Episodes
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In our first episode of this series on jobtech platforms and the future of work, we argued that the future of work is a tech-enabled portfolio of work.
But what does a portfolio of work really look like? And what happens next?
We know we need to create more formal jobs in Africa, and we need to boost the productivity of the informal sector. But how do we get there?
Considering the context of the markets in question, the future of work isnโt going to be designed or endowed; itโs going to be bootstrapped.
00:00 - Intro
01:17 - Bootstrapping Development
01:53 - Bootstrapping a portfolio of work
05:48 - Pathways for jobtech users
06:45 - This is how development happensWatch the first episode of this series on jobtech platforms: https://theflip.africa/podcast/what-we-get-wrong-about-jobs-in-africa
To learn more about the Jobtech Alliance, visit https://jobtechalliance.com
Check out last year's podcast series on the future of work: https://go.theflip.africa/future-of-work
Our Links -
๐ Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica/
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica -
In January 2024, we hosted a live show in Lagos with The Subtext's Osarumen Osamuyi on the relationship between the tech ecosystem and the media.
It was a follow-up to a 2020 episode we published entitled Much Ado About the Media.
A lot of founders still feel the media is acting in bad faith amidst more accountable media coverage. In this episode, we explore this tension and have an important discussion with the ecosystem players themselves.
00:00 - Intro
01:22 - Reflecting on 2020's episode
08:20 - Paga's Tayo Oviosu's founder perspective
12:20 - TechCabal's Tomiwa Aladekomo's media perspective
19:04 - What about business models?
22:20 - Stears Nchedolisa Akuma on subscriptions
24:58 - Moniepoint's Didi Uwemakpan's marketing perspective
28:14 - The global perspective from TechCrunch's Tage Kene-Okafor
30:49 - FT's Aanu Adeoye
36:20 - How to give local context to a global audience
42:02 - Local vs. global media
45:43 - Who keeps the media in check?
46:36 - Editorial perspectives from TechCabal's Olumuyiwa Olowogboyega
50:03 - Negative stories about advertising partners
53:03 - Osarumen & Justin's retrospectiveMuch Ado About the Media, part one: https://theflip.africa/podcast/s2e9
Our Links -
๐ฅ YouTube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica/
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica -
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Live from the BIG Summit, a platform hosted by investor and 2x NBA All-Star Baron Davis, at the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, a conversation with three operators connecting Africa to the world through culture and commerce.
In this conversation, we're joined by Clare Akamanzi, the CEO of NBA Africa, Abdul Karim Abdullah, the Founder and CEO of AfroFuture music festival, and entrepreneur and private equity investor Tuyee Yeboah.
00:00 - Intro
02:38 - NBA Africa
05:32 - AfroFuture
08:34 - Investing across Africa and the US
10:55 - Basketball's role in Africa's development
12:20 - Changing perceptions about the continent
17:35 - How do we get more investors involved?
21:20 - African talent
Episode Links -
AfroFuture - https://www.afrofuture.com/
BAL - https://bal.nba.com/
BIG Summit - https://www.teambig.io/Our Links -
๐ฅ YouTube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica/
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica -
The African continent has the highest levels of poverty, the lowest levels of formal employment, and its population is going to double in the next 30 years.
African countries need to create more jobs. But what kinds of jobs? And how?
What if I told you that the way governments and development organizations are trying to create jobs in Africa is all wrong?
To make a dent in this problem requires an understanding of the realities on the ground and how that has impacted the preferences of the labor markets in question.
The future of work, for Africans in particular, is not a formal job but a technology-enabled portfolio of work.
00:00 - Intro
01:36 - Informal is normal
03:14 - A portfolio of work
05:24 - Using jobtech platforms like Tendo for supplemental income
08:33 - To what degree can jobtech platforms address the underemployment issues across the continent?To learn more about the Jobtech Alliance, visit https://jobtechalliance.com
Check out last year's podcast series on the future of work: https://go.theflip.africa/future-of-work
Our Links -๐ Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica/
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica
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Despite research showing that female founders outperform their male peers, startups with a solo female founder or an all-female founding team raised a mere 2% of all the funding in Africa last year. There is a huge gender funding gap. How do we close it?
