Afrobility: Africa Tech and Business

#61: MFS Africa (Onafriq) - How the payments network hub is connecting telcos & financial institutions to increase interoperability across Africa and beyond

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Overview:  Today, we’re going to talk about MFS Africa. We’ll explore the MFS Africa story across the following 5 areas:

  1. African payments context
  2. MFS Africa’s  early history
  3. Product & monetization strategy
  4. Competitive positioning & potential exit options
  5. Overall outlook.

    6. This episode was recorded on Jan 29, 2023


    Companies discussed: Onafriq (MFS Africa), Safaricom (M-Pesa), Opay, Flutterwave, Paystack, MTN, Airtel, Orange, Chipper Cash, Ecobank, Safaricom, Homesend, TransferTo, MasterCard & Visa


    Business concepts discussed: Financial interoperability, mobile money (agency banking), banking regulation, acquisition strategy, payment processing, payment gateways & closed-loop payment networks


    Conversation highlights:

    • (09:50) - Africa payments context and background
    • (20:26) - MFS Africa founding and early history
    • (22:06) - Founder background
    • (31:40) - Fundraising and early growth
    • (38:44) - Partnerships and M&A
    • (1:02:15) - Product Strategy
    • (1:06:30) - Monetization Strategy
    • (1:13:59) - Competition and Options for Exit
    • (1:28:51) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
    • (1:34:00) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
    • (1:47:00) - Recommendations and small wins


      • Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

      • Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at [email protected]
      • Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at [email protected]
      • Recommendation: Be Happy 35 Powerful Methods for Personal Growth & Well-Being. Talks about practices for a positive mental health. Fun short read that you can refer to time and time again
      • Small win: Birthday celebrations with friends in Miami, NYC & SF. It was epic!


        • Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

        • Recommendation: Accidental Gods by Anna Della Subin
        • Small win: I read 3 books in January
        • Other content: Afrobility Chipper Cash episode , Inside the MFS Africa acquisition of Beyonic  & Follow me on Goodreads


          • Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email [email protected] with feedback!

          Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at [email protected]

          Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at [email protected]

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          Afrobility: Africa Tech and BusinessBy Olumide Ogunsanwo and Bankole Makanju
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