2018's last in-studio taping of the African Tech Roundup podcast is a two-part affair which guest features the force of nature that is Viola Llewellyn. Viola is the UK-born, Cameroonian Co-founder and President of an award-winning fintech platform called Ovamba. Ovamba relies on proprietary technologies to connect African SMEs to sources of short‐term capital to fund their growth.

Viola has spent over 15 years working in the management consulting, technology and alternative finance sectors at firms like of IBM, Unisys, KPMG and Preston Gates Ellis. She currently serves on the Boards of Directors of ActivSpaces, AH Partners, the European Women in Payment Network and the International Women’s Think Tank.

In this, the second part of Episode 125, Viola joins Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga to factor in on a “hype vs. reality” themed conversation about the development of Africa’s fintech landscape in 2018. To skip straight to that discussion, head to [40:09] and listen in to hear why Viola is sick and tired with the on-going continent-wide obsession of fintech startups looking to build "last-mile" solutions.

Topics discussed in this episode:

France's EDF signs deal for USD1.37 billion hydro project in Cameroon [1:26]

Cameroonian health-tech entrepreneur Melissa Bime wins the Anzisha Prize [5:04]

Benin repeals social media tax [10:57]

Novastar Ventures closes USD72.5 million fund for West African Investments [13:17]

Ethos announces USD69.8 million AI Fund [14:24}

The African Digital Asset Framework (ADAF) is launched [19:35]

Econet Group posts great results despite Kwese's poor performance [28:44]

Econet and Safaricom not content to stay in their lanes [33:38]

African Fintech 2018 Retrospective Discussion [40:09]

Resources referenced in this episode:

Breaking New Ground In Fintech: A Primer On Revenue Models That Create Value and Build Trust | Omidyar Network and Oliver Wyman (http://bit.ly/OmidyarNetworkFintechReport)

Image credit: Tito Pixel