PODCAST · business
Building The Future Podcast
by Dotun Olowoporoku
The next African story will be written by Africans, and there are people crafting the narrative now. Join Dotun as he hosts a series of conversation with people whose ideas and work is shaping the African future.
Episodes
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#85: Deepankar Rustagi - On Profitability and Staying Asset Light in B2B Commerce (Part 2)
This special live podcast session was recorded at Ventures Park, Lagos, during Ventures Platform’s in-person mixer for portfolio founders on July 27, 2024 -- My guest today is Deepankar Rustagi, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and one of the sharpest minds in Nigeria’s B2B commerce space. I’ve known...
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#84 - Dare Okoudjou - On Fundraising, Scaling a Pan-African Payment Network and Acquiring Startups
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Dare Okoudjou, Founder & CEO of Onafriq (formerly known as MFS Africa). Dare has built a long-running startup success streak on the continent, having started the business over a decade ago to become a…
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#83: Uka Eje - On ThriveAgric's Turnaround and Making Hard Decisions
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Uka Eje, the co-founder and CEO of ThriveAgric. I've known Uka since 2017, when he and his co-founder, Ayo, received their first institutional investment from Ventures Platform. ThriveAgric empowers nearly one...
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#82: Deepankar Rustagi - On Profitability and Staying Asset Light in B2B Commerce
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Deepankar Rustagi, a seasoned tech entrepreneur in Nigeria. I've known Deepankar for over 7 years, dating back to his days at Vconnect. He was one of the first entrepreneurs featured on this podcast—check out...
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#81: Elo Umeh - On Leadership, Purpose and Building a Scalable Tech Company in Africa
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Elo Umeh, founder and CEO of Terragon Group, a leading data and marketing cloud company in Africa. I've known Elo personally for some time; his leadership at Terragon has been transformative. Founded in 2009,...
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#80 - Daniel Yu - On Vertical Integration in B2B e-commerce and Early Lessons from M&A
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Daniel Yu, founder and CEO of Wasoko, a B2B e-commerce platform serving over 220,000 informal retailers across the continent. The first time I saw Daniel, he was playing the keyboard as part of a live band in...
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#79, Bode Abifarin- On Scaling Flutterwave, Startup Growth, and Expansion
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Bode Abifarin, one of the leading startup operators I know on the continent. I first met Bode in 2017 when she had just joined Flutterwave, where she served as Chief Operating Officer. I've been continually...
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#78, Mark Straub - On Digital Identity as a Fundamental Driver of Economic Growth
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Mark Straub, founder & CEO of Smile ID. Smile ID is building identity verification infrastructure for businesses in Africa. Mark and I were connected by a mutual friend, but I’ve always been fascinated by his...
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#77, Anu Adedoyin-Adasolum - On differentiation in B2B ecommerce and complexities of the offline market
My guest today is Anu Adedoyin-Adasolum, the co-founder and CEO of Sabi. Sabi is a B2B e-commerce startup that provides digital infrastructure to Africa's informal economy. In October 2023, they announced reaching $1B annual GMV. I've always been fascinated by Sabi, especially their ability to...
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#76, Shola Akinlade - Building for the Long-term, Managing Talent and Growing as a Leader
My guest today is Shola Akinlade. I met Shola in 2016, while he and his co-founder, Ezra, were at the YC accelerator program. It was the beginning of their Paystack journey, and even then, I was struck by his clarity of thought and radical focus on product development. Today, Paystack has scaled…
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#75, Tosin Eniolorunda - Scaling Fintech Products to the Mass Market
My guest today is Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO and co-founder of Moniepoint. I met Tosin in Kigali at the Africa Tech Summit in 2020, just before the world went into lockdown. We spent hours discussing the offline distribution of fintech products after our introduction. Since then, I've had the...
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Season 5 Intro
It's been a while. I haven't held the podcast mic for a long time. I must admit, I'm a bit rusty. I’m overwhelmed by the advancements in the podcast space since my sabbatical. The African tech ecosystem has also grown in leaps and bounds, with its fair share of troughs too. And I'm still…
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#74, Sangu Delle - Raising capital and building businesses in Africa
My guest today is Sangu Delle. Sangu is an entrepreneur, an investor, author, and someone who is deeply rooted in Pan-African ideology. His latest book Making the futures: Young entrepreneurs in a dynamic Africa explored similar themes and topics that I've often explore on this podcast. So it's…
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#73, Andrew Alli - On investing, corporate governance and using Twitter
My guest today is Andrew Alli. Andrew is a real-life and virtual mentor to a lot of investment professionals in Africa. He is the Partner and Group CEO at Southbridge a pan-African financial advisory firm. Before then, he was the president and CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation, where he was...
