The Flip

In this episode, we talk about cryptocurrency with the Co-Founder and CEO of Bundle, and the Founding Partner of Microtraction, Yele Bademosi. Beyond trading and price volatility, what is it about crypto that excites Yele and so many others on the continent?

Throughout the series of episodes, we're exploring the entrepreneurs in start-ups digitizing informal and fragmented industries on the continent. And despite the technological underpinnings of cryptocurrency as a whole, many of the buying and selling processes and use cases of crypto today are still quite informal and fragmented. In this episode, we hear from Yele about the work Bundle is doing to build products and use cases that make crypto more accessible, affordable and help bring it into the mainstream.

For those less familiar with crypto terminology, we have also published a crypto glossary to define many of the terms used in this episode. Check it out here: https://theflip.africa/crypto-glossary/

4:21 - First question, on consumer education in largely cash-based economies. 
10:36 - The macro dynamics - such as devaluation of the Nigerian Naira - that help make the case for crypto adoption.
14:41 - Bundle's origin story and the goals for the business.
20:22 - An exploration of use cases for crypto beyond trading and speculation. 
26:47 - A conversation on DeFi, or decentralized finance. 
32:42 - On a grand scale, what kind of impact can crypto - and Bundle - have in Africa? 

This episode is part of our conversational series sponsored by MFS Africa. MFS Africa's competition is with cash, and throughout this series, we'll feature other startups and entrepreneurs who are digitizing, better organizing, and aggregating analog and fragmented industries.

Follow The Flip on social media @theflipafrica.

In this episode, we talk about savings and credit cooperative societies, or SACCOs, and the outsize role these member-owned community banks  play in African and emerging markets. While millions of Africans belong to SACCOs, it's an industry that Kwara's Cynthia Wandia calls "as analog as it gets". Kwara is a Kenyan startup building software to digitize SACCOs, and in this episode, we talk to Cynthia about the role SACCOs play in these markets, the product and design principles employed to ensure proper utilization of the platform, Kwara's impact for members, the company's origin story, and more. 

4:23 - First question, what are SACCOs, and why are these types of member-owned community institutions so prevalent in markets like Kenya?
10:20 - An introduction to Kwara and its products.
16:54 - What product and design considerations went into building Kwara to ensure high utilization of the platform?
21:06 - On Kwara's SACCO onboarding processes. 
27:42 - We explore Cynthia's background and Kwara's origin story. 
36:34 - Looking ahead, how does Kwara look at product and geographic expansion, and the opportunity to be an embedded finance platform?

This episode is part of our conversational series sponsored by MFS Africa. MFS Africa's competition is with cash, and throughout this series, we'll feature other startups and entrepreneurs who are digitizing, better organizing, and aggregating analog and fragmented industries.

Follow The Flip on social media @theflipafrica.

In this episode, we continue our exploration of the entrepreneurs digitizing informal and analog markets, with Nomanini's Vahid Monadjem. Nomanini is a fintech platform for informal retail merchants in cash-heavy economies, and Vahid, the company's Founder and CEO, believes the best "way to move beyond cash is for us to be really interoperable with it." In this episode, we talk about specialization and interoperability, B2B partnerships, lessons from the last-mile, and much more.

3:41 - First question, what is the market environment in which Nomanini is operating?
7:42 - We dive deep into Nomanini's products.
15:25 - A discussion on cash and interoperability.
23:45 - On Nomanini's B2B partnerships and how to work with corporates.
30:12 - What's Nomanini's origin story, and what lessons have they learned from their ten-year journey?
36:05 - What does the future of fintech and informal retail in Africa look like?

This episode is part of our conversational series sponsored by MFS Africa. MFS Africa's competition is with cash, and throughout this series, we'll feature other startups and entrepreneurs who are digitizing, better organizing, and aggregating analog and fragmented industries.

Follow The Flip on social media @theflipafrica.

In this episode, we open the black box of last-mile retail distribution with MarketForce 360's Tesh Mbaabu. 90 percent of trade in Africa is informal, and MarketForce's software-as-a-service platform to better manage their field sales agents and distribution. We'll talk about product, the considerations in building products you use at the last mile and the needs of the multinational FMCG companies and financial service providers at the other end of the value chain. We talk about his recent experience participating in Y Combinator's accelerator program, what other companies he hopes to see built in the retail and logistics space, and more.