This episode is the last episode of a five-episode series on gender lens investing, co-hosted by Eloho Omame, Founding Partner of First Check Africa, an early-stage fund backing female-led startups. Each episode of this series will explore a different level of the fundraising value chain.
In this episode, we're exploring ecosystem and capacity building with Jessica Espinoza, the CEO of 2X Global, an organization aimed at unlocking gender smart capital at scale. Jessica chairs the 2X Challenge which has raised more than $27 billion of gender lens investments since its launch at the G7 Summit in 2018.
00:00 - Intro
02:10 - Unlocking gender-smart capital at scale
03:43 - What is gender-smart capital?
06:46 - Applying the 2X framework to investing
10:25 - Building the gender-smart investing ecosystem
19:52 - The primary issue is bias
22:54 - Mainstreaming gender-smart capital
25:55 - What is success for 2X Global?
33:29 - A retrospective conversation with Eloho & Justin
In Episode 1 of this series, we spoke to the founders: Bamboo's Yanmo Omorogbe & Uncover's Sneha Mehta: https://theflip.africa/podcast/why-is-only-2-of-funding-going-to-female-foundersIn Episode 2 of this series, we spoke to angel investor Yemi Keri, Co-founder of Rising Tide Africa: https://theflip.africa/podcast/this-angel-investor-is-closing-the-gender-funding-gap
In Episode 3 of this series, we were joined by the fund managers: Alitheia Capital's Tokunboh Ishmael & TLcom Capital's Andreata Muforo: https://theflip.africa/podcast/investing-in-women-is-an-economic-imperative
In Episode 4 of this series, we spoke to an LP investing in the fund managers: Sam Akyianu, Managing Director of the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund: https://theflip.africa/podcast/mastercard-foundation-is-investing-150-million-into-20-gender-lens-funds
This series is created under the ScaleX project: Co-designing Solutions to close the early stage gender-financing gap in Africa, an initiative of Make-IT in Africa.
Make-IT in Africa promotes entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems across Africa for green and inclusive development. Deutsche Gesellschaft fรผr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implements this project on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Our Links -
๐ Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica
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Despite research showing that female founders outperform their male peers, startups with a solo female founder or an all-female founding team raised a mere 2% of all the funding in Africa last year. There is a huge gender funding gap. How do we close it?
This episode is the fourth of a five-episode series on gender lens investing, co-hosted by Eloho Omame, Founding Partner of First Check Africa, an early-stage fund backing female-led startups. Each episode of this series will explore a different level of the fundraising value chain.
The Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund is a $150 million fund-of-funds initiative investing in twenty gender lens funds, with a particular focus on closing the financing and support gap for females.
And in this episode, we're joined by Sam Akyianu, Managing Director of the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund.
00:00 - Intro
01:54 - Investing $150m in 20 vehicles
08:06 - Fund evaluation & investment decisions
23:09 - Measuring success
31:25 - Overmentored and underfunded?
35:04 - Getting other LPs onboard
36:43 - A retrospective conversation with Eloho & Justin
In Episode 1 of this series, we spoke to the founders: Bamboo's Yanmo Omorogbe & Uncover's Sneha Mehta: https://theflip.africa/podcast/why-is-only-2-of-funding-going-to-female-foundersIn Episode 2 of this series, we spoke to angel investor Yemi Keri, Co-founder of Rising Tide Africa: https://theflip.africa/podcast/this-angel-investor-is-closing-the-gender-funding-gap
In Episode 3 of this series, we were joined by the fund managers: Alitheia Capital's Tokunboh Ishmael & TLcom Capital's Andreata Muforo: https://theflip.africa/podcast/investing-in-women-is-an-economic-imperative
This series is created under the ScaleX project: Co-designing Solutions to close the early stage gender-financing gap in Africa, an initiative of Make-IT in Africa.
Make-IT in Africa promotes entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems across Africa for green and inclusive development. Deutsche Gesellschaft fรผr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implements this project on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Our Links -
๐ Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica
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Despite research showing that female founders outperform their male peers, startups with a solo female founder or an all-female founding team raised a mere 2% of all the funding in Africa last year. There is a huge gender funding gap. How do we close it?
