Sporting Lagos and Klasha break records
Top of Mind: Happy Sunday! It’s winter 2022. Shola Akinlade, CEO/Co-founder of Paystack, broke the internet when he announced he’d launched a football club to spend the next 40 years building football talent in Nigeria – two years after Stripe acquired his startup in a whopping $200 million deal. On the back of that announcement was an exciting partnership with […]
How OPay became an icon in fintech
Top of mind: Happy Sunday! Nigerians have more phone numbers than smartphones. And with mobile penetration on the rise and fintech startups competing to capture market share, OPay had its moment in the sun when Nigeria’s Central Bank introduced a new currency design, leaving Nigerians cash-strapped. It’s a classic case of preparation meeting opportunity. One big thing:– […]
The COO connecting Africans to the global economy
Top of mind: Happy Sunday! We’ve been at war with Mailchimp these last two weeks, but it’s great to be back in your inbox! Let’s get to it.—Once upon a time in Africa, buying and selling US stocks was as difficult as winning a presidential election as a female candidate in America. But, a random […]
Africa’s AI revolution takes centre stage
Top of mind: Happy Monday! In the famous, paraphrased words of philosopher Shawn Corey Carter, professionally known as Jay Z – “If you’re having web problems, I feel bad for you, son. I got 99 problems, but AI ain’t one.” Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the latest technology to rake in billion-dollar investments from big tech companies. And […]
“Step Aside Eke”: Inside the Panel Report of Rise CEO
Top of mind: Happy Sunday! Following a six-week investigation into allegations of sexual assault and sexual impropriety against Rise CEO Eke Urum, the panel released their findings exonerating the CEO of assault charges, which was at the heart of the investigation but revealed a toxic work culture. I got an exclusive look at the panel […]
How Wasoko built a $625 million company
Top of mind: Happy Sunday! Silicon Valley VCs are notorious for one thing, throwing millions of dollars in funding at fintech companies. It’s rare for a non-fintech company in Africa to raise funding north of $100 million. Still, Wasoko, formerly known as Sokowatch, broke the record with $125 million in their recent Series B round. […]
How Flutterwave built a Unicorn
Top of mind: Happy Sunday from Accra! I’m serving a twist on today’s edition of the newsletter for a deep dive into the journey of Africa’s most valuable startup, Flutterwave. Founded six years ago, the startup quietly attained unicorn status, but most parts of its history, struggles, and milestones remain unknown. I spent time with […]
Meet the Nigerian founders behind the exciting global travel app
Top of Mind. Happy Sunday! I’m a big advocate for building products for the heck of it. Sure, building products to tackle global problems is excellent, but a travel app is just as great. I had a delightful time interviewing tech titans and founders of Backdrop, which was created to help people “find pretty places”. […]
FirstCheck is Africa’s next billion dollar VC fund for female founders
Top of Mind. Happy Sunday! I had the honour of speaking to the brilliant women behind the female-focused angel fund FirstCheck Africa. I hope you enjoy reading Eloho Omame & Odun Eweniyi’s story as much I enjoyed writing it. In today’s edition: 3 big things… Eloho Omame & Odun Eweniyi talk FirstCheck Light bulb moment: […]
TechCabal is Africa’s most important tech media company
Top of Mind. There are days when working in big tech feels special to me – anticipating a product launch, an acquisition or congressional hearings, aka my super bowl. But then, there are days where I have incredible experiences speaking with people making the decisions at companies that shape the ecosystem. This week, I spoke […]
