Beyond Fintech? On building financial systems in Africa

The Trajectory Africa

On this episode of The Trajectory Africa’s current series, "The Engine of African Venture: A Return to First Principles", we’re laying the foundation for a deeper exploration of fintech by stepping back to understand the system(s) that fintech creates and operates in. For that, we’re chatting with Samora Kariuki, Founder of the Frontier Fintech newsletter and Director at Sote, a company that’s building African supply chain infrastructure, about the goals and characteristics of Africa’s financial system(s).

Tune in to hear about:

[3:03] Why Samora launched Frontier Fintech newsletter and the benefits of “writing out loud”

[7:09] What problems fintech solves

[17:58] Characteristics of a functional financial system and the value it should deliver

[23:25] Why Africa's financial system needs technology and how it works in cash-driven, informal economies

[36:00] How much of Africa’s financial systems remain to be built

[47:05] What infrastructure layer will catalyze the rest of the system

[51:56] Consolidation vs. integration in fintech

[55:53] First principle for understanding what Africa’s digitally enabled financial system will look like

Recommendations:

• Frontier Fintech, Samora’s newsletter

• The anatomy of a fintech stack: enterprise businesses in South Africa, a hypothetical fintech stack for an established enterprise business in South Africa

• Chasing Outliers: Why Context Matters for Early Stage Investing in Africa, a report I co-authored on VC investing in Africa

Connect on social media:

• Samora Kariuki on LinkedIn
• Samora Kariuki on Twitter
• The Trajectory Africa on LinkedIn
• Tayo Akinyemi on LinkedIn
• Tayo Akinyemi on Twitter