Africa Fintech Rising

This week, Andrew sits down with Joseph Mucheru, the President of JUMO and former Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of ICT, Innovation, and Youth Affairs in Kenya. Today's discussion covers everything from Mr. Mucheru's transition back to the private sector, JUMO's growth plans, and how artificial intelligence (AI) can help advance the African economy. Interested in seeing the video version of this interview, check out The Kenyan Wall Street's YouTube page.

This week, Andrew sits down with Paula Hunter, the Executive Director of the Mojaloop Foundation. They discuss the role and benefits that open-source payments infrastructure brings to the greater African fintech ecosystem.

On this week's edition of the Africa Fintech Rising podcast, Eugene Tawiah (Co-Founder & CEO, SecondSTAX) sits down with Andrew to discuss the role that SecondSTAX is playing in revolutionizing how Africans and corporates interact with and invest in African capital markets. Despite having some of the best-performing stocks and bonds globally, Africa’s exchanges are largely inaccessible to investors outside the jurisdictions where they have been listed. Over the last decade, African capital markets have raised more than US$ 246 billion in debt capital markets. More than US$ 87 billion has been raised in equity capital markets and equity indices have peaked at over 50% growth across the major regional exchanges. However, the siloed nature of these exchanges as well as insufficient data on the risk profiles of assets has led to limited access to capital for markets and limited access to high-growth assets for investors. SecondSTAX is the first and only portal for investment firms to directly invest in all stocks and bonds on exchanges in multiple African countries, with SecondSTAX’s transparent, easy-to-use, cloud-based portal investors can invest in their native currencies, making a wider range of assets and opportunities available to more Africans and creating an efficient route to increased wealth on the continent.

This week, Andrew sits down with Cellulant's Chief Revenue Officer, David Waithaka. They discuss the evolution of Africa's fintech industry and its trajectory in the coming months. David discusses how he has seen Cellulant evolve from the sale of mobile ringtones into a leading and preeminent financial technology company operational across the continent.

This week, Andrew sits down with the Co-Founder & CEO of South Africa's FiveWest, Omer Iqbal. Omer discusses the use cases for cryptocurrency in Africa and how businesses and individuals alike can benefit from using cryptocurrency. Combatting inflation risk and speeding up international transfers are just a few of the many ways FiveWest leverages cryptocurrency. Beyond discussing FiveWest and cryptocurrency use cases, Omer comments on FTX's downfall and shares some valuable advice for young people looking to build a career in financial technology.

This week, Andrew sits down with Nael and Israel, the Co-Founders of Ethiopia's Chapa to discuss their mission to build the 'Stripe of East Africa.' Chapa was a participant in the Africa Fintech Summit's 5th AlphaExpo Micro-Accelerator Cohort and the winner of the AlphaExpo Pitch Competition hosted at AFTSCapeTown on November 4, 2022. Through this discussion, Nael and Israel highlight Chapa's business model and evolution since its founding and sheds some much needed light on the nuances and needs of Ethiopia's nascent financial technology ecosystem.

This week Andrew sits down with Djiba Diallo, the Senior Fintech Advisor at Ecobank. Andrew and Djiba discuss the importance of banking-fintech collaboration, how technology is being leveraged by banks across Africa, and the upcoming Ecobank Fintech Challenge.

This week, Andrew sits down with Yves Eonnet, Co-Founder & Chairman of Skaleet, an international fintech that has developed a Next-Generation Core Banking System. Yves has over 25 years' experience in banking innovation and technology and has also published a book "Fintech: The Banks Strike Back", where he highlights his vision on the digital banking ecosystem in the future.

In this episode, Andrew sits down with Olukayode Ariyo, the Managing Director & CEO of Accelerex, a Financial Times 2022 Africa's Fastest Growing Companies awardee. Kayode is a renowned Nigerian entrepreneur with 25+ years of experience working at the crossroads of financial inclusion and payments innovation. Kayode and Andrew discuss everything for fintech licensing, to building relationships with regulators, the evolution of Accelerex, and MUCH MORE!

This week, Andrew sits down with Akinyinka Akintunde, the Chief Operating Officer of AFEX. The conversation dives into AFEX's journey to being listed on the Financial Times' 2022 Africa Fastest Growing Companies list, to the company's expansion into Kenya, and the mission driving the connection between smallholder farmers and the information & commodity networks necessary to maximize production and establish food security on the continent.

This week, Andrew sits down with Erik Rind, the Founder & CEO of ImagineBC. ImagineBC is a 'revolutionary new media company' aimed at giving users control over their personal data by enabling them to profit off of advertisements that they watch. Andrew and Erik's conversation covers everything from blockchain to new-age media and even dives into the hardships of being an entrepreneur.

This week Andrew sits down with Karima El Hakim, the newly minted Egypt Country Director for Plug & Play. Karima's career has revolved around ecosystem building and startup acceleration/incubation with her previous work at Fawry and Falak Startups. In this conversation, Andrew and Karima discuss Egypt's vibrant startup ecosystem - diving into the ideas driving smart city initiatives, fintech, e-commerce, digital banking, this year's COP27, and much more!

This week Andrew sits down with Adekunle Daniel, an innovative cryptocurrency entrepreneur from Nigeria looking to solve a variety of use cases holding back crypto's widespread acceptance across Africa. Adekunle is the Founder & CEO of e-Fiat App, a unique cryptocurrency application with the dedicated mission of protecting 'your money against devaluation' and democratizing access for businesses and consumers alike to the global crypto ecosystem.

This week, Andrew sits down to speak with Ayman Essawy, the Co-Founder and General Manager at Lucky App. Lucky operates a consumer-facing credit and discounts network for partner merchants in Egypt and Morocco. Ayman shares some of his thoughts on the North African fintech ecosystem, lessons learned in transitioning from a B2B to B2C focused fintech, and Lucky's plans for increasing market penetration and expansion.

This week, Andrew sits down with Omosalewa "O" Adeyemi, the Global Partnerships & Expansions Head at Flutterwave, to discuss Flutterwave's expansion plans and learn more about one of Africa's fintech unicorns. (This podcast was recorded in November 2021)

This week, Andrew sits down with Michael Spencer, the Co-Founder and CEO of SmartMoney. Andrew and Michael's conversation revolves around driving financial inclusion, customer acquisition, and the importance of rural-focused fintech applications.

This week, Andrew Barden, the Director of Insights at Dedalus Global and Lead Organizer of the Africa Fintech Summit, sits down with Andy Jury, the CEO of the Mukuru Group, to discuss everything from Mukuru's successes in addressing financial inclusion to the company's plans for pan-African mastery.

Leland Rice, Founder & CEO of Dedalus Global, and Zekarias Amsalu, Founder & CEO of Ibex Frontier, discuss the details behind this year's Africa Fintech Summit in Cairo, Egypt on November 16-17, 2021. This conversation dives into what attendees can expect at the conference, why the AFTS Advisory Board chose Cairo as this year's host city, and the news driving the content and ideas that will be discussed at the summit. Tickets are now available on the Africa Fintech Summit website at: https://africafintechsummit.com/

Today on the pod we announce the host city for the November 2019 Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS). Hint: it's the capital of Africa's fastest growing economy and second largest country. We chat with the 2019 AFTS Co-Organizer Zekarias Amsalu—who runs IBEX Frontier, an investment consultancy & route-to-Ethiopian-market advisory—about the host city selection and why it's currently one of the world's most intriguing investment destinations.

Mobile money now accounts for more than 866 million registered users and $1.3 billion transacted every day, according to GSMA's 2018 "State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money," the definitive look at this rapidly growing industry that is transforming financial inclusion in Africa and globally. Join us as we talk with Francesco Pasti, lead author of this year's report, about the ground-breaking shift towards a "payments as a platform approach," the impact of changing regulations and market dynamics, and why Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Egypt are the continent's "sleeping giants."