#50: Wave - From Sendwave remittances to disrupting Francophone Africa with mobile money & financial services
Afrobility: Africa Tech and BusinessMay 06, 2022
50
02:28:20237.67 MB

#50: Wave - From Sendwave remittances to disrupting Francophone Africa with mobile money & financial services

Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Wave, the African consumer payments company. We’ll explore Wave’s story across 5 areas:

  1. We'll start with some context about payments in Africa
  2. Wave's launch & early history
  3. Wave's Product & monetization strategy
  4. Wave's competitive positioning & potential exit options
  5. Overall outlook


This episode was recorded on May 1, 2022


Companies discussed: Wave, Sendwave, Safaricom (M-PESA), bKash, TeamApt, Chipper Cash, Orange (Sonatel), Free (Tigo), Opay, Paga, MTN, Airtel, Zedbank & Kuda Bank


Business concepts discussed: Consumer Fintech (Agency banking & mobile money), International expansion, banking regulation, low cost pricing strategy, customer acquisition strategy, innovator’s dilemma & low end disruption


Conversation highlights:

  • (01:02) - Wave context
  • (09:13) - Financial inclusion context in Africa
  • (30:10) - Founder background and Sendwave origins
  • (36:06) - Wave Launch in Francophone Africa
  • (54:20) - Fundraising strategy & investors
  • (1:12:15) - Product and monetization strategy
  • (1:34:28) - Competition and exit options
  • (1:55:44) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
  • (2:08:57) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
  • (2:27:30) - Recommendations and small wins


Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

  • Recommendation: Brené Brown was on the "We can Do Hard Things" podcast, on an episode called "What to Say to Get What You Need". Spoke about human connection. Truly awesome. I liked it so much I started reading Brene's book "Atlas of the heart". 
  • Recommendation: Samora Kariuku's substack post about Wave
  • Recommendation: Everett Randle’s (from Founders Fund) Substack post about Wave
  • Small win: Got lost on the internet prepping for this episode and ended up watching hours of boxing matches. Don't ask
  • Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com
  • Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com


Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:


Investors, Operators, Entrepreneurs - We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.