Built Tough

"When we talk about mobile money, everybody thinks about the mobile technology and the user interface and how cool this is. Whereas the bedrock of it, the unsung heroes of mobile money, the giants on whose shoulders we are standing, are those agents across the continent," Dare Okoudjou, MFS AFrica CEO and Founder.

That was Dare’s response when we asked him about the biggest myth about mobile money, the payments system that Africa pioneered. As much as Dare is a techie, he cares more about people. Dare is a mission-driven CEO, who is passionate about “making borders matter less” and helping to unleash prosperity on the continent. 

Dare began his career as a management consultant with PwC in Paris. In 2008, after 3 years of working at MTN where he developed their mobile payment strategy, Dare founded MFS Africa, Africa’s largest digital payments gateway present in 30 African countries.

Besides its scale and pan-African presence, MFS Africa has also distinguished itself by its acquisitions – the latest being US company Global Technology Partners. In this episode, Dare discusses why he turned down an offer to buy the company in 2014 (despite being flat broke), what he would have done differently as a founder, and the secret ingredient to acquisitions.