Episodes

  • #77: PiggyVest (PiggyTech) - How the savings and investment platform is providing financial services across Nigeria

    #77: PiggyVest (PiggyTech) - How the savings and investment platform is providing financial services across Nigeria
    Nov 18 2024
    2 hrs and 25 mins
  • #76: IHS Towers - How the telecom infrastructure company is building and managing towers across Africa and beyond

    #76: IHS Towers - How the telecom infrastructure company is building and managing towers across Africa and beyond
    May 15 2024
    Overview: Today, we’re going to explore IHS Towers - the African telecommunications infrastructure company. We’ll discuss the story across the following areas: Telecom tower infrastructure context IHS Towers' early history Product & monetization strategy Competitive positioning & potential exit options Overall outlook This episode was recorded on May 5, 2024 Companies discussed: IHS Towers, MTN, Airtel, Telkom, Orange, Etisalat / 9 Mobile, American Tower Company, Globacom, Libancell, Helios Towers Nigeria, Telkom, Vodacom, Goldman Sachs, (IFC), Public Investment Corporation of South Africa, Ecobank, Investec, Standard Bank. Business concepts discussed: Tower Infrastructure, Shared communication infrastructure, Tower Leasing and Ownership Models, Market Expansion, Sale and Leaseback, Local vs Global Strategy, Capital-intensive business models, Currency devaluation Conversation highlights: (01:50) - What IHS does and why we’re talking about it (04:37) - How Towers work (12:47) - How Telcos work with Towers in Nigeria and parts of Africa (23:22) - IHS Founding and Early History (34:19) - Funding (39:32) - Growth and International Expansion (47:26) - IHS IPO and trends post IPO (55:50) - Product Strategy & Monetization (1:08:30) - Competition (1:16:22) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook (1:24:06) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook (1:30:24) - Recommendations and small wins Olumide’s recommendations & small wins: Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook) Recommendation: Incredible Dance routine video to Sisa Song by King Promise: I love it so much I'm not sure how to put it into words. 1 minute of greatness Recommendation: Chris Brown “Sensational” live performance : Watching Chris Brown dance is watching a master of his craft. Recommendation: J. Cole - Let Nas Down Recommendation: Nas - Make Nas Proud Recommendation: Nas & Eminem - EPMD 2 Recommendation: Nas - Rare Small win: Went back to reading older books to reset my reading palate Bankole’s recommendations & small wins: Recommendation: The Search for the Perfect Door - YouTube && Unusual Electric Car Features in Nigeria - Bloomberg Small win: Running sprints Other content: Palito FM Autoscan Radio Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback! Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes on Afrobility.com
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    1 hr and 42 mins
  • #75: eTranzact - How Nigeria's pioneering payments and switching platform is serving businesses and governments across Africa

    #75: eTranzact - How Nigeria's pioneering payments and switching platform is serving businesses and governments across Africa
    Feb 16 2024
    Overview: Today, we’re going to explore eTranzact - the African payments and switching platform. We’ll discuss the story across the following areas: First, Nigerian payments context  Second, eTranzact's early history Third, Product & monetization strategy Fourth, Competitive positioning  Fifth, Overall outlook This episode was recorded on Feb 11, 2024 Companies discussed: eTranzact, Interswitch, Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL), Systemspecs (Remita), Paystack, Flutterwave, Moniepoint, Paga, OPay, MTN & Airtel. Business concepts discussed: Mobile money, Payments Collections, Payments ecosystem, payments partnerships strategy, card networks, payments infrastructure, low-end disruption, banking regulation & payments M&A strategy Conversation highlights: (00:57) - What is eTranzact and why we’re talking about it (07:43) - Context of Nigeria’s payment sector before eTranzact (16:45) - eTranzact founding story (35:46) - Growth and geographic expansion (45:10) - Product strategy (01:02:56) - Monetization strategy (01:20:41) - Competition (1:31:10) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook (1:34:38) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook (1:43:20 - Recommendations and small wins Olumide’s recommendations & small wins: Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook) Recommendation: Never Enough (Loren Allred). Incredible. I can listen to it on repeat for the whole day.  Recommendation: La Bachata (Maniel Turizo). Dope shit. Recommendation: "Someone You Loved". Not the original but a fabulous cover. Best line, "I was getting kinda used to being someone you loved". Listen to the 3rd verse when they sing simultaneously. Incredible! Recommendation: A Million Miles Away movie. It is a biographical drama film about the life of José Hernández, a Mexican-American migrant farm  Small win: Booked Cirque Du Soleil show. Looking forward to it. Bankole’s recommendations & small wins: Recommendation: Comma - Burna Boy && Wolfram|Alpha as the Way to Bring Computational Knowledge Superpowers to ChatGPT Small win: Clean shaven + the Nigerian AFCON semifinal win only to lose in the final a few hours after recording :(  Other content: History of Web Acquiring in Nigeria && Atlas Copco on Invest Like The Best && An Empirical Examination of Why Mobile Money Schemes Ignite in Some Developing Countries but Flounder in Most  Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback! Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes on Afrobility.com
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    1 hr and 49 mins
  • #74: Moove - How the mobility fintech is providing vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs across Africa and the rest of the world

