Fintech Snacks 🍿 | April 6 2023
My job is to make sure your weekly reading list on African fintech is lit 🔥
📚 What’s on your reading list this week?
🔍 Here’s what mine looked like 👇🏾:
#1: 🎧 Afrobility’s podcast on MFS Africa
Afrobility drops episodes once every month. I don’t know whether the suspense is part of the intrigue, but it’s definitely working because when this episode dropped, I literally dropped my entire life to tune in.
MFS Africa is one of those companies that I feel doesn’t get enough media buzz. I honestly feel like they’re a silent unicorn. (Lol, jk jk)
Many fintechs try to sell the whole “pan-African” company mantra. But truth be told, building across different regulatory landscapes, languages, cultures, technology stacks, time zones etc, is flat-out difficult. MFS is a good case study on building a truly African regional payment super-highway. In 12 years, they’ve managed to connect 400 mobile wallets across 35 countries.
#2: 📊 Briter Bridges’s Why 1% of venture financing matters more than you think in Africa
First off, cool article title!
When the topic of Africa’s startup ecosystem comes up, a lot of the conversation tends to fixate on “how much funding is pouring in?” I love how this author brings out a more nuanced picture by analyzing ‘VC funding as a % of GDP’ instead.
This was by far my favourite chart 🤓👇🏾
#2: 🦄 Benjamin Dada’s MNT Halan becomes Africa's latest unicorn
Okay, so I know this news is dated, but I wanted to go under the hood to understand exactly what MNT-Halan does.
So what the heck do they do? Everything. Their ecosystem cuts across both fintech-y and non-fintech-y services, from e-commerce, BNPL, micro-consumer loans, payroll, P2P, remittances, bill payments, ride-hailing, courier, and business loans. (sounds like a Super App!)
What I like about this company is its synergy. At first, when I saw “e-commerce” among their offerings, I was like, “Oh Lord, not another Konga story”. But I’m slightly more optimistic when I consider their payment and lending ecosystem. Those businesses could act as a hedge against the more asset-heavy, low-margin e-commerce arm.
That’s all folks!
Fun fact: This week, I discovered I have a slightly ungodly addiction to croissants.
Imagine a world where employers paid in croissants? I would never retire.
Okay bye,
See ya next week,
Nchy 😊
Disclaimer: All content in this newsletter solely reflects my views and opinions. They are not a product of any sponsored ads. Nor are they associated with my current employer.