Africa Fintech Rising

This week, Andrew sits down with Joseph Mucheru, the President of JUMO and former Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of ICT, Innovation, and Youth Affairs in Kenya. Today's discussion covers everything from Mr. Mucheru's transition back to the private sector, JUMO's growth plans, and how artificial intelligence (AI) can help advance the African economy. Interested in seeing the video version of this interview, check out The Kenyan Wall Street's YouTube page.

This week, Andrew sits down with Paula Hunter, the Executive Director of the Mojaloop Foundation. They discuss the role and benefits that open-source payments infrastructure brings to the greater African fintech ecosystem.

On this week's edition of the Africa Fintech Rising podcast, Eugene Tawiah (Co-Founder & CEO, SecondSTAX) sits down with Andrew to discuss the role that SecondSTAX is playing in revolutionizing how Africans and corporates interact with and invest in African capital markets. Despite having some of the best-performing stocks and bonds globally, Africa's exchanges are largely inaccessible to investors outside the jurisdictions where they have been listed. Over the last decade, African capital markets have raised more than US$ 246 billion in debt capital markets. More than US$ 87 billion has been raised in equity capital markets and equity indices have peaked at over 50% growth across the major regional exchanges. However, the siloed nature of these exchanges as well as insufficient data on the risk profiles of assets has led to limited access to capital for markets and limited access to high-growth assets for investors. SecondSTAX is the first and only portal for investment firms to directly invest in all stocks and bonds on exchanges in multiple African countries, with SecondSTAX's transparent, easy-to-use, cloud-based portal investors can invest in their native currencies, making a wider range of assets and opportunities available to more Africans and creating an efficient route to increased wealth on the continent.

This week, Andrew sits down with Cellulant's Chief Revenue Officer, David Waithaka. They discuss the evolution of Africa's fintech industry and its trajectory in the coming months. David discusses how he has seen Cellulant evolve from the sale of mobile ringtones into a leading and preeminent financial technology company operational across the continent.

This week, Andrew sits down with the Co-Founder & CEO of South Africa's FiveWest, Omer Iqbal. Omer discusses the use cases for cryptocurrency in Africa and how businesses and individuals alike can benefit from using cryptocurrency. Combatting inflation risk and speeding up international transfers are just a few of the many ways FiveWest leverages cryptocurrency. Beyond discussing FiveWest and cryptocurrency use cases, Omer comments on FTX's downfall and shares some valuable advice for young people looking to build a career in financial technology.

This week, Andrew sits down with Nael and Israel, the Co-Founders of Ethiopia's Chapa to discuss their mission to build the 'Stripe of East Africa.' Chapa was a participant in the Africa Fintech Summit's 5th AlphaExpo Micro-Accelerator Cohort and the winner of the AlphaExpo Pitch Competition hosted at AFTSCapeTown on November 4, 2022. Through this discussion, Nael and Israel highlight Chapa's business model and evolution since its founding and sheds some much needed light on the nuances and needs of Ethiopia's nascent financial technology ecosystem.

This week Andrew sits down with Djiba Diallo, the Senior Fintech Advisor at Ecobank. Andrew and Djiba discuss the importance of banking-fintech collaboration, how technology is being leveraged by banks across Africa, and the upcoming Ecobank Fintech Challenge.

This week, Andrew sits down with Yves Eonnet, Co-Founder & Chairman of Skaleet, an international fintech that has developed a Next-Generation Core Banking System. Yves has over 25 years' experience in banking innovation and technology and has also published a book "Fintech: The Banks Strike Back", where he highlights his vision on the digital banking ecosystem in the future.

In this episode, Andrew sits down with Olukayode Ariyo, the Managing Director & CEO of Accelerex, a Financial Times 2022 Africa's Fastest Growing Companies awardee. Kayode is a renowned Nigerian entrepreneur with 25+ years of experience working at the crossroads of financial inclusion and payments innovation. Kayode and Andrew discuss everything for fintech licensing, to building relationships with regulators, the evolution of Accelerex, and MUCH MORE!

This week, Andrew sits down with Akinyinka Akintunde, the Chief Operating Officer of AFEX. The conversation dives into AFEX's journey to being listed on the Financial Times' 2022 Africa Fastest Growing Companies list, to the company's expansion into Kenya, and the mission driving the connection between smallholder farmers and the information & commodity networks necessary to maximize production and establish food security on the continent.

This week, Andrew sits down with Erik Rind, the Founder & CEO of ImagineBC. ImagineBC is a 'revolutionary new media company' aimed at giving users control over their personal data by enabling them to profit off of advertisements that they watch. Andrew and Erik's conversation covers everything from blockchain to new-age media and even dives into the hardships of being an entrepreneur.

This week Andrew sits down with Karima El Hakim, the newly minted Egypt Country Director for Plug & Play. Karima's career has revolved around ecosystem building and startup acceleration/incubation with her previous work at Fawry and Falak Startups. In this conversation, Andrew and Karima discuss Egypt's vibrant startup ecosystem - diving into the ideas driving smart city initiatives, fintech, e-commerce, digital banking, this year's COP27, and much more!

This week Andrew sits down with Adekunle Daniel, an innovative cryptocurrency entrepreneur from Nigeria looking to solve a variety of use cases holding back crypto's widespread acceptance across Africa. Adekunle is the Founder & CEO of e-Fiat App, a unique cryptocurrency application with the dedicated mission of protecting 'your money against devaluation' and democratizing access for businesses and consumers alike to the global crypto ecosystem.