    #74: Moove - How the mobility fintech is providing vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs across Africa and the rest of the world
    Jan 23 2024

    Overview: Today, we’re going to explore Moove, the mobility fintech. We’ll discuss the story across the following areas:

    1. African mobility and transportation context

    2. Moove's launch & early history

    3. Product & monetization strategy

    4. Competitive positioning & potential exit options

    5. Our overall outlook.

    This episode was recorded on Jan 14, 2024

    Companies discussed: Moove, Uber, Lyft, Autochek, Cars45, GoKada, Creditas, Swvl, Lori, Sendy & FairMoney

    Business concepts discussed: Revenue-based financing, asset-based lending, Ridesharing & Mobility entrepreneurship

    Conversation highlights:

    • (01:20) - What Moove does and why we’re talking about it

    • (06:57) - Context of mobility and public transportation in Nigeria

    • (21:50) - Founders’ background

    • (27:50) - Moove founding and early history

    • (32:16) - Fundraising

    • (43:20) - Growth and Geographical Expansion

    • (48:15) - Partnerships

    • (1:07:26) - Product and Monetization Strategy

    • (1:28:44) - Metrics

    • (1:33:50) - Competition and options for exit

    • (1:53:10) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook

    • (2:09:07) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook

    • (2:26:12) - Recommendations and small wins

    Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

    • Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

    • Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)

    • Recommendation: The Gap and The Gain (by Benjamin Hardy & Dan Sullivan: Book about mindset and approach to life, measuring success, fulfilment and happiness.

    • Recommendation: Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life (Arnold Schwarzenegger): Great book by the legend about principles to approach life to get what you want. At this point, I've read all his books and can recommend them all. Arnold records the audiobook end-to-end by himself so be ready for awesomeness

    • Small win: Completely revamped by Body Skincare after getting deep into research about this


    Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

    • Recommendation: Money Maze Podcast - Interview with the CEO of De Beers && We are different from all other humans in history && The Reality of the Danish Fairytale 

    • Small win: Successful visa application to South Africa

    • Other content: Nigeria’s Secured Lending Opportunity - bankole.org 

    Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

    Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

    Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com


    Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes on Afrobility.com
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    2 hrs and 43 mins
  • #73: AFEX (Africa Exchange) - How the commodities exchange is facilitating commodity trade by offering training, credit, storage to farmers & providing investment solutions to financial partners

