Show Notes
Hello and welcome to Africa Built A podcast on the stories and history behind some of Africa's most important mature companies. Brought to you by Olumuyiwa Olowogboyega, writer of the Notadeepdive newsletter, and Nnanna Ijezie, writer of the Fintech is Easy newsletter. Why does this exist Most successful companies have a story they tell about themselves: the smooth, flattering version. Over time, that becomes corporate folklore, leaving out the parts that don't fit the narrative.
Africa's tech industry has produced billion-dollar companies, landmark IPOs, and bitter rivalries, but very few extensive, honest accounts of how any of it actually happened are in the public domain. These stories exist, scattered across old interviews, conference panels, news archives, and newsletters, waiting to be pieced together into one place.
Over the years, we've collaborated on multiple media projects and reports in various forms, and in the process identified the need to tell larger, more detailed stories of some of Africa's most successful companies. This is our attempt to finally step into the arena and plug a gap we have identified in African corporate storytelling.
By going deep on the companies that built Africa's tech and business landscape, from founding to IPO and beyond, we're telling a researched story of how these companies actually got built: the strategies, pivots, competition, successes, and failures along the way. Occasionally, we'll have friends, guests, and insiders join us to add more detail to these stories.
African startups of today are standing on the shoulders of giants before them. It's time to tell their story.
We hope you enjoy this.
Cheers, Muyiwa and Nnanna
Africabuilt.xyz
More from Africa Built
In the fourth episode of Africa Built, we conclude our two-part series on Interswitch. Part One ended in December 2010, when Helios bought 66% of the company from the founding banks. This episode picks up the story from there and runs to today. Revenue went from ₦39 billion to ₦137.5 billion in four years, while Verve, once the local alternative, became the card most Nigerian banks issue. Visa's 2019 investment made Interswitch a unicorn. Three years later, a new round valued it at $750 million. We look at how the naira affects that growth, how Verve won even as WebPay lost web payments to Paystack and Flutterwave, why two IPO windows closed before the company could list, and what became of the Pan-African plan in Gambia and Kenya. Then we follow the Interswitch alumni into Moniepoint and PAPSS, and ask what Interswitch has to build if the next ten years are going to look different from the last ten. Main Topics The 2022 round, the $750 million price, and what happened to the unicorn label. Why naira growth and dollar growth tell two different stories. How Verve became the card most Nigerian banks issue, and the pricing fight that followed. The diversification bets: eClat, VANSO, M-Kudi, OkHi, Shuttlers and ACE Logistics. Two IPO windows, a possible sale, and what Visa's 2019 investment changed. Gambia, Kenya, and why Pan-African expansion proved so difficult. WebPay, PayDirect and Quickteller, and how pricing decided who won each market. The ₦30 billion chargeback fraud, and why nobody at the top left. The Interswitch alumni network, and what PAPSS is for. Government collections, and the contest with Remita. The next ten years: contactless payments, QR codes, cross-border, and the case for becoming a bank. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction to Interswitch and episode overview 02:41 - Interswitch valuation and Nigeria's macro backdrop 09:58 - How Verve became Nigeria's dominant card network 14:35 - Expansion, acquisitions, and diversification 17:23 - IPO ambitions, Visa's investment, and who could buy Interswitch 24:55 - Why pan-African expansion proved difficult 27:38 - Verve's market power and regulation 32:10 - The Interswitch alumni network 39:28 - Competing in Nigerian payments 53:04 - The next decade: contactless and cross-border payments 1:05:07 - Interswitch's legacy and final analysis 1:11:02 - Closing reflections and acknowledgements Resources Mentioned: Interswitch's Revenue is Surging; It Lost Its Unicorn Status Anyway - Abubakar Idris, Notadeepdive 100 million cards later, Verve looks towards contactless payment and tokenisation - TechCabal Helios Investment Partners-backed Verve, Nigeria's top debit card, faces a revolt from local market players Note: The analysis here is based on publicly available data, market reports, and expert commentary. This content is for entertainment and educational purposes only and should not be taken as financial or legal advice We'd love to hear from you. Email [email protected] and visit africabuilt.xyz with feedback and commentary. Thank you
In the third episode of Africa Built, we begin a two-part series on Interswitch.
In the second episode of Africa Built, we conclude our two-part series on Jumia.