Podcast
The Creators Africa
Hosted by Maya Caddle · EN
Hear from the top entrepreneurs who are building Africa’s tech scene and some of the most exciting startups from the ground up and have been profiled by the likes of TechCrunch and have been part of programs such as Y Combinator and Pioneer. On The Creators Africa we discuss how the founders approached growing their startups, the challenges they faced along the way, and what the future holds for their companies and industries.
7episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Building the Netflix of Africa | Jason Njoku founder iROKO
Jul 29, 202100:36:06Tap to summarizeIn this episode we chat with Jason Njoku, in one of his first interviews since announcing that iROKO will be IPOing on the London Stock Exchange in 2022. iROKO (which is often described as the Netflix of Africa) has had a number of companies under it's umbrella with the most successful being the ROK Group which was acquired by Canal+. In this episode: 0:00 - Introduction of Jason Njoku & iROKO 1:10 - The different expectations for content from users across Africa 6:53 - The magic number to prevent user churn 12:55 - iROKO's growth hacks 16:56 - The challenges producing content on the continent 19:30 - The growing popularity of non-Western international content 22:28 - The creation of, growth and hacks that resulted in the success of the ROK Group 27:32 - The ROK Groups approach to identifying talent 28:43 - iROKO's 2022 IPO 34:38 - Jason's views on the Creators Economy
Transcribe →Crypto in Africa (On Deck panel event) | with Yele of Binance Labs Africa & Bundle; David of HoneyCoin; Theo of Bitlipa
Jul 21, 202100:53:09Tap to summarizeIn case you missed our panel event in partnership with On Deck here is a recording! We are joined by Yele Bademosi (the ex-Head of Binance Labs Africa & founder of the African social crypto payment network Bundle), David Nandwa (the founder of HoneyCoin a startup backed by Elizabeth Yin that is a mix of Gumroad & Patreon & crypto for the African creator) & Theo (the founder of BitLipa a peer to peer crypto app). We chat about: 0:00 - Introductions 4:00 - How can we make crypto appeal to the masses and ensure that more than 1.4 million people on the continent use it? Also what can be done to increase retention? 8:01 - How do the use cases for crypto in Africa differ from the use cases elsewhere in the world? 12:13 - How do the use cases for crypto differ between Nigeria and Kenya? 22:31 - What is the use case for stablecoins on the continent? 36:05 -- Audience question: Opportunities in the crypto world for non-developers 40:44 - Audience question: African crypto adoption & the future for Crypto in Africa 47:34 - Audience question: The role of China in Africa & the crypto space
Transcribe →Building a bank for SMEs | Sola co-founder of Brass
Jun 17, 202100:31:37Tap to summarizeIn this episode we speak to Sola the co-founder of Brass which provides banking and financial services for SMEs. SMEs are fundamental to Sub-Saharan Africa with them accounting for about 80% of the region's economic growth in 2015 according to The World Economic Forum. Sola and Brass have quickly gained respect and traction for the SME neobank that they are building. We hear about: 0:00 - Introduction to Sola & Brass 02:15 - The SME banking experience in Nigeria without Brass 06:31 - Brass' approach to user research 07:46 - SME loans and needs 10:22 - Why Nigerian SMEs have multiple bank accounts & other cultural nuances 12:52 - Brass' evolution & learnings from past iterations 17:50 - How Brass approaches design & their learnings 20:09 - Brass & expansion 22:01 - Brass & partnerships 23:30 - The differences between Kenyan & Nigerian customers 24:40 - Brass & the future
Transcribe →Product Design in Nigeria | with Designers from FB Nigeria, Andela, Future Africa, Akanka Designs and Fliqpay
May 6, 202101:28:04Tap to summarizeIn case you missed our first panel event here is a recording! We are joined by an amazing panellist including Nathalyn (the 1st Product Designer at Facebook Nigeria), Chuba (the co-founder and Design partner at the top African VC fund Future Africa and co-founder of Akanka Design Studio), Chine (co-founder of Akanka Design Studio whose clients include Google and Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control) and David (Product Design Manager at Fliqpay and Andela). We chat about: 0:00 - Introduction of Nathalyn, Chuba, Chine & David 2:46 - Advice on getting into Product Design and tips on avoiding common mistakes 12:13 - Common mistakes in FB Product Design interviews (including in SV) 17:33 - Nuances and differences designing products for Nigeria 25:14 - Advice on managing stakeholders 27:37 - How to cultivate design talent 35:07 - Common design mistakes startups make 42:23 - Sources of inspiration for Afrocentric visual style and design 46: 43 - Advice for Senior Product Designers in the African tech ecosystem 52:48 - Thoughts on building global products 01:01:14 - Lessons the panellists have learned as they have grown as designers 1:07:24 - The relationship between Product Managers & Product Designers 01:14:42 - Nigerian startups that are great at Product Design 01:23:58 - Closing thoughts
Transcribe →Building micro-savings and financial products | Odun co-founder of PiggyVest
Apr 5, 202100:33:49Tap to summarizeIn this episode we speak to Odun the co-founder of PiggyVest a micro-savings and micro-investment platform with a focus on building affordable micro-financial products for millennials. When people think of Nigerian FinTech founders Odun is always one person that is mentioned and PiggyVest currently helps its over 2 million customers save well over a billion naira per year. We hear about 0:00 - Introduction of Odun & Odun’s journey & learnings pre PiggyVest; 5:04 - Product development & future product plans - microinsurance, SMEs & more; 12:40 - How to build a product that can adapt to regulatory changes; 16:47 - Growth hacks & how PiggyVest uses social media to grow a strong community; 22:16 - PiggyVest & other markets; 23:48 - Problems with current conceptualisations of financial inclusion; 27:09 - Odun’s hopes for the evolution of the Nigerian fintech scene; 28:32 - Odun’s newest endeavor, FirstCheck - a female-focused angel fund.
Transcribe →A pan-African neobank | Ngozi from Carbon
Mar 18, 202100:47:39Tap to summarizeToday, we talk to Ngozi Dozie the founder of Carbon, a pan-African neobank that has been written about by the likes of Forbes and TechCrunch. We hear how Carbon has grown to processing over $240million in payments, his experience building a neobank in Kenya vs in Nigeria, his thoughts on SMEs and fintech on the continent and much much more! 0:00 - Introduction of Ngozi & Carbon; 3:29 - The SME opportunity & Carbon’s SME products; 9:08 - Building a neobank in Nigeria vs in Kenya; 12:59 - COVID learnings & the impact on loans; 17:42 - COVID & unexpected behaviours with savings; 20:17 - How to approach product development & learnings from product mistakes; 26:41 - Carbon’s ID verification & payment products; 31:50 - Ngozi’s career journey & learnings; 38:14 - The future of African FinTech.
Transcribe →Building an African crypto empowered FinTech | Atsu from Bitsika
Mar 2, 202100:25:47Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we talk to Atsu the founder of Bitsika (a CashApp/ Revolut for Africa), Africa’s first stablecoin & ear1 social (a new social media platform). We get exclusive insight into the expansion plans for Bitsika & Africa’s first stablecoin and hear more about how he managed to grow Bitsika by 4000% to them processing over US$40million worth of transactions in the space of one year! 0:00 - Introduction of Atsu & Bitsika; 2:48 - Bitsika's expansion plans & how they determine what product to build next; 6:55 - Africa’s first stablecoin introduction & expansion plans; 11:28 - Bitsika’s evolution from MVP to its current form & what drove these changes; 14:37 - Bitsika’s growth strategy; 19:29 - ear1 social
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