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#72, Eloho Gihan-Mbelu - The challenges of building startups to scaleups in Africa
My guest today is Eloho Gihan-Mbelu; she is the founding Managing Director & CEO of Endeavor Nigeria. Endeavor is a mission-oriented, global organisation that is supporting high-impact entrepreneurship in close to 40 underserved markets across the world. Eloho and I got introduced a few years ago...
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#71, Tokunboh Ishmael - Investing for profit and purpose
My guest today is Tokunbo Ishmael. She's the co-founder and Managing Director of Alitheia Capital, an African focussed PE and VC firm. Alitheia Capital investments include businesses that enable the provision of financial services to the unbanked, and underbanked through traditional and…
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#70, Eric Idiahi - Optimising for exits and high investment multiples
My guest today is Eric Idiahi. Eric is the co-founder and partner at Verod Capital, a private equity firm based out of Lagos Nigeria. Verod is one of the top PE firms in the continent with a significant number of successful exits as well as admirable money multiples record from their previous…
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#69, Nnena Nkongho - Startup valuation, capital allocation and returns expectations in Africa
My guest today is Nnena. Nnena is a Principal at Digame Investment, a growth capital investment firm that back tech-enabled businesses in Africa. Their portfolio companies include GetSmarter an online education company based in Cape Town and London that work some of the top global universities to...
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#68, Yele Bademosi - On people, startups and funding in Africa, pt 2
This is the second part of my conversation with Yele Bademosi, you can listen to the first part of this conversation in the last episode of this podcast series. Apart from being the founding partner at Microtraction, Yele is also the founder and CEO of Bundle a social application for cash and...
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#67, Yele Bademosi - On people, startups and funding in Africa, pt 1
My guest today is Yele Bademosi. Yele is the founder of Microtraction, an angel investment platform that funds Africa’s technology entrepreneurs in their early stage. Microtraction is one of the most active pre-seed investment firms in Nigeria. Yele and I have known each other for some time.…
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Season 4 intro
Venture-backed startups are disrupting existing business models, redefining market potentials and creating new verticals. In Africa, startups are finding innovative models for addressing underserved market segments, repurposing under-utilised resources and facilitating efficiencies and…
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Season 3 finale
We have now come to the end of season 3! It has been such an exciting journey, one I hope you enjoyed as well. Please listen to my review of the season, what you can expect from next season and when we will be returning.
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#66, Doing venture investment in Africa. How to validate your assumptions. Steve Grin, Managing Partner at Lateral Capital
Steve Grin is the Managing Partner at Lateral Capital, a firm that invests in early and growth stage opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa. Their Fund backs technology-enabled businesses that profitably solve significant pain points across critical infrastructure verticals: financial services,...
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#65, Why generating capital is important for African startups. Thesis on exits and how to manage corporate funds. Dustyn Winder, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Akili
Dustyn Winder is the co-founder and managing partner at Akili.Vc Akili is a pre-seed to Series A fund tailored for Africa. Their philosophy is based on the belief that there are very interesting problems that are often difficult for entrepreneurs to execute on, whether because they are hidden...
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#64, On building an online marketplace in Africa: not as easy as it looks. Adam Grunewald, CEO & Co-Founder at Lynk
Adam Grunewald is the co-founder and CEO of Lynk, a platform designed to provide technology-based solutions for the massive informal labour sectors in Kenya. Adam has worked at Google as a project manager on new and emerging projects in the United States and Kenya. Driven by the urge to create a...
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#63, Lesson in humility. Building business in emerging market. Ekechi Nwokah, CEO & Founder at Mines.Io
Ekechi Nwokah is the CEO and founder at mines.io, a startup that provides technology infrastructure which enable local institutions such as banks, mobile phone operators, retailers in emerging market to offer credit to their customers. Mines use a combination of big data, AI and Machine learning...
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#62, Afonja, 18th century Oyo Empire and the dynamics of power with Tunde Leye. Author, Afonja The Rise
Tunde Leye is the author of four novels, including his latest: Afonja, The Rise. He began his writing as a blogger during his mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Tunde ran this blog for three years during which he wrote seven series including wildly popular Finding Hubby. He studied...
