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

Afrobility: Africa Tech and Business

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

1. We'll start with some context about payments in Africa
2. Wave's launch & early history
3. Wave's Product & monetization strategy
4. Wave's competitive positioning & potential exit options
5. 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 [e-mail]
• Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at [e-mail]

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 [e-mail] to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.