    #73: AFEX (Africa Exchange) - How the commodities exchange is facilitating commodity trade by offering training, credit, storage to farmers & providing investment solutions to financial partners
    Dec 31 2023
    Overview: Today, we’re going to explore AFEX, the African commodities exchange. We’ll discuss the story across the following areas: African Agriculture context AFEX's launch & early history Product & monetization strategy Competitive positioning & potential exit options Overall outlook. This episode was recorded on Dec 24, 2023 Companies discussed: AFEX, EAX (East African Commodity Exchange), Tony Elumelu Foundation, Heirs Holdings, Apollo Agriculture, NCX, Cargill, Louis Dreyfuss, 50 Ventures & Berggruen Charitable Trust Business concepts discussed: Agriculture technology (AgTech, AgriTech or AgroTech), Agribusiness marketplaces, farming financing, Farmer market access opportunities, Agriculture insurance strategy, Commodity trading & Internal Entrepreneurship (Incubated company strategy). Conversation highlights: (01:10) - What Afex is and why we’re talking about it (08:36) - Context of agriculture in Africa (21:49) - AFEX Founding story (33:28) - Fundraising (39:56) - Growth, geographical expansion and partnerships (49:42) - Product strategy, monetization and growth (59:14) - Cost structure, revenue and margins (1:10:00) - Business and user metrics (1:13:14) - Competition and options for exit (1:21:02) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook (1:34:25) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook (1:47:45) - Recommendations and small wins Olumide’s recommendations & small wins: Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook) Recommendation: I went back and re-read some of my classic books: How I found freedom in an Unfree world (Harry Browne), Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and It's All Small Stuff (Richard Carlson) & A Guide to the Good Life - The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (William B. Irvine) Small win: Hiking with new friends in St Thomas. Cool Bankole’s recommendations & small wins: Recommendation: FiveBooks.Com - FiveBooks.com shares lists of the best five books on many topics, chosen by experts in that area Recommendation: Jeff Bezos on Lex Fridman Podcast. A rare Jeff Bezos long form interview.  Small win: Running while listening to Big 7 - Burna Boy Fact check: Tony Elumelu narrates How He Went from Second Class Lower Degree to Nigeria's Billionaire Other content: FT ranking: Africa's Fastest Growing Companies 2023 & AFEX Nigeria loses maize worth N85m to 'police raid'  Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback! Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes on Afrobility.com
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    1 hr and 56 mins
  • #72: Nomba (Kudi) - How the Nigerian FinTech is providing Point-of-Sale, agency banking and payment solutions to merchants across Africa

    #72: Nomba (Kudi) - How the Nigerian FinTech is providing Point-of-Sale, agency banking and payment solutions to merchants across Africa
    Dec 11 2023

    Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Nomba (formerly known as Kudi) , the FinTech payments solutions provider. We’ll explore the story across the following areas:

    1. African & Nigerian SME context

    2. Nomba's early history 

    3. Product & monetization strategy

    4. Competitive positioning & potential exit options

    5. Our overall outlook.

    This episode was recorded on December 3, 2023

    Companies discussed: Nomba (Kudi), MoniePoint (TeamApt), Yoco, Kuda Bank, Flutterwave, Paystack, Stripe, Safaricom, Brass Banking, TradeDepot, Sabi, Paystack, Flutterwave, MTN, Airtel, Bumpa, Vendease, Orda, OPay, OnePipe, Paga, FairMoney, Omnibiz, Interswitch & Kippa

    Business concepts discussed: SME Agency Banking, Informal retail, banking, Open banking & Mobile Money, Merchants solutions, Points-of-Sale devices, SME Lending & hardware and software bundling

    Conversation highlights:

    • (01:25) - Nomba context

    • (06:29) - Context of African SMEs and Informal retail

    • (19:10) - Founding story and founders’ background

    • (29:02) - Fundraising

    • (43:07) - Partnerships, Geographical expansion and Team

    • (47:55) - User metrics

    • (52:55) - Product and Monetization strategy

    • (1:02:24) - Competition and options for exit

    • (1:12:35) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook

    • (1:18:50) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook

    • (1:24:40) - Recommendation and small wins 


    Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

    • Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

    • Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)

    • Recommendation: Jay-Z at Madison  Square Garden. Incredible. He performs so many of his hit songs with an ensemble of other artists. I was jumping of my chair rapping along.

    • Recommendation: Charlie Munger died last week.. What a hero. What a legend. What a mind. I love the guy. I can recommend all his books and videos


    Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

    • Recommendation: Constellation Software on Business Breakdowns

    • Small win: Running in Paris and Ray-Ban Meta glasses



    Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

    Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

    Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

    Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes on Afrobility.com
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    1 hr and 36 mins
  • #71: TymeBank - How the South African Neobank is integrating digital and physical experiences to provide holistic financial services across emerging markets

    #71: TymeBank - How the South African Neobank is integrating digital and physical experiences to provide holistic financial services across emerging markets
    Nov 13 2023

    Overview: Today, we’re going to explore TymeBank - the South African neobank. We’ll discuss the story across  the following areas:

    • African & Nigerian banking context

    • TymeBank's launch, early history, growth & fundraising

    • Product & monetization strategy

    • Competitive positioning & potential exit options

    • Overall outlook.