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#61, Teaching girls how to code. How to democratise opportunities. Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin, Founder at Pearls Africa Foundation
Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin is the founder of Pearls Africa Foundation. Pearls Africa Foundation is a non-governmental organization that provides young girls living in underserved communities through training in technology, skill acquisitions and mentorship. One of their projects, “GirlsCoding” has...
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#60, How ALAT team built a new bank from the old. Why innovation requires bold leadership. Nnamdi Azodo, Product Owner at ALAT
Nnamdi Azodo is a product owner at ALAT by Wema bank, Africa’s first mobile-only bank. ALAT is a fully digital bank in Nigeria, designed to help customers save more. A savings account can totally be opened in 5 minutes with a debit card delivered. To open an ALAT account, you need your BVN, a…
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#59 Olumide Soyombo
Olumide Soyombo is the Co-Founder of BlueChip Technologies. BlueChip Technologies is a systems integrator specialized in Data Warehousing, Analytics and Business Intelligence Solutions. Olumide is also the co-founder at Leadpath Nigeria, a seed capital fund that specializes in providing short,...
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#58, Investing in the African tech ecosystem. Lexi Novitske, Principal Investment Officer at Singularity Investments
In 2012 Lexi Novitske moved to Nigeria from The United States. Lexi worked for Verod Capital Management, a Nigeria-based private equity firm. Prior to joining Verod, she had spent her career developing an expertise in financial services through her time at New York-based Sandler O’Neill Asset...
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#57, Bootstrapping, testing assumptions and building for growth. Frederik Obasi, Co-Founder at Hypebuzz
Frederik Obasi is the co-founder of Hypebuzz, a platform that connects top-tier influencers with businesses looking to build their brand and expand their reach. Frederik is also the co-founder and MD of Colour Me Digital, an African sports and entertainment marketing agency that has worked with...
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#56, Conversation with Joe Abah: governance, reforms and complexities. Country Director at DAI
Dr Joe Abah trained as a barrister in Nigeria. Afterwards, he gained extensive experience in the governance sector, working on public sector reform programs for the U.K. Prime Minister’s Office. He has spent more than 10 years managing governance programs in Nigeria for the U.K. Department for...
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#55, Government, tech and ecosystems. Akin Oyebode, Executive Secretary at LSETF
Akin Oyebode is the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF). The fund was established to provide financial support to residents of Lagos State, for job, wealth creation and to tackle unemployment. Established in 2016, the fund seeks to invest N25 billion over four years....
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#54, Disrupting property rentals in Lagos. Obinna Okwodu, Founder and CEO at Fibre.ng
Obinna Okwodu is the founder and CEO of Fibre.ng, a real estate company looking to provide middle-income tenants the option to pay monthly for rented properties. Renting real estate in Lagos is a lot of hassle especially for the demand side. Landlords would typically demand 2 years rent upfront....
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#53, Lessons from leading multinational corporations in Africa. Uche Ofodile, CEO at MTN Liberia
Uche Ofodile is the CEO of MTN Liberia. Uche has extensive expertise in building businesses in emerging markets. Before her role in Liberia, she was the CMO of Vodafone Ghana. In this position, she was instrumental in the transformation of Vodafone Ghana from a struggling business, with...
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#52 (Part 2) Building an on-demand platform for African content, Tonje Bakang, Founder and CEO at Afrostream
Tonje Bakang is the Founder and CEO of Afrostream. Afrostream is Afrostream is subscription video on demand (SVOD) which provides millions of fans with unlimited access to Afro-American and African movies and TV series. In 2017, Tonje penned an open letter announcing the closure of the business....
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#51 (Part 1) Building an on-demand platform for African content, Tonje Bakang, Founder and CEO at Afrostream
Tonje Bakang is the Founder and CEO of Afrostream. Afrostream is Afrostream is subscription video on demand (SVOD) which provides millions of fans with unlimited access to Afro-American and African movies and TV series. In 2017, Tonje penned an open letter announcing the closure of the business....
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#50 (Part 2) Building an on-demand platform for African content, Jason Njoku, Co-founder and CEO at IrokoTV
Jason Njoku is the co-founder at IrokoTv, a web platform that provides paid-for Nigerian films on-demand. It is one of Africa’s first mainstream online movie streaming websites, giving instant access to over 5,000 Nollywood film titles. Jason is who you can refer to as a serial entrepreneur. With...