This episode is the third of a five-episode series on gender lens investing, co-hosted by Eloho Omame, Founding Partner of First Check Africa, an early-stage fund backing female-led startups. Each episode of this series will explore a different level of the fundraising value chain.
In this episode, we're joined by the investors. Tokunboh Ishmael is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Alithea Capital, a $100 million gender lens private equity fund. Andreata Muforo is a Partner at TLcom Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund with a 60% female partnership.
00:00 - Investing in women is an economic imperative
02:12 - Introducing Tokunboh
04:04 - An Alitheia-led thesis
05:36 - What does gender-lens investing look like in practice?
11:49 - What about the financial returns?
13:35 - Impact targets
17:24 - Are there enough women founders in the pipeline?
19:54 - Women are over-mentored and under-funded
23:48 - Is a female investor backing a female founder a negative signal?
26:53 - What does success look like?
29:47 - Introducing Andreata
31:15 - Why is a traditional VC fund like TLcom trying so hard to invest in more female founders?
33:03 - How VCs make investment decisions
36:18 - Only 25% of the pipeline has a female co-founder
40:44 - Is there a fundamental mismatch with VC and gender-lens investing?
42:31 - What does success look like? Part two
46:47 - A retrospective conversation with Eloho & Justin
In Episode 1 of this series, we spoke to the founders: Bamboo's Yanmo Omorogbe & Uncover's Sneha Mehta: https://theflip.africa/podcast/why-is-only-2-of-funding-going-to-female-founders
In Episode 2 of this series, we spoke to angel investor Yemi Keri, Co-founder of Rising Tide Africa: https://theflip.africa/podcast/this-angel-investor-is-closing-the-gender-funding-gap
This series is created under the ScaleX project: Co-designing Solutions to close the early stage gender-financing gap in Africa, an initiative of Make-IT in Africa.
Make-IT in Africa promotes entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems across Africa for green and inclusive development. Deutsche Gesellschaft fรผr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implements this project on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Our Links -
๐ Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica
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Despite research showing that female founders outperform their male peers, startups with a solo female founder or an all-female founding team raised a mere 2% of all the funding in Africa last year. There is a huge gender funding gap. How do we close it?
This episode is the second of a five-episode series on gender lens investing, co-hosted by Eloho Omame, Founding Partner of First Check Africa, an early-stage fund backing female-led startups. Each episode of this series will explore a different level of the fundraising value chain.
In this episode, we're exploring Angel Networks with Yemi Keri, co-founder of Rising Tide Africa, a women-oriented angel network in Nigeria.
00:00 - Intro
01:42 - Rising Tide Africa
05:06 - Mentoring, Investment, Networking, Education
07:25 - Growing the pool of female angels
12:15 - Where are the interventions needed to close the gender funding gap?
14:13 - Yemi's investment approach
18:07 - What does success look like?
22:04 - Exits?
26:40 - A retrospective conversation with Eloho & JustinEpisode 1 of this series featured Bamboo's Yanmo Omorogbe & Uncover's Sneha Mehta: https://theflip.africa/podcast/why-is-only-2-of-funding-going-to-female-founders
This series is created under the ScaleX project: Co-designing Solutions to close the early stage gender-financing gap in Africa, an initiative of Make-IT in Africa.Make-IT in Africa promotes entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems across Africa for green and inclusive development. Deutsche Gesellschaft fรผr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implements this project on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Our Links -
๐ Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica -
Despite research showing that female founders outperform their male peers, startups with a solo female founder or an all-female founding team raised a mere 2% of all the funding in Africa last year. There is a huge gender funding gap. How do we close it?
This episode is the first of a five-episode series on gender lens investing, co-hosted by Eloho Omame, Founding Partner of First Check Africa, an early-stage fund backing female-led startups. Each episode of this series will explore a different level of the fundraising value chain.
In this episode, we're joined by the founders: Yanmo Omarogbe, the Co-founder and COO of the Nigerian investment platform Bamboo, and Sneha Mehta, the Co-founder and CEO of Uncover, a direct-to-consumer skincare brand in Kenya.
00:00 - Intro
02:00 - Yanmo & Sneha's fundraising experiences
13:19 - If tech companies raise more money, should more women start tech companies?
19:55 - What does "the ecosystem" need to be doing more of to help female founders?
