M acquisition (49:40) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook (58:30) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook (1:09:38) - Recommendations and small wins Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions: Recommendation: Software is eating the rest of the world (By Derin Adebayo): Fabulous. Recommendation: The Simple Path to Wealth (JL Collins). Amazing. Small win: Flew to ATL to catch-up with a friend visiting. Awesome. Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions: Recommendation: Promising Young Woman Small win: Started a garden to grow vegetables Other content: Symplifi & Wave Mobile Money Engineering blog We’d love to hear from you. Please email 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

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

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

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

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

Overview: Today we’re going to talk about WealthTech & the rise of retail investing platforms in Africa. We’ll start with some context of stock market trading, review investment platforms in India & China & then dive into Africa's personal investing landscape. This episode was recorded on Feb 21, 2021. Companies discussed: RobinHood, Zerodha, Futu, Ant Financial / AliPay, Bamboo, Chaka, Trove, Abacus, ARM Pensions, eToro, AvaTrade, Thndr, EasyEquities, Wealth.ng, RiseVest, PiggyVest & Cowrywise Business concepts discussed: Personal finance strategy, retail investment strategy & wealth management Conversation highlights: (00:40) - WealthTech & InvestTech context (03:40) - Stock trading & Brokerages context (15:40) - Indian investment platforms: Zerodha (20:40) - Chinese investment platforms: Futu & AliPay (28:52) - African retail investment context (30:08) - Currency risks and devaluation in Africa (42:26) - Retail investing stories (50:00) - WealthTech in West Africa (56:20) - WealthTech in East Africa (1:00:15) - WealthTech in Southern & Northern Africa (1:15:50) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and general outlook (1:24:22) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and general outlook (1:31:15) - Recommendations and small wins Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions: Recommendations: How to do the things you keep avoiding: Excellent article about dealing with procrastination & Building for the Enterprise (Aaron Levie): Video about building B2B products. Insightful & funny Small wins: Spent time with friend’s dog & Feedly pro+: Excellent Other content:  India Investments sub-reddit, Zerodha story: Wonderful story, inspirational and heartfelt, Stock market participation in Zimbabwe paper & PiggyVest vs CowyRise vs RiseVest comparison video Open question: How should retail investing apps adapt their business models in the next 1-3 years? Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions: Recommendations: The startling convexity of expertise & Why Explore Space? Small wins: FPL on a tear! Crushing all my mini-leagues :) + Visit from a good friend Other content: The harder you work, the luckier you get, Flash Boys & Market cap of domestic companies (% of GDP) & Contracts for Difference Open question: What do you think about the chances for foreign investors in African wealthtech? If you have feedback or just want to say hello, please email info@afrobility.com Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com

Overview: Today we’re going to talk about African Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) using Softbank as a reference point. We'll talk about Softbank's early history, transition from operational to investment company, and finally dive into the current state and future potential of CVC in Africa. This episode was recorded on Feb 7, 2021 Companies discussed: Softbank, Naspers / Prosus, MTN, Nedbank, Safaricom, Orange, Stripe, Visa, MasterCard, Tencent & Alibaba Business concepts discussed: Corporate Venture Capital (CVC), M&A strategy, Internal vs External innovation & developing market investment strategy Conversation highlights: (01:05) - Why we’re talking about Corporate Venture Capital (03:50) - Why we picked Softbank as a reference point (07:30) - Masayoshi Son background Softbank History  (16:14) - Softbank acquisitions, investments & the Vision Fund (28:24) - Southern Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates (36:40) - West Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates (43:00) - East Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates (51:56) - North Africa CVCs - current potential candidates (53:40) - Non-African CVCs investing in Africa (59:30) - Bankole’s closing thoughts (1:11:55) - Olumide’s closing thoughts (1:23:38) - Recommendations and small wins Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions: Recommendation: Billionaire's Build (Paul Graham): Wonderful article from PG about entrepreneur billionaires and how to get into YC. Recommendation: ESI millionaire interview 220: Great article telling the story of a 57 yr old woman journey to become a millionaire. Very inspirational! Recommendation: History of Japan video: Crazy 9 minute video. Fun! Small win: 4hr dinner with friends by the ocean. :) Other content: Techpoint Visa article & Packy McCormick's wonderful Tencent article (on Not Boring) Open question: What African companies would you like to see invest more in startups? And why? Special thanks: Ato Bentsi-Enchill Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions: Recommendation: Text Expander Small win: Fifa Seasons Division 2 -> 1 promotion Other content: MEST Article on MTN investments in African startup ecosystem Other content: GSMA report on Emerging Markets Corporate Venture Capital Open question: Are you optimistic about the CVC investment in African startup ecosystem, or do you think it’s never going to happen. We’d love to hear from you. Please email 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

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