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

We'll start with some context about payments in Africa
Wave's launch & early history
Wave's Product & monetization strategy
Wave's competitive positioning & potential exit options
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:

Recommendation: Laws of Trading & Only Murders In The Building
Small win: Lots of dinners with friends and travel
Other content: State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money & 406 Na D Code - Tekno and Falz

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.

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