The Flip

These climate investors are funding climate startups using a hands-on venture-building model to support founders across Africa. 

In this episode, we’re joined by James Mwangi from Africa Climate Ventures, Maxime Bayen from Catalyst Fund, and Lyndsay Holley Handler from Delta40.

We discuss why African ventures and climate startups, in particular, benefit from the venture building model; the limitations of the traditional two and twenty fund model in the African tech ecosystem; the types of founders and opportunities these investors are looking for; the pitch these investors are making to global investors for why they should back climate action across Africa; and, is Africa the most important region for global climate goals?

00:00 - Intro
01:20 - Why climate in Africa?
06:03 - The types of founders they're investing in
12:18 -  Why the venture building model?
19:39 - Fund structures & models
35:30- The types of businesses & opportunities they're seeking
41:30 - Pitching Africa's climate story to global investors

This roundtable conversation was recorded during the  2024 Climate Week in New York City.

This episode was produced as part of our series on climate action in Africa, in partnership with Catalyst Fund, Delta40, and Africa Climate Ventures.

Delta40 is a venture studio and venture capital fund supporting diverse founders leading ventures in energy, agriculture, and fintech, with a special focus on supporting African and female entrepreneurs. Beyond capital, they provide hands-on support from experienced operators & investors to drive growth from idea to pan-African scale. 

Africa Climate Ventures is a pioneering venture builder working to build a portfolio of climate businesses on the continent. ACV invests to bring proven global climate technology to Africa, accelerate and de-risk the continental expansion of technologies and business models that have gained traction in one or a few African market(s), and add carbon revenue streams to existing African businesses with the potential to scale climate-positive solutions.

Catalyst Fund is a venture capital fund and venture builder, investing for a climate resilient future in Africa. They combine capital and a hands-on venture-building approach at the pre-seed stage, to partner with visionary founders who are developing climate adaptation solutions that enhance the resilience of communities and the planet. 

This episode is made possible through a partnership with Prosper Africa’s Catalytic Investment Facility. Aimed at boosting investment and innovative climate adaptation and resilience ventures across Africa, The Catalyst Fund is one of the grantees under Prosper Africa's Catalytic Investment Facility. Prosper Africa is a Presidential-level national security initiative aimed at strengthening the strategic and economic partnership between the U.S. and Africa by catalyzing transformative two-way trade and investment flows.

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There are millions of Moniepoint point-of-sale terminals in use across Nigeria. These point-of-sale devices power Nigeria’s offline economy, and while there are many competitors in this space, Moniepoint appears to beating them all. 

How did they do it? How did Moniepoint grow so quickly? And why has it become the preferred choice for agents and merchants across Nigeria?

In this episode, we hit the streets of Lagos with Ezekiel Sanni, Moniepoint's Senior Vice President of Distribution Network Sales.

Moniepoint has been recognized as Africa's fastest-growing fintech by the Financial Times in 2023 and 2024. Last year, they processed over $182 billion in payments. 

Moniepoint (formerly TeamApt) was founded by Tosin Eniolorunda in 2015. 

00:00 - Moniepoint is winning Nigeria's fintech battle
01:28 - What do agents want?
02:19 - Nigeria's banking challenges
03:34 - Moniepoint's business banking strategy
04:49 - Moniepoint's distribution strategy

Check out our roundtable conversation with Monieponit's CEO, Tosin Eniolorunda, Kuda's Babs Ogundeyi, and FairMoney's Laurin Hainy - https://theflip.africa/podcast/nigerian-neobank-roundtable-moniepoint-kuda-fairmoney 

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Small retailers in Nigeria power the economy. But they’re going through some tough times. Devaluation, food inflation, and overall poor economic conditions have made it especially hard for these small businesses to operate.

To better understand how retail works, and how these small businesses can grow, we hit the streets of Lagos with Deepankar Rustagi, CEO of OmniRetail.

OmniRetail was ranked Africa's #1 Fastest Growing Company in 2024 by Financial Times.

In this episode, Deepankar explains small retailers' working capital challenges and how OmniRetail is helping them grow their business by turning over their inventory faster.

00:00 - Intro
01:00 - Working capital
02:08 - Faster inventory turnover
02:48 - Lack of credit
03:39 - Understanding consumer demand
04:57 - Building a Systematically Important Platform

Read more from Deepankar -  Rethinking Metrics in B2B Commerce: https://theflip.africa/newsletter/rethinking-metrics-in-b2b-ecommerce
Learn more about OmniRetail here: https://omniretail.africa

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One of the African tech ecosystem's largest exits was the 2020 sale of Sendwave to WorldRemit for $500 million. 

Sid Sridhar was Sendwave's Head of Business at the time, and in this episode, Sid shares his M&A lessons for the African tech ecosystem.

Sid is now the Head of Business at Wave, the mobile money company spun out of Sendwave that's competing head-on with the telcos in Francophone West Africa. Wave raised a $200 million Series A in 2021, valuing the company at $1.7 billion. 

00:00 - Introduction
01:32 - Every deal is different
02:16 - Know the business model that you're building for
02:40 - Companies get bought not sold
03:41 - How to qualify a deal
04:53 - Be smart & strategic with information
05:31 - Be transparent
06:24 - Stay close to potential buyers
07:39 - Alignment with investors

Follow Sid on Twitter

Check out other episodes from the Fintech in Africa Summit:
Nigerian Neobank Roundtable: Moniepoint, Kuda, FairMoney
Why Are Cross-Border Payments So Hard?
Tackling Africa’s $330 Billion Credit Gap

Our Links -
🎥 YouTube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
💻 Website - https://theflip.africa
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There is a $330 billion credit gap, according to the IFC. But why is it so hard to lend in African markets? 

We explore that question with Chijioke Dozie, Co-founder and CEO of Carbon, and Mark Straub, CEO of Smile Identity.

This episode was recorded live from the FT Partners Fintech in Africa Summit in New York City. Download their FinTech in Africa research report, published in March 2024.

00:00 - Introduction
01:36 - The credit infrastructure problems in Africa
02:28 - Carbon's approach to lending
03:51 - SmileID's perspective on credit infrastructure
08:10 - Ability to pay vs. willingness to pay
10:06 - Private sector solutions
17:36 - The challenges of scaling lending without infrastructure

Follow Chijioke on Twitter.
Follow Mark on Twitter.

This episode was the third in our series of interviews recorded live from the Fintech in Africa Summit.
Nigerian Neobanks with Moniepoint's Tosin Eniolorunda, Kuda's Babs Ogundeyi & Fairmoney's Laurin Hainy: https://theflip.africa/podcast/nigerian-neobank-roundtable-moniepoint-kuda-fairmoney
Cross-Border Payments with NALA's Benjamin Fernandes & GTXN's Dan Kleinbaum: https://theflip.africa/podcast/why-are-cross-border-payments-so-hard

Our Links -
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🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
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📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica

In this episode, the third in our docuseries on jobtech platforms and the future of work, we dive deeper into the value chain, because the problems that small businesses have across the continent are multi-layered. 

In an environment of demand constraints and a lack of infrastructure, platforms need to solve multiple problems across the value chain. This is what makes jobtech platforms so hard to build in Africa. 

But for those who can solve problems across the value chain, it not only unlocks growth opportunities for their users, but it also unlocks additional revenue streams for platforms to achieve greater profitability. 

Check out the first two episodes in this series:
What We Get Wrong About Jobs in Africa
The Future of Work Will Be Bootstrapped

00:00 - Intro
01:43 - Jobtech platforms in Africa need to solve multiple problems across the value chain.
02:31 - One sector with challenges across the value chain is fashion.
03:51 - How Fitted is solving problems for tailors in Nigeria.
05:51 - Unlocking revenue opportunities for SMEs and platforms alike.

Watch this episode on YouTube.
Learn more about the Jobtech Alliance.
Check out last year's podcast series on the future of work.

Our Links -
🎥 YouTube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
💻 Website - https://theflip.africa
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
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Benjamin Fernandes, the Founder and CEO of the remittance platform NALA, likes to say that payments are just 1% built in Africa. 

Why are cross-border payments so hard? 

In this episode, we're joined in conversation with Benjamin Fernandes and Dan Kleinbaum, a co-founder of Beyonic, which sold to Onafriq, and now the Founder of the FX platform GTXN. 

This episode was recorded live from the FT Partners Fintech in Africa Summit in New York City. Download their FinTech in Africa research report, published in March 2024.

00:00 - Intro
01:29 - Payments are 1% built in Africa
06:32 - How to solve problems in Cross-Border payments
08:28 - Do we need more payment apps?
15:51 - Navigating regulatory challenges
17:03 - Why are Benji & Dan solving these problems?
20:30 - What's the cross-border payments pitch to investors?
25:39 - Benji & Dan turn the tables on Justin

This episode was the second in our series of interviews recorded live from the Fintech in Africa Summit. Our first episode was with the Nigerian Neobanks: https://theflip.africa/podcast/nigerian-neobank-roundtable-moniepoint-kuda-fairmoney

Episode Links:
Follow Benji on Twitter
Follow Dan on Twitter
Read Benji's Medium post: Are African Remittances Finished?

Our Links -
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In this episode, we're joined in a panel conversation with the CEOs of three of Nigeria's biggest digital banks: Moniepoint's Tosin Eniolorunda, Kuda's Babs Ogundeyi, and FairMoney's Laurin Hainy.

This episode was recorded live from the FT Partners Fintech in Africa Summit in New York City. Download their FinTech in Africa research report, published in March 2024.

00:00 - Intro
01:18 - Moniepoint's distribution-first strategy
02:45 - FairMoney's credit-led approach
04:46 - Kuda's neobank strategy
06:48 - Banks, product, competition, expansion
25:45 - Growth, VC returns
33:56 - What does success look like?

Our Links -
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💻 Website - https://theflip.africa
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
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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 isn’t going to be designed or endowed; it’s 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 happens

Watch 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 -
🔔 Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
💻 Website - https://theflip.africa
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
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📸 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 retrospective

Much Ado About the Media, part one: https://theflip.africa/podcast/s2e9

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