Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about MFS Africa. We’ll explore the MFS Africa story across the following 5 areas:
African payments context
MFS Africa’s early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook.
This episode was recorded on Jan 29, 2023
Companies discussed: MFS Africa, Safaricom (M-Pesa), Opay, Flutterwave, Paystack, MTN, Airtel, Orange, Chipper Cash, Ecobank, Safaricom, Homesend, TransferTo, MasterCard & Visa
Business concepts discussed: Financial interoperability, mobile money (agency banking), banking regulation, acquisition strategy, payment processing, payment gateways & closed-loop payment networks
Conversation highlights:
(09:50) - Africa payments context and background
(20:26) - MFS Africa founding and early history
(22:06) - Founder background
(31:40) - Fundraising and early growth
(38:44) - Partnerships and M&A
(1:02:15) - Product Strategy
(1:06:30) - Monetization Strategy
(1:13:59) - Competition and Options for Exit
(1:28:51) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:34:00) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:47:00) - Recommendations and small wins
Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:
Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at
[email protected]
Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at
[email protected]
Recommendation: Be Happy 35 Powerful Methods for Personal Growth & Well-Being. Talks about practices for a positive mental health. Fun short read that you can refer to time and time again
Small win: Birthday celebrations with friends in Miami, NYC & SF. It was epic!
Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:
Recommendation: Accidental Gods by Anna Della Subin
Small win: I read 3 books in January
Other content: Afrobility Chipper Cash episode , Inside the MFS Africa acquisition of Beyonic & Follow me on Goodreads
Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email
[email protected] with feedback!
Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at
[email protected]
Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at
[email protected]
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