Category Archives: Business

Visa buying Interswitch would upturn Mastercard’s game

In December 2010, Helios Investment Partners led an acquisition of a majority interest in what is now Africa’s first fintech unicorn – Interswitch. A decade later, Visa’s $200M funding confirms the hope of every investor in the first 10-12 years of their investment, an exit – Initial Price Offering (IPO) in this instance. What is […]

10 predictions for digital payments in 2019

2018 was an exciting year for payments in Nigeria. Tons of cash came in as international investments; interbank transfer crossed 700 million transactions, even mCash had a little showing. Of course, the bitcoin bubble made a loud burst with many licking their wounds. As usual, the following are my 10 predictions for 2019. They are […]

I didn't do too bad predicting digital payments for 2018

Last year, I wrote about 10 predictions for digital payments in 2018 (better to read this first). Looking back, I can assure you, my career as a seer hasn’t been as illustrious as I planned it to be. So how bad am I? Let’s take a look at how I scored myself. Alat gets a (bigger) […]

Finding data in Africa shouldn't be a problem. Let's solve it

Data is the fuel of decision making, anywhere and everywhere; and Africa is not excluded. Regrettably, getting simple information to make intelligent decisions in Africa is so hard you are better off just reading the stars. No wonder most African businesses are based on “divine inspirations.” The African economy is vast with different sectoral opportunities. […]

Mobile Money in Nigeria: Operators, Opportunities and Trends

Recently I started seeing a spike in the number of inquiries made by friends, fintechs, and random other people about Mobile Money in Nigeria. And it’s not because they are suddenly having altruistic ideas for financial inclusion. Something must be cooking! Let’s get the basics rightMobile money is a form of banking where your account […]