    Companies discussed: TymeBank, African Rainbow Capital (ARC), MTN, Kuda Bank, Chipper Cash, FairMoney, Carbon, Discovery Bank, Branch, Pick N Pay, TakeAlot, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Bank Zero, Naspers & NuBank

    Business concepts discussed: International expansion, Startups and Distribution, Deposit banking, International expansion, Data sovereignty,

    Conversation highlights:

    • (00:30) - TymeBank context

    • (08:15) - Context of African Banking 

    • (24:20) - TymeBank founding story

    • (52:20) - Fundraising

    • (55:01) - Growth and geographical expansion

    • (1:20:03) - Product & Monetization  Strategy

    • (1:50:08) - Competition and options for Exit

    • (2:00:33) - Bankole’s  overall thoughts and outlook

    • (2:10:38) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook

    • (2:15:00) - Recommendations and small wins


    Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

    • Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

    • Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)

    • Recommendation: AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future (Kai-Fu Lee): Great book about the potential of AI told across 10 stories

    • Recommendation: Dangote (song by Burna Boy). Incredible song

    • Recommendation: Good Bad Boy (song by Lil Kesh). Catchy and smooth chorus. With a deeper meaning about searching for companionship 

    • Small win: I was in NYC book launch for FIREDOM Book launch. Dope.



    Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

    • Recommendation: Plunder by Brendan Ballou - A book on the excesses of Private Equity. PE is an example of well-intentioned policy having (unintentional?) downstream impact.

    • Recommendation:  Business Breakdown Podcast on Mobile Gaming: The uneven distribution of paying customers in mobile gaming reminds me of emerging market telco companies

    • Small win: Quest 3 Headset! VR is coming along nicely.

    • Other content:  TymeBank Holdings 2022 Financial Statement & Substack on the history of Tyme Global


    Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

    Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

    Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com


    Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes on Afrobility.com
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    2 hrs and 31 mins
  • #70: Carbon - How the credit-led neobank is providing loans, BNPL and financial services across Nigeria and Africa

    #70: Carbon - How the credit-led neobank is providing loans, BNPL and financial services across Nigeria and Africa
    Oct 19 2023

    Overview: Today, we’re going to explore Carbon, the credit-led Neobank. We’ll discuss the Carbon story across the following areas:

    1. African lending & consumer credit

    2. Carbon's founding & early history

    3. Product & monetization strategy

    4. Competitive positioning & potential exit options

    5. Overall outlook

    This episode was recorded on Oct 15, 2023

    Companies discussed: Carbon (PayLater, One Credit, OneFi, One Finance), Diamond Bank, Cafe Neo, Kaizen Venture Partners, FairMoney, Branch, Paga, Kuda Bank, GTBank, Access Bank, Chipper Cash, NuBank, Lesaka (NET1 UEPS), Lendable, Interswitch, Visa, RenMoney, Tala & Safaricom (M-Pesa)

    Business concepts discussed: Smartphone credit assessment, consumer lending, unbanked population, Neobank strategy, Personal Finance OS & Buy Now Pay Later

    Conversation highlights:

    • (00:48) - Carbon context

    • (08:15) - Consumer lending in Africa and Neobanks 

    • (15:32) - Background on African banking and Neobanks

    • (32:02) - Founding story of Carbon & Founders’ background

    • (54:04) - Fundraising 

    • (1:01:15) - Growth and Geographical Expansion

    • (1:08:03) - Acquisitions and investments

    • (1:15:54) - Team and organisation

    • (1:19:35) - Key metrics

    • (1:40:46) - Product strategy and monetization

    • (2:00:08) - Competition and options for exit

    • (2:10:33 - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook

    • (2:20:38) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook

    • (2:30:15) - Recommendation and small wins

    Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

    • Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com

    • Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)

    • Recommendation: Lil Kesh - Shoki Remix. Song is beyond nice. I probably understand 15% of it. Lil Kesh was 19 years old when the song was released. The power of young people to Incredible things. Wow!

    • Recommendation: Lil Kesh - Don't Call Me (feat. Zinoleesky) [Lyrics Visualiser]. 

    • Recommendation: Ruger - Ruger. The song literally starts with “Man, I spit fire…”. How can I not love it?

    • Small win: Switched to Instacart (from Amazon Fresh) for groceries. Not going back


    Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

    • Recommendation: Fair Isaac Company on Business Breakdowns, MTN on Business Breakdowns

    • Small win: New phone

    • Other content: Building Magic - The Cafe Neo story & Chipper Cash AI Day



    Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

    Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

    Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com


    Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes on Afrobility.com
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    2 hrs and 38 mins