4:00 - First question, what problems do multinational FMCG companies have with regards to distributing products in African markets?
5:31 - We dive into MarketForce 360's product.
13:06 - Product and design lessons from the last-mile.
14:41 - On consumer insights from the last-mile.
16:17- On competition, strategy, and MarketForce's asset-light approach to servicing distributors and manufacturers.
21:12 - We discuss Tesh's recent experience participating in Y Combinator's accelerator.
23:40 - YC has Request for Startups; what is MarketForce's Request for Startups?

This episode is part of our conversational series sponsored by MFS Africa. MFS Africa's competition is with cash, and throughout this series, we'll feature other startups and entrepreneurs who are digitizing, better organizing, and aggregating analog and fragmented industries.

Follow The Flip on social media @theflipafrica.

In this episode, we explore digital savings with PiggyVest's Odunayo Eweniyi. PiggyVest's competition is the wooden box that Nigerians were using to save cash. We'll talk about how the company designed the product to compel mass-market consumers to save digitally; how their use of social media and word of mouth built trust and engendered a savings culture, how Odun think about new products, like crypto and insurance, as well as geographic expansion, and more.

4:19 - First question, what is PiggyVest's core competency, and how has the founders' past experiences helped them build the product and the company?
8:27 - We discuss key features of the savings platform, like a 90-day savings period.
11:37 - How did PiggyVest build trust amongst its users?
15:30 - On product and geographic expansion.
24:08 - Odun shares her thoughts on competition and the un-bundling (and re-bundling) of financial services by the fintech ecosystem.

This episode is part of our conversational series sponsored by MFS Africa. MFS Africa's competition is with cash, and throughout this series, we'll feature other startups and entrepreneurs who are digitizing, better organizing, and aggregating analog and fragmented industries.

Follow The Flip on social media @theflipafrica.

In this episode, we speak to Jihan Abass, the Founder and CEO of Lami, an insurance-as-a-service startup based in Nairobi, Kenya. Lami's platform enables insurers, banks, and other partners to offer  digital and flexible insurance to African consumers. 

4:12 – First question: formal insurance penetration in Africa is 3%. What's the problem and how is Lami trying to solve it?
6:45 – What does flexible, digital, B2B2C insurance actually look like in practice?
9:32 - Lami's origin story.
10:48 - A discussion about Griffin Motor Insurance, Lami's B2C motor insurance app used to test and showcase their product to prospective partners and customers. 
15:10 - How can - and will - embedded, digital insurance increase insurance penetration on the continent?

This episode is part of our conversational series sponsored by  MFS Africa. MFS Africa’s competition is with cash, and throughout this series, we’ll feature other startups and entrepreneurs who are digitizing, better organizing, and aggregating analog and fragmented industries.

Follow The Flip on social media @theflipafrica.

Our exploration of the entrepreneurs and startups digitizing analog and fragmented industries takes us to Nigeria, for a conversation with Helium Health's Co-founder and CEO Goke Olubusi. Helium's electronic medical records are providing the digital infrastructure for healthcare sectors across Africa, enabling a variety of stakeholders to make data-driven decisions.

4:26 - First question: what does the state of healthcare look like, and how is Helium Health solving the industry's problems?
9:16 - Helium's origin story. 
11:48 - On the big picture solutions that are required to have the type of impact in healthcare the continent needs. 
13:12 - A discussion on the benefits and opportunity of an open and operable approach.
15:46 - Helium's geographic and product expansion strategies.
19:42 - The impact of improving and opportunity to improve the efficiency of healthcare spending in Africa.  

This episode is part of our conversational series sponsored by  MFS Africa. MFS Africa’s competition is with cash, and throughout this series, we’ll feature other startups and entrepreneurs who are digitizing, better organizing, and aggregating analog and fragmented industries.

On October 15, 2020, Paystack and Stripe announced the acquisition of the former by the latter, in a deal reported to be worth over $200 million. This marks Stripe's largest acquisition to date and is an incredibly meaningful exit for the African tech ecosystem. To unpack the deal, we spoke to Shola Akinlade, Paystack's Co-founder and CEO, and Matt Henderson, Stripe's Business Lead for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

3:43 - We start our story of the Stripe acquisition of Paystack in the Winter of 2016. Paystack becomes the first Nigerian startup to participate in Y Combinator, where Shola is introduced to Stripe Co-founder and CEO Patrick Collison. Stripe leads Paystack's Series A.
6:02 - As both companies - and their relationship with each other - grew, the idea of an acquisition arose naturally.
8:10 - Why is Stripe interested in Paystack, and Africa as a region?
10:38 - What does the future for Paystack look like now that it has joined Stripe?
13:40 - We explore the growth opportunity for Paystack's merchants, as it expands its geographic coverage.
15:55 - On Paystack's customer intimacy and product roadmap.
19:44 - As always, a reflective conversation between Justin Norman and Sayo Folawiyo on this episode’s topic.

For more episodes, visit us at https://theflip.africa or follow us on twitter @theflipafrica.

The very nature of a high-growth startup means that the company is always growing and hiring at a rapid rate. And for African startups, in particular, the talent question is even more acute, given the general challenges of sourcing for select roles, as well as the difficulty in competing for talent with other startups, multinationals, and companies elsewhere in the world. In this episode, we unpack the talent and recruiting situation for venture-backed startups and growth-stage companies - how do we source for newer types of roles, like product and growth? Do we hire for aptitude and train up? Do we go to where there is more talent? How does remote work - particularly during COVID-19 - play a role here?

2:50 - We discuss the current recruiting landscape with Toun Tunde-Anjous, Founder of The People Practice. 
4:38 - Charles Sekwalor, CEO of Movemeback, shares his views on the talent question, and the opportunities with startups and growth-stage companies on the continent. 
8:17 - We explore startup recruitment strategy with Ijeoma Oyeyinka, Helium Health's Head of HR. 
10:26 - Many startups, including Helium Health, use outside recruiters, as well. Toun's The People Practice is one such firm. 
11:20 - We har from Ijeoma & Mansi Babyloni, Flutterwave's Global Head of People Strategy on the hiring competition, and the pitches they make to mission-driven talent.
15:12 - Mansi & Toun on compensation and their experiences with African startups offering equity packages. 
17:59 - On remote working dynamics and the opportunity to tap into a wider talent pool, particularly due to COVID-19.
20:46 - A discussion on training & development of talent, and in particular less experienced talent, on the continent. 
24:23 - We hear from Aaron Fu, on the Venture for Africa fellowship program, and their endeavor to de-risk an exploration into the African tech and startup ecosystem.
28:13 - As always, a reflective conversation between Justin Norman and Sayo Folawiyo on this episode's topic. 

In this episode, we explore and unpack the relationship between the tech ecosystem and the media. We'll seek answers to questions such as - what roles do media publications play in the ecosystem? How does this differ between international and local publications? What are the key considerations for the media in doing this work, particularly from a talent and business model perspective? What about companies creating their own content - what is their motivation and what can be learned? And, why is there seemingly a contentious relationship between African tech and the media?

2:27 - We talk public relations utility and strategy, with Wimbart's Jessica Hope. 
6:47 - What role does international tech media play in the ecosystem? We hear from TechCrunch contributing writer Jake Bright.
12:05 - A discussion with Tomiwa Aladekomo, of Big Cabal Media, the parent company to TechCabal, on the publications' objectives and challenges. 
17:03 - We explore how one publication, Stears Business, is tackling information scarcity, talent, and business model challenges in Nigeria, with Preston Ideh.
23:05 - We speak with Paystack's Emmanuel Quartey on the company's editorial approach and hiring content to solve a problem. 
28:23 - Is there a contentious relationship between African tech and the media? Are those in the ecosystem playing their part in sharing with requisite openness and transparency? 
30:41 - A retrospective conversation between Sayo Folawiyo, Justin Norman, and this episode's co-producer Osarumen Osamuyi, on the environmental challenges of building sustainable media businesses and meeting the expectations of the tech ecosystem.