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...

Saqib Nazir is the Managing Director for Africa of Emergent Technology, the CEO of Interpay Africa, and a veteran fintech entrepreneur in Ghana. When Ghana-based Interpay merged with California-based Emergent Technology this past December, Saqib became the tip of the spear for an "Africa 20-20-20 strategy.” Hear from Saqib about their ambitious plans to enter 20 countries by 2020 and what that means for Africa’s digital payments universe.

This week Flutterwave was named number two on Fast Company's list of the 10 most innovative companies in Africa for 2019. And with good reason. When Olugbenga (aka GB) co-founded the company in 2016, he set out to build a digital payments infrastructure for Africa. Less than three years later Flutterwave has processed over $2.6b in payments, is hailed as one of the best technology platforms anywhere, and has transformed the way businesses make and receive payments on the continent. Leland...

Atlas Money is a peer-to-peer community banking platform with over 600 agents in Ghana and Senegal and growing. Access Network is a decentralized system that gives the people control of their own token economy. Hear from José Fernández--President of Atlas and Access, blockchain for social impact promoter, economist, and 4x entrepreneur--about how these platforms are interfacing to create a new economic model for Africa's unbanked population.

Perhaps more than anyone, Iyin Aboyeji has put Africa fintech on the map. At the age of 23 he co-founded Andela, which gained attention when it received $24 million in funding from Mark Zuckerberg, and more recently co-founded Flutterwave, an API that has transformed the way pan-African merchants execute payments on a global scale. On October 16, Flutterwave announced an extension of its Series A bringing its total funding beyond the $20m target. On the same day, Iyin stepped down as CEO,...