#61: MFS Africa (Onafriq) - How the payments network hub is connecting telcos & financial institutions to increase interoperability across Africa and beyond
Afrobility: Africa Tech and BusinessFebruary 03, 202301:52:56180.95 MB

#61: MFS Africa (Onafriq) - How the payments network hub is connecting telcos & financial institutions to increase interoperability across Africa and beyond

Overview:  Today, we’re going to talk about MFS Africa. We’ll explore the MFS Africa story across the following 5 areas:

  1. African payments context
  2. MFS Africa’s early history
  3. Product & monetization strategy
  4. Competitive positioning & potential exit options
  5. Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Jan 29, 2023


Companies discussed: Onafriq (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 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
  • 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:


Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com

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