25:26 - The added burdens for female founders
32:18 - What does success look like?
38:15 - Is money raised the right metric?
41:36 - The 2% Ceiling
47:30 - A retrospective conversation with Eloho & Justin
This series is created under the ScaleX project: Co-designing Solutions to close the early stage gender-financing gap in Africa, an initiative of Make-IT in Africa.Make-IT in Africa promotes entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems across Africa for green and inclusive development. Deutsche Gesellschaft fรผr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implements this project on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Our Links -
๐ Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica -
Today's guest is Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Chairman of Coronation Capital and former Group MD and CEO of Access Bank.
Aigboje is one of the most successful and esteemed businesspeople on the continent. In 2002, he led the acquisition of Access Bank, which under his 11-year leadership grew into the largest bank in Nigeria and one of the largest in Africa.
This wide-ranging discussion with the Chairman took place during the 2023 UN General Assembly in New York at an event hosted by the early-stage VC fund Microtraction, in which we were joined in conversation with Microtraction's Founding Partner, Kwamena Afful.
00:00 - Intro
02:59 - Banks as vehicles for economic empowerment
06:28 - Africa's credit gap
13:08 - Aigboje's view on transition
16:50 - The infrastructure for Africa's comparative advantages
19:22 - Africa's risk premium
25:12 - "Africa will solve its problems when it starts producing in Africa"
29:54 - Building digital economies
32:09 - One African currency?
38:21 - Engendering Africa's potential
Our Links -
๐ Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
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๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica -
Today's guests are Natalie Kolbe, Ngetha Waithaka and Lexi Novitske - Partners of the $205 million growth fund Norrsken22.
In this episode, we'll talk about investment strategy, valuations, perspectives for the ecosystem, exits, and much more.
00:00 - Intro
00:48 - Norrsken22's $205m fundraise
09:36 - Investment strategy & process
12:43 - Investing in asset-light marketplaces
14:37 - Expansion
18:04 - Investment theses
27:26 - Macro perspectives
30:22 - What are the partners focused on and thinking about?
35:23 - Exits
40:49 - What does success look like?Our Links -
๐ Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica -
Today's guest is Perseus Mlambo, Co-founder and CEO of Union54, the developers of the social commerce app ChitChat.
The company started as Zazu, an agtech startup, which pivoted to Zazu the neobank. After issuing virtual cards for their users and seeing the demand other fintechs had for virtual cards, they pivoted to Union54 the card issuing API, which after massive traction in the fintech ecosystem and subsequent issues with fraud, has pivoted once more to ChitChat.
With many pivots come many lessons, and in this episode, Perseus shares his lessons and much more.
00:00 - Intro
03:01 - Perseus' Pivots
05:14 - Union54 and chargeback fraud
09:37 - Are Union54's problems solvable?
12:30 - Stakeholder management
19:03 - Alternative options for the company
22:27 - Perseus' conviction in the team & the opportunity
27:00 - Union54's newest product, ChitChat
30:18 - ChitChat's unique cap table structure
34:37 - What's the vibe in the ecosystem?
38:05 - The vision for the companyEpisode Links -
Perseus' interview with TechCrunch
Follow Perseus on Twitter
Our Links -
๐ Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica -
Today's guest is Adia Sowho, one of the most experienced and thoughtful operators in the African tech ecosystem. After starting her career in consulting and telecommunications, Adia led growth at the digital credit startup Migo, before leading the turnaround as Interim CEO of the embattled agriculture finance company Thrive Agric.
In this episode, we'll learn from Adia about her lessons working across both big and small companies, about the importance of sharing those lessons learned, and so much more.
00:00 - Intro
03:41 - Sharing is a must
07:19 - Lessons from the Thrive Agric turnaround
09:54 - Why join MTN?
17:47 - Where are the Sheryl Sandbergs?
20:32 - Lessons from every stage of company
31:24 - Nigeria is a hard operating environment
34:37 - More money, more problems?
35:34 - Wisdom for startups
37:53 - Sharing is a must, part 2
46:19 - Adia has a Substack
References -
The Anatomy of a Turnaround - https://theflip.africa/newsletter/the-anatomy-of-a-turnaround
Adia's Substack - https://adia.substack.com/
Follow Adia - https://twitter.com/adiaspeaks
Full episode transcript - https://theflip.africa/podcast/mtn-nigeria-s-adia-sowho-sharing-is-a-mustOur Links -
๐ Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica -
Today's guest is Ham Serunjogi, the Co-founder and CEO of Chipper Cash.
In 2021, Chipper raised $150 million Series C extension, valuing the startup at $2 billion, but has since cut its valuation, reportedly by 70 percent, has engaged in three rounds of layoffs, reducing its headcount by nearly 175 from its peak of 450, and has drastically pulled back from its aggressive growth and expansion strategies across the continent.
This conversation with Ham comes at an interesting time for Chipper and in the market, in general. Tough macro conditions on the continent, a slowdown of funding, tech layoffs. And at the same time, a lot of new and significant product launches for the company.
00:00 - Intro
03:05 - Long-term perspectives & time horizons
06:13 - Challenges operating across Africa
08:20 - Reflecting on Chipper's growth strategies
11:25 - Chipper ID
15:40 - Full-stack vs. focus
19:40 - Zoona acquisition & agent networks
26:04 - What lessons has Ham learned?
30:15 - Layoffs
31:45 - Capital allocation going forward
34:24 - Zepz acquisition?
37:07 - More lessons
43:39 - What does the future look like for Chipper?
๐ Our Links
๐ Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica -
Today's guest is Dare Okoudjou, the Founder and CEO of MFS Africa, which this week has rebranded to Onafriq.
The new name represents a new chapter in the company, which is a very different looking company than when we first had Dare on the show back in 2020, after their acquisition of Beyonic. Since then, they've also acquired the card issuer, GTP in the US, and the agent network Baxi in Nigeria.
This current period of the African tech ecosystem is one of increased consolidation and company shutdowns amidst a fundraising downturn. And in this environment, there's perhaps no better and more experienced founder on the continent to learn from than Dare.
00:00 - Intro
01:48 - What's in a name?
04:26 - Cross-border payments
13:51 - Banks vs. Fintechs
15:24 - Onafriq's role in the payment value chain
20:27 - The people aspect of acquisitions
24:08 - On fintech consolidation
29:55 - Dare's take on the state of the market
35:03 - On fundraising
37:56 - The next 5 years for Onafriq
39:19 - Exits?๐ Our Links
๐ Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
๐ฆ Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica -
Today's guests are Michael Seibel, the Managing Director of Y Combinator, and Kwamena Afful, a Founding Partner of Microtraction.
Michael has been an avid supporter of the African tech ecosystem. Since his first trip to Lagos in 2016, and since Paystack joined YC's winter batch earlier that year, the number of African startups that have participated in the global accelerator has grown to 89.
And for Microtraction, the early-stage fund was founded in 2017, in part in relation to the increased global interest in the African tech ecosystem, where Microtraction's early financial support and local know-how could help fill the gap.
In this episode, we hear from Michael and Kwamena about their shared perspectives on the opportunities they see and their bet on African talent.
00:00 - Intro
03:08 - Honorary Chieftan Michael Seilbel
04:28 - Supporting the African tech ecosystem
07:41 - Fintech deep dive
10:19 - Software companies crossing borders
14:49 - Solving African problems
22:24 - What about the continent's population growth?
25:47 - Investing in African talent
29:38 - Creating jobs
31:44 - Connecting African talent to the global marketplace๐ Our Links
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๐ป Website - https://theflip.africa
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๐ฅ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica
๐ธ Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica -
Today's guest is Kiaan Pillay, the Co-founder and CEO of Stitch. My conversation with Kiaan comes on the heels of their recent fundraising announcement, a $25 million Series A extension led by the global fintech fund Ribbit Capital, which brings their total funding raised up over $50 million since the launch of the company in 2019.
In this episode, we talk to Kiaan about how they've gotten here, the intangibles of company building, their vision for the next generation of payments, and much more.
00:00 - Intro
03:29 - Stitch's $25 million Series A extension
05:51 - Why take money from Ribbit Capital?
07:00 - Stitch's growth
09:03 - Building products for enterprise
11:38 - A developer-centric org
13:23 - What products has Stitch built?