This week, Andrew sits down to speak with Ayman Essawy, the Co-Founder and General Manager at Lucky App. Lucky operates a consumer-facing credit and discounts network for partner merchants in Egypt and Morocco. Ayman shares some of his thoughts on the North African fintech ecosystem, lessons learned in transitioning from a B2B to B2C focused fintech, and Lucky's plans for increasing market penetration and expansion.

This week, Andrew sits down with Omosalewa "O" Adeyemi, the Global Partnerships & Expansions Head at Flutterwave, to discuss Flutterwave's expansion plans and learn more about one of Africa's fintech unicorns. (This podcast was recorded in November 2021)

This week, Andrew sits down with Michael Spencer, the Co-Founder and CEO of SmartMoney. Andrew and Michael's conversation revolves around driving financial inclusion, customer acquisition, and the importance of rural-focused fintech applications.

This week, Andrew Barden, the Director of Insights at Dedalus Global and Lead Organizer of the Africa Fintech Summit, sits down with Andy Jury, the CEO of the Mukuru Group, to discuss everything from Mukuru's successes in addressing financial inclusion to the company's plans for pan-African mastery.

Leland Rice, Founder & CEO of Dedalus Global, and Zekarias Amsalu, Founder & CEO of Ibex Frontier, discuss the details behind this year's Africa Fintech Summit in Cairo, Egypt on November 16-17, 2021. This conversation dives into what attendees can expect at the conference, why the AFTS Advisory Board chose Cairo as this year's host city, and the news driving the content and ideas that will be discussed at the summit. Tickets are now available on the Africa Fintech Summit website at: https://africafintechsummit.com/

Today on the pod we announce the host city for the November 2019 Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS). Hint: it's the capital of Africa's fastest growing economy and second largest country. We chat with the 2019 AFTS Co-Organizer Zekarias Amsalu—who runs IBEX Frontier, an investment consultancy & route-to-Ethiopian-market advisory—about the host city selection and why it's currently one of the world's most intriguing investment destinations.

Mobile money now accounts for more than 866 million registered users and $1.3 billion transacted every day, according to GSMA's 2018 "State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money," the definitive look at this rapidly growing industry that is transforming financial inclusion in Africa and globally. Join us as we talk with Francesco Pasti, lead author of this year's report, about the ground-breaking shift towards a "payments as a platform approach," the impact of changing regulations and market dynamics, and why Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Egypt are the continent's "sleeping giants."

Saqib Nazir is the Managing Director for Africa of Emergent Technology, the CEO of Interpay Africa, and a veteran fintech entrepreneur in Ghana. When Ghana-based Interpay merged with California-based Emergent Technology this past December, Saqib became the tip of the spear for an "Africa 20-20-20 strategy.” Hear from Saqib about their ambitious plans to enter 20 countries by 2020 and what that means for Africa’s digital payments universe.

This week Flutterwave was named number two on Fast Company's list of the 10 most innovative companies in Africa for 2019. And with good reason. When Olugbenga (aka GB) co-founded the company in 2016, he set out to build a digital payments infrastructure for Africa. Less than three years later Flutterwave has processed over $2.6b in payments, is hailed as one of the best technology platforms anywhere, and has transformed the way businesses make and receive payments on the continent. Leland recently caught up with GB along with Flutterwave's Head of Global Partnerships and Expansion, Omosalewa Adeyemi, on the sidelines of Harvard Business School's Africa Business Conference. (PS - You can also hear from GB and meet Omosalewa live and in person at the Africa Fintech Summit on April 11!)

Atlas Money is a peer-to-peer community banking platform with over 600 agents in Ghana and Senegal and growing. Access Network is a decentralized system that gives the people control of their own token economy. Hear from José Fernández--President of Atlas and Access, blockchain for social impact promoter, economist, and 4x entrepreneur--about how these platforms are interfacing to create a new economic model for Africa's unbanked population.

Perhaps more than anyone, Iyin Aboyeji has put Africa fintech on the map. At the age of 23 he co-founded Andela, which gained attention when it received $24 million in funding from Mark Zuckerberg, and more recently co-founded Flutterwave, an API that has transformed the way pan-African merchants execute payments on a global scale. On October 16, Flutterwave announced an extension of its Series A bringing its total funding beyond the $20m target. On the same day, Iyin stepped down as CEO, following a pattern of exiting once his companies as soon as they are funded and scaling. We catch up with him in DC, hours before the big announcement. If you're curious about what's next for Iyin, you can hear from the man himself at the Africa Fintech Summit on Nov 8th in Lagos, Nigeria. Enjoy.

Paystack, which specializes in providing merchants with online payment options, recently joined the pantheon of Nigeria's top fintech fundraisers with their $8 million Series A led by Stripe, Visa and Tencent. On the heels of that announcement, Leland sat with Paystack CEO and Co-Founder Shola Akinlade in their Lagos offices to discuss what it took to get there and where they are headed now. (Hear more from Shola in person at the Africa Fintech Summit in Lagos on November 8, 2018.)

This week, Leland talks with Moe Odele (Impact Investing & Social Enterprise Lead at Stratigos), Amee Parbhoo (Director of Investments at Accion Venture Labs), and Rob Tashima (Director of Innovations at Village Capital) about seeking financial as well as social returns, the role of venture capital in promoting financial inclusion, and overcoming "selection bias" in deal sourcing.

Welcome to Africa Fintech Rising, a podcast from the Africa Fintech Summit. This week Leland talks with two of Africa's leading fintech entrepreneurs: Tayo Oviosu, CEO & Founder of Paga (Nigeria) and Vahid Monadjem, CEO of Nomanini (South Africa).