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#49 Building an on-demand platform for African content, Jason Njoku, Co-founder and CEO at IrokoTV
Jason Njoku is the co-founder at IrokoTv, a web platform that provides paid-for Nigerian films on-demand. It is one of Africa’s first mainstream online movie streaming websites, giving instant access to over 5,000 Nollywood film titles. Jason is who you can refer to as a serial entrepreneur. With...
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#48. Building an on-demand platform for African content, Bastian Gotter, Co-founder at Iroko TV
Bastian Gotter is the co-founder of Iroko TV, one of the earliest, most successful and largest video on demand platform for Nigerian movies. Bastian founded the business alongside with his university flat-mate, Jason Njoku, who is the CEO of the company, and a later guest in this show. This is…
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#47. Building an on-demand platform for African content, Bastian Gotter, Co-founder at Iroko TV
Bastian Gotter is the co-founder of Iroko TV, one of the earliest, most successful and largest video on demand platform for Nigerian movies. Bastian founded the business alongside with his university flat-mate, Jason Njoku, who is the CEO of the company, and a later guest in this show. This is…
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Building the Future Season 3 Intro
Telling the African story is not new. For a very long time, Africans have expressed the narrative of their culture, beliefs, fears and exploits using stories passed from one generation to the next. Through oral traditions and accounts of eyewitnesses, we know about the riches of Mansa Musa, the...
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Building the Future Podcast : Season Two Finale
Its been a great pleasure to do this. To have conversations with interesting, smart and awesome people who are shaping the future of Africa. This show has been one of the most exciting things I’ve done as an entrepreneur. It’s fun and I get to learn from a lot of people. We’ve now come to the end...
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Episode 46, How to launch a startup in two African countries. Prince Kwame Agbata, co-founder at Coliba
Prince Kwame Agbata is the co-founder of Coliba, It is an early stage waste management platform that leverages on SMS to help users separate their waste, schedule and request a pickup and get waste picked at the comfort of users home. Coliba pays the user for the waste generated. Prince is a…
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Episode 45, Transforming African businesses through data. Timothy Kotin, co-founder at SuperFluid
Timothy Kotin is the co-founder of SuperFluid, a data solution platform helping businesses to harness untapped potential through predictive data analytics, business intelligence and dynamic customer insights leveraging both traditional and alternative data sources. Timothy grew up in Tamale…
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Episode 44, Using tech to hold government accountable. Seun Onigbinde, co-founder at BudgIT
Seun Onigbinde is the co-founder of BudgIT, a non-governmental organization that helps citizens access and understand public budgets. BudgIT breaks down the national budget in simplistic charts, and track contracts and projects the government are working on. This is a classic case of doing good...
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Episode 43, How to attract investors without trying. Opeyemi Awoyemi, Co-founder at Jobberman
Opeyemi Awoyemi is a tech entrepreneur with 10 years experience in internet startup business development. He has founded and managed three technology startups including WhoGoHost, a web solutions company. He is also the co-founder of Jobberman. Jobberman is Nigeria’s largest job search portal…
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Episode 42, Connecting 25000 small farmers to a wider market. Nasir Yammama, Founder at Verdant
This was a live podcast with an audience Nasir Yammama is the founder of Verdant, an agritech platform that aims at providing agricultural data science, market information, managerial support, and access to financial services to rural farmers for improved food production using mobile phones....
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Episode 41. Art, tech and polygamy. Lola Shoneyin, Director at Book Buzz Foundation
This was a live podcast with an audience Lola Shoneyin is a Nigerian poet and author who launched her debut novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives, in the UK in May 2010 She is currently the director of Book Buzz Foundation, Nigeria- a non-governmental organisation whose main aims are...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The next African story will be written by Africans, and there are people crafting the narrative now. Join Dotun as he hosts a series of conversation with people whose ideas and work is shaping the African future.
HOSTED BY
Dotun Olowoporoku
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Building The Future Podcast have?
Building The Future Podcast currently has 92 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Building The Future Podcast about?
The next African story will be written by Africans, and there are people crafting the narrative now. Join Dotun as he hosts a series of conversation with people whose ideas and work is shaping the African future.
How often does Building The Future Podcast release new episodes?
Building The Future Podcast has 92 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Building The Future Podcast?
You can listen to Building The Future Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Building The Future Podcast?
Building The Future Podcast is created and hosted by Dotun Olowoporoku.
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