[Transcript] #59: Africa Tech - 2023 & Beyond (Creator Roundtable #2)
Transcript for podcast originally recorded on December 18, 2022
😉 In Dec 2022, we hosted a creator roundtable with me (Olumide), Bankole, Samora (Frontier FinTech), Justin (The Flip) & Emeka (AfriDigest) to discus themes around the Africa tech ecosystem dealing with recessions and how various large companies were impacted (Flutterwave, FTX, 54gene, Swvl, Chipper Cash, TeamApt/Moniepoint and Jumia). It was fun :)
Companies discussed: Flutterwave, FTX, 54gene, Swvl, Chipper Cash, TeamApt (Moniepoint), QED, Binance, Remitly, Brimore, Shoprite, & Jumia
Business concepts discussed: Economic recessions, fundraising, bootstrapping, Cryptocurrency, M&A, Creator monetization & Pan-African Expansion
Enjoy!
Olumide Ogunsanwo
Personal: Website
Afrobility Podcast: Stories and analyses of African technology companies (Website, Listen: Apple podcasts, Spotify & Google podcasts & Read: Substack Newsletter)
Adamantium Fund: African B2B fund focused on education, health, finance, food and transportation (Website & memo)
Firedom Book: Financial Independence stories of African Immigrants (Website, Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Transcript starts here
[00:00:00] Olumide Ogunsanwo: Today we're going to have a Creator Roundtable to discuss the African tech ecosystem. We'll discuss the biggest 2022 moments in Africa Tech and our hopes for the tech ecosystem in 2023. This episode was recorded on December 10th, 2022. Bankole, how’s it going?
[00:00:13] Bankole Makanju: I am fantastic. How are you?
[00:00:14] Olumide Ogunsanwo: I'm doing quite well.
[00:00:17] Bankole Makanju: I love it.
[00:00:18] Olumide Ogunsanwo: It's that time, once again, we're going to have an Africa Tech creator roundtable. I'm particularly excited because we have three additional co-hosts today: Samora from Frontier FinTech, Emeka from Afridigest, and Justin Norman from The Flip.
We're gonna start with Samora. Samora, do you want to give the listeners a little info about yourself and Frontier FinTech?
[00:00:47] Samora Kariuki: My name is Samora. I write the Frontier FinTech Newsletter, although not as frequently as I used to. It's a FinTech newsletter covering the major themes, trying to set context into the African FinTech ecosystem. I've got a personal background in finance, banking and capital markets. I was born and raised in Kenya and I’m looking forward to having a good time with you guys today.
[00:01:11] Olumide Ogunsanwo: Welcome Samora. How do I know Samora? Samora and I met because we're both venture partners at Rally Cap. In September 2021, Samora and I were on the same investor call, and I thought, "Is this the same Samora that Bankole mentioned?" Bankole had previously recommended an article from Frontier FinTech, so we scheduled a call, had a chat, and I'm really grateful to have Samora with us.
[00:01:30] Bankole Makanju: Samara basically does free research for Afrobility.
[00:01:34] Samora Kariuki: [Laughter] I call it free Afrobility research. It turns out that a lot of people use it to prepare for interviews. They reach out to me and after they ace their interviews. Maybe I should charge for that [laughter]. Anyone can reach out to me at samora@frontierfintech.io.
[00:01:57] Olumide Ogunsanwo: Samora’s superpower is weaving different threads together. He goes super deep. If you like Afrobility, you definitely like Frontier Fintech. Samora, welcome! Excited to have you on board. Looking forward to having fun today.
Next up, the one and only Justin Norman. Justin, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and The Flip.
[00:02:17] Justin Norman: I started The Flip in 2019 as a mechanism for me to learn about the African tech ecosystem, as this American guy living in South Africa. I've lived here for five years. It's always been an opportunity for me to explore my curiosities, and to do it in public. I'm for one, you know, excited to just expand and continue to grow our content capabilities and to do some new exciting things next year.
[00:02:44] Bankole Makanju: Justin, is it called The Flip because of what you do with your hair
[00:02:51] Olumide Ogunsanwo: [Laughter] Actually for the audience, Justin is very serious in real life. Justin and I have monthly calls and on the calls almost like, what the fuck? Justin is so serious. I'm just like, I'm telling jokes and Justin is very straight faced. So think of Justin as a serious businessman, not as a jolly, playful person. Justin, is that accurate or am I crazy?
[00:03:11] Justin Norman: No, I don't think it's actually as accurate. Maybe you always get the serious side of me. Maybe I'll tell some jokes today. You can reach out to me at justin@theflip.africa
[00:03:19] Olumide Ogunsanwo: [Laughter] Wow, okay. So how did I meet Justin? I sent him a cold LinkedIn message. He responded and we've stayed in touch ever since. Justin's superpower is coordinating interesting conversations and aggregating stakeholders together to form a narrative. The Flip is a great podcast—it offers a blend of direct insights from industry leaders, with founders discussing various topics. The host doesn't just cover companies; he also weaves in different narrative arcs, including one on food, which is really interesting. Justin, welcome. Good to have you on board.
Last but not least, we have a new guest. The two people we just heard from were here last year, and we also have Emeka from Afridigest—Emeka and I even had a three-hour lunch a couple of months ago. Emeka, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and Afridigest?
[00:04:09] Emeka Ajene: I was born in Lagos, Nigeria, but grew up in the United States, came back to Nigeria in the middle of the Africa Rising narrative. McKinsey had just released their lines of Africa report. There was a lot of fundraising by Jumia, Iroko and others. I thought it would be an exciting time to kind of see firsthand the emergence of the African ecosystem. I came to Nigeria, worked in the e-commerce space. Since then I've worked in the ride hailing space as well. Most recently, for the last four years I've been in Francophone West Africa, working on a super app concept .
I have been working on Afridigest as well, which is a business media brand, focused on helping readers get smarter about Africa's innovation economy. Focus on ideas, analysis, and insights, a leading newsletter in the Africa and tech space where we consistently track the deals and news that comes out. Couldn't make it last year so I'm excited to join this time. You can reach me at emeka@ afridigest.com
[00:05:12] Olumide Ogunsanwo: A quick funny side story for the audience.