15:50 - Building a "next-generation" PSP
19:06 - Specialization vs. building the full stack
22:36 - How deep is the South African market?
29:48 - Stitch's company culture as a reflection of Kiaan
32:28 - How Stitch has recruited so well
35:20 - The perception of startups and equity in South Africa
37:15 - How Kiaan hired Stitch's president
39:26 - Investing in product and engineering talent
42:17 - Kiaan's evolution as a startup founder to CEO of a 70-person company
44:30 - The future for Stitch and fintech in Africa
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
https://twitter.com/just_norm -
Today's guest is Olugbenga Agboola, better known as the one and only GB - the Co-founder and CEO of Flutterwave.
It's been a trying last year or so for Flutterwave with issues of fraud, allegations of impropriety inside the company, regulatory hurdles, and the general challenges of scaling a fintech in a tough operating environment.
Yet through it all, Flutterwave has "technology reach" in 34 countries, they've continued to ship new products beyond their core payments technology, including their rebranded remittance product Send App, and there are rumors swirling about the near-term timeline of their planned IPO.
In this episode, we'll hear from GB about many of his recent lessons, his perspectives on product and expansion strategy, and we'll ask many of the questions we've been wanting to hear from him about, including the big one about Flutterwave's IPO.
00:00 - Intro
03:13 - When is Flutterwave going public?
04:56 - What about the allegations?
09:24 - Sharing more for the benefit of the ecosystem
11:17 - Growth and expansion
16:13 - Did Flutterwave grow too fast?
21:09 - Fundraising and the African growth story
27:11 - GB's angel investing activities
30:29 - Lessons from GB's banking and big tech background
32:08 - Why did GB start Flutterwave in the first place?
33:49 - Are payments still broken?
35:55 - The vision for the future
38:02 - Final words of wisdom
Follow us on Twitter:
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https://twitter.com/just_norm
https://twitter.com/techprod_arch -
The future of work in the African context is going to be a lot of different things. It mimics the nature of work itself for many individuals on the continent. They're taking this portfolio approach to work. Even in more "developed markets" we're seeing work become less formal and more flexible, as work becomes unbundled from employment. And this evolution of work itself provides a whole set of new challenges and opportunities.
So this episode is a retrospective on the entire season, in which we explore more of these questions about the future of work in this context. And joining The Flip's Justin Norman and Kandua's Sayo Folawiyo for this conversation is friend of The Flip, Chris Maclay, the Program Director for the Jobtech Alliance at Mercy Corps.
00:00 - Intro.
04:30 - Portfolio of work, earnings, stability, growth.
08:40 - Who gets to decide if a job is good or bad?
15:48 - Training, enablement, and platforms.
19:48 - The HustleOS and micro-franchising.
24:28 - The Future of Work is a portfolio of work.
29:54- Digital services for export.
32:57- Market sizing platform-enabled digital work.
41:39 - Should there have been an episode called The Future of Work is Universal Basic Income?
This season of The Flip is sponsored by MFS Africa. -
There is a perception that there's a tech talent shortage in the African tech ecosystem, and that it's hard to find high-quality local talent.
There has been lot of conversation around the impact and role of Big Tech in the equation, which many felt were also culprits in driving up the price of talent in local marketplaces. In an environment of talent scarcity, there's been an upward pressure on salaries for talent of a certain caliber - which Big Tech can more readily afford compared to startups.
And while the supply-demand equation may be changing a bit in the context of recent market downturns and layoffs, this talent question is an important one for the continued development of the tech ecosystem.
So while we hear a lot from startups and founders in this episode, we're going to get a different perspective from the Big Tech companies themselves.
00:00 - Intro, there is a perceived talent scarcity problem in the African tech ecosystem.
04:37 - We start with Google, and their Managing Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, Nitin Gajria.
05:38 - Google is investing $1 billion in Africa over 5 years.
08:16 - Catherine Muraga is the Managing Director of the Microsoft Africa Development Centre in Nairobi.
11:49 - Talent scarcity and compensation.
13:59 - The competition for talent is global.This season of The Flip is sponsored by MFS Africa.
Follow The Flip on Twitter @theflipafrica and subscribe to our newsletter The Flip Notes at https://theflip.africa/newsletter.
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