Afrobility: Africa Tech and Business

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

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

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

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 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 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

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

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

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

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

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