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By Dotun Olowoporoku
5
11 ratings
The podcast currently has 91 episodes available.
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint
My guest today is Dare Okoudjou, Founder & CEO of Onafriq (formerly known as MFS Africa). Dare has built a long-running startup success streak on the continent, having started the business over a decade ago to become a multimillion dollar revenue company today.
Onafriq is building a “network of networks” to enable payments interoperability across the continent. After finding product-market fit, the company went through rapid expansion, completing four startup acquisitions in a two-year period (2020 - 22): Beyonic, Baxi, SimbaPay, & GTP (US), and increasing its headcount from 65 people to over 500.
In this episode, we explored:
Book Recommendations: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and La Ambigu (English translation: The Ambiguous Adventure) by Cheikh Hamidou Kane
Bonus: Africa’s S-Curves by Stephen Deng. Link
Quote: “…you also have to remember that the game is dynamic and what the picture looks like today may not be what the picture looks like in two years, and not the picture looks like in five years.”
Transcript
I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.
CREDITS
Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku
Produced by: The Subtext
Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi, Chinedu Anatune
Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa
Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu
Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi
Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint
My guest today is Uka Eje, the co-founder and CEO of ThriveAgric. I've known Uka since 2017, when he and his co-founder, Ayo, received their first institutional investment from Ventures Platform.
ThriveAgric empowers nearly one million smallholder farmers on the continent with technology, credit, and access-to-market. The company started as an idea between two classmates, and their journey so far has involved overcoming operational and financial hurdles, surviving a near collapse during the COVID-19 pandemic, pivoting, and maturing into one of the most impactful businesses in Africa.
This year, ThriveAgric was recognized by the Financial Times as one of Africa’s fastest-growing companies, with partnerships with major offtakers like Flour Mills of Nigeria, Dangote Foods, and Nestle.
In this episode, we discussed:.
I am grateful to Uka for having an honest conversation with me. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.
Book Recommendation: The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
Quote: “Quite a number of people asked me why stepping down was the solution for Thrive Agric. My response was pretty simple, although the process was not easy for me emotionally, considering we built this business, myself and my co-founder, right?
But we had to ask ourselves a question: ‘what is most important to us, that this business survives and it continues to be a scalable business, or the idea that it’s on record that there was a step down?’ [...] We also had to think about the future of the business. We wanted to build something for the long haul. [...] people need to trust you enough to do business with you”
CREDITS
Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku
Produced by: The Subtext
Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi, Chinedu Anatune
Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa
Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu
Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi
Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint
My guest today is Deepankar Rustagi, a seasoned tech entrepreneur in Nigeria. I've known Deepankar for over 7 years, dating back to his days at Vconnect. He was one of the first entrepreneurs featured on this podcast—check out episode 8 to hear about his journey from Nigeria to India and back, where he initially worked for Tolaram Group before founding Vconnect.
In this episode, we continue Deepankar's story, focusing on his next venture, OmniRetail, an asset-light B2B e-commerce platform. OmniRetail has been recognized by the Financial Times as the fastest-growing company in Africa, with annual revenue exceeding $100 million. As a board member, I’ve seen Deepankar's thoughtful leadership and execution firsthand.
Our discussion covers:
Quote: “...don't fantasize about your product in a boardroom. Go out there and see expressions and responses from real stakeholders on what they feel about the product or what they feel about the technology. They might not understand every bit of it, but if they understand the value that you're trying to offer, if they are willing to change their behavior a little to accept that value, then you're working in the right direction.”
Educational Recommendation: Business Insider, Entrepreneur.com
Transcript
CREDITS
Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku
Produced by: The Subtext
Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi, Chinedu Anatune
Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa
Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu
Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi
Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint
My guest today is Elo Umeh, founder and CEO of Terragon Group, a leading data and marketing cloud company in Africa. I've known Elo personally for some time; his leadership at Terragon has been transformative.
Founded in 2009, Terragon initially focused on mobile websites and launched Twinpine, a mobile ad network, in 2012. Under Elo's guidance, Terragon now offers marketing automation, customer data platforms, and enterprise insights, impacting over 350 million profiles in Africa. They acquired Alcatel Lucent Mobile Advertising across 16 markets, integrating 60 million customer profiles, and also acquired their long term technical partner, BiZense (India).
In this episode we discuss:
Elo also serves as an Executive in Residence at the Lagos Business School, shaping business leadership in Africa. Join me as we explore Elo Umeh's journey and insights in driving digital innovation on the continent.
Book Recommendations:
Quote: A company is not yet a company if it doesn't deliver a platform for sustained wealth creation.
Transcript
CREDITS
Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku
Produced by: The Subtext
Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi, Chinedu Anatune
Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa
Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu
Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi
Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint
My guest today is Daniel Yu, founder and CEO of Wasoko, a B2B e-commerce platform serving over 220,000 informal retailers across the continent. The first time I saw Daniel, he was playing the keyboard as part of a live band in Nairobi. Since then, we've met at more serious events where we've shared banter about pan-African expansion philosophies for startups on the continent. Daniel is a true global citizen, having worked in or traveled to 70+ countries, and speaks Mandarin, Swahili, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, and French.
Wasoko raised a $125M Series B in 2022 and opened a new regional hub in West Africa. In December 2023, they announced a merger with Egyptian B2B e-commerce company, MaxAB.
In this episode, we discussed:
Transcript
Recommended Book: Infectious Generosity: The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading by Chris Anderson
Quote: “I think that the startup stereotype, at least if you're coming from a California Silicon Valley background [...] is much more, ‘okay let me do this thing for maybe three or four years. And then, Google or Facebook will acquire the company and I'll start the next company or go on to something else.’ And I think what has become apparent to me, and the advice that I give to all founders considering building in the African ecosystem is, ‘are you ready to do this for a decade?’”
CREDITS
Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku
Produced by: The Subtext
Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi, Chinedu Anatune
Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa
Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu
Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi
Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint
My guest today is Bode Abifarin, one of the leading startup operators I know on the continent.
I first met Bode in 2017 when she had just joined Flutterwave, where she served as Chief Operating Officer. I've been continually impressed by Bode’s unique ability to blend operational dexterity with high level strategic thinking. Bode has a background in consulting for KPMG and worked closely with banks in Nigeria to develop and articulate their go to market strategies. Flutterwave gave her the opportunity to operationalize many of her PowerPoint presentations in a high growth, high intensity startup environment. Bode joined the company in its early days, and since then, it has become one of the few unicorns on the continent, valued at $3 billion in its most recent fundraising round. This conversation was recorded while she was still the COO.
In this episode, we discuss:
Book: Imagine Africa
Quote: “Once your strategy, in terms of go-to-market, product, and focus is crisp and clear. Spend time getting that crispiness and the clarity in your own local markets, right? Go deep, go wide, listen to customers, iterate, and be the champion of that market.
CREDITS
Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku
Produced by: The Subtext
Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi, Chinedu Anatune
Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa
Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu
Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi
Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint
My guest today is Mark Straub, founder & CEO of Smile ID.
Smile ID is building identity verification infrastructure for businesses in Africa.
Mark and I were connected by a mutual friend, but I’ve always been fascinated by his transition from being a venture investor to becoming a startup founder — especially considering that I made the transition in the other direction.
With Smile ID, Mark is building an important layer of trust for digital transactions across the continent. The company raised a $20M Series B and completed 100 million identity checks in 2023. Mark’s thoughtfulness, deep sector expertise and capacity to attract top talents seems to give him an unfair advantage in the space. In this episode, we explore:
Book Recommendation::
Leaving the Tarmac: Buying a Bank in Africa by Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, providing an insightful resource for those interested in African business ventures.
High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil a comprehensive guide for scaling startups, covering critical topics such as hiring, management, product development, and fundraising.
Quote: “Having payment rails is like having a car.You can drive really fast and you can go from one place to another. You can send value from one place to another. Having good ID systems in place is like having a seatbelt and brakes that work. So you can stop the car from driving off the road and destroying everything in it.”
I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.
Transcript
CREDITS
Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku
Produced by: The Subtext
Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi, Chinedu Anatune
Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa
Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu
Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi
Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku
My guest today is Anu Adedoyin-Adasolum, the co-founder and CEO of Sabi.
Sabi is a B2B e-commerce startup that provides digital infrastructure to Africa's informal economy. In October 2023, they announced reaching $1B annual GMV.
I've always been fascinated by Sabi, especially their ability to bring seemingly disjointed and complex pieces together in a connected business model. In this episode, we discussed:
We also touched on identifying the right expansion strategies, the complexities of fundraising, and Anu’s approach to cohort analysis.
I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.
Quote: “No one cares about your app. Literally no one cares about that application. [Merchants are] just trying to make money. Help them make money, or don't.”
Book Recommendation: Emotion by Design: Creative Leadership Lessons from a Life at Nike. By Greg Hoffman
The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Bob Iger
CREDITS
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint
Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku
Produced by: The Subtext
Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi, Chinedu Anatune
Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa
Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu
Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi
Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku
Transcript: https://share.transistor.fm/s/0d6e5d28/transcript.txt
My guest today is Shola Akinlade. I met Shola in 2016, while he and his co-founder, Ezra, were at the YC accelerator program. It was the beginning of their Paystack journey, and even then, I was struck by his clarity of thought and radical focus on product development.
Today, Paystack has scaled to seven markets and is responsible for over 40x the value processed online in Nigeria at the time of their founding. Their $200M+ acquisition by Stripe marked a significant milestone for the tech ecosystem in October 2020.
In this episode, which is Shola’s second appearance on BTF, we reflected on:
We also discussed the opportunity with “community project” Sporting Lagos FC, and how his experience at Paystack serves as leverage in his new venture of owning a football club. Listen to Episode 11 (Season 1) as context for this one.
Quote: “In the realm of business, prioritizing shared values over personal friendships is paramount when selecting collaborative partners.”
Recommended Books:
The Away Game: The Epic Search for Soccer’s Next Superstars by Sebastian Abbot
Radical Candour: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean by Kim Scott
CREDITS
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint
Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku
Produced by: The Subtext
Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi, Chinedu Anatune
Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa
Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu
Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi
Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku
My guest today is Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO and co-founder of Moniepoint. I met Tosin in Kigali at the Africa Tech Summit in 2020, just before the world went into lockdown. We spent hours discussing the offline distribution of fintech products after our introduction. Since then, I've had the opportunity to be an investor, C-level executive, and board observer at Moniepoint. This has allowed me to understand the company from both external and internal perspectives.
In this episode, you'll get a glimpse of the typical conversation I have with Tosin during our working days.
Here are five key takeaways from this episode:
Quote: "People are at their best when they are entrepreneurial, when they say ‘I’m doing this for myself and not necessarily for my boss.’"
Book Recommendation: "Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done" by Lawrence Bossidy and Ram Charan.
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