Wow…the long overdue podcast is finally out, after three months of “continues” strike…check it out!
EDIT: https://soundcloud.com/crudcast/episode-20
Where’s the link na?
EDIT: Found the link to the podcast guys. Crudcast episode 20
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So @xolubi @akamaozu & @Tolu I have some questions o…
• Are you guys now back from your ‘break’ for real?
• Is the new format of releasing Beyoncé style…unannounced?
In any case, this was a good comeback. Especially found the discussions regarding Flutterwave and Konga interesting.
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Thanks @O_niran and @Chris for sharing it 
@PapaOlabode no be so ooo … I had a really busy day (and night … slept about 3 hours total). Wanted to do it later today but you guys beat me to it.
We’ve been individually busy but the majority of blame falls on me. Long story short, I’m no longer on strike. The show will go on 
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Thanks @PapaOlabode
- Yes, back for real. Maybe not on a strict weekly schedule, but there will be an episode as often as possible.
- Lol. The announcement was coming, but… thanks @O_niran for doing the honours.
I’m glad you found the Konga bit interesting. I started to think I was rambling there…
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No worries, at all! And judging from the questions you were asking the ‘payments illuminati’, you’re back on form.
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Good insights.
One of the best parts was the story of understanding the customers and building a UX that works for them - The point about push notification leveraging text messages.
A great example of that is Vanso. That’s how they stated and they are still throwing off mad cash from that business even though they have competition.
This line of thinking will save a lot of cost as people think about solutions to local problems. You don’t need a gun in a fistfight - just quicker hands.
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I listened to the whole podcast and I’ve got to say, it was gloomier that I expected. My main takeaway is that fintech has got to be the riskiest startup bet in Nigeria right now.
Key data points:
- Making pennies off a dollar in a shrinking economy with rapidly degrading purchasing power
- Runaway inflationary costs.
- New competitors with loads of cash.
- Customers with a default technophobic mindset.
- Key actors in feeder industries (such as e-Commerce) are struggling
plus - No end in sight.
Godspeed Ezra. Your road is full of dragons. May God see you through.
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Good one on this guys.
Shining technology does not equal local adoption. Solve local problems with technology that works then and only then can your solution be widely adopted.
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Its gonna be a long road but those who last and own a significant share will do very well.
Key question:
- Who is building merchant interfaces to ensure everyone can accept mobile and electronic currency?
- Who is the Kopo Kopo or Square of Nigeria? (How is prognostore coming along
)
)I think the road is very long and we all should be aware of it.
Nigeria is going through one of the biggest structural shakeups since the Crash of 86 and perhaps the biggest since its existence. The days of inconspicuous oil driven lawu-lawu spending are over and we will be lucky to sustain a GDP growth rate of 1%.
With $3.5 trillion spent on QE, it took the US at least six years to see signs of recovery fronm the 2008 crash. With no money, credibility, or political will for our own QE, we have to do it the hard way so it may take at 10-15 years before real incomes start to rise. That’s a long time to wait and not expect major industry-wide change or disruption. I’m hoping Paystack et al will lead the disruption and evolve their products for mass appeal rather than wait it out.
Not sure I am so glum about Nigeria as you are. Oil revenue has generally hovered in and around the mid teens as a percentage of GDP. The government has never been a substantial contributor of growth, we can’t even get power right.
I think the new reality that government cannot have us is a critical shift in mindset that I hope will spur us all to make the best of what we have and leverage the resources we have.
Nigeria’s best and brightest have historically sought corporate jobs or positioned ourselves to eat from the crumbs of the government table.
I’m hopeful because I see many young people lending their talents to build new businesses. There is a lot of opportunity to innovate in Nigeria. And it does not have to mean tech.
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You’ve made a solid point about the latent opportunities and the richness of our talent pool, and despite appearances, I share your optimism about the Nigerian entrepreneurship spirit. It’s unrivaled throughout Africa.
Nonetheless, government spending is and has always been the major catalyst for growth in the local economy but with flat oil prices, 50% drop in production capacity and lower market share no thanks to local sabotage and new entrants such as Iran, the little that the government is able to spend is unfortunately unable to defribillate the sick patient.
Refocusing on fintech, I’ll like to see an “okada-first” approach to payment design. One that prioritises the 10 second offline payment as a first class citizen. To borrow a quote from the ever cerebral @asemota - “A product has to be like cash to beat cash”.
@xolubi said payments is a volume game. I agree. He also indicated that perhaps there is only one player - Interswitch - that sees enough transaction flow to make a decent sustainable profit and if I may add, they are well diversified beyond e-commerce driven flows. The question is do you want to compete in their crimson red, over fished red ocean or can you craft a blue ocean of your own and fish your own $1mln per day in transactions. I think the bigger opportunity is out there in the boondocks of Nigeria. Think Ikotun not Ikoyi, Omasi not Onitsha, Kunchi not Kano, and many similar places where untapped micropayments are taking place everyday and e-Commerce won’t be making any inroads anytime soon.
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I mostly agree with you - we are on the same page as I also discussed how technology solutions have to be locally relevant to actually work. What we have done at Paystack is to start with the low hanging fruit, which is giving businesses looking to accept payments online an easy entrance. Now, as we continue building out the rails, we will add various means of enabling businesses accept payments from their customers, including your typical mom and pop shop around the corner.
Starting the way we have, has helped with validation and a proper runway to go wild.
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You got proper runway to go wild but nobody’s seen any Paystack jackets in the streets.
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