The Open Africa Podcast

Hosted by Open Africa Podcast

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Oct 2026

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About the show

On this podcast 'Laolu, Furo, and Nosa talk about technology, startups, and issues across the African banking and technology ecosystems. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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60 recent

October 31, 20261 hr 7 min

The Redacted Episode 2

On this episode, Laolu, Furo, and Nosa discuss Moove’s exit from the Nigerian market weeks after Uber’s departure, OPay’s US IPO and proposed Nigerian listing, the viral game Lagos Life raising $500k in pre-seed funding, and why more banks are offering Verve cards. __ This episode is sponsored by Busha — Nigeria’s licensed digital assets exchange for businesses looking to move money across borders. If you are running a business exploring fast cross-border payments, stablecoin and FX liquidity, and easy treasury management, get started at busha.io/business, and for individuals? You can buy, sell, and send digital assets anywhere in the world, and also save in naira or dollars, with up to 20% annual interest. Download the Busha App and use code OPENAFRICA or visit https://surl.li/jvbwvt to get started. _ We love hearing your thoughts! Find us on X (@TheOAPod) and Instagram (@openafricapod) and tag us in your conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

October 1, 20261 hr 17 min

TechCabal is hosting Moonshot

On this episode, Laolu, Furo, and Nosa have a guest! They are joined by Tomiwa Aladekomo, CEO of Big Cabal Media. They talk about Dangote’s IPO, Flutterwave appointing Morounke Olufemi as global CFO, and Paystack launching Paystack Index. Tomiwa shares some insights about Moonshot, an annual tech event hosted by TechCabal. He also talks about what to expect from this year’s event and why it matters to the African tech ecosystem. __ This episode is sponsored by Busha — Nigeria’s licensed digital assets exchange for businesses looking to move money across borders. If you are running a business exploring fast cross-border payments, stablecoin and FX liquidity, and easy treasury management, get started at busha.io/business, and for individuals? You can buy, sell, and send digital assets anywhere in the world, and also save in naira or dollars, with up to 20% annual interest. Download the Busha App and use code OPENAFRICA or visit https://surl.li/jvbwvt to get started. _ We love hearing your thoughts! Find us on X (@TheOAPod) and Instagram (@openafricapod) and tag us in your conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

September 19, 20261 hr 40 min

Uber leaves Nigeria

On this episode, Laolu, Furo, and Nosa have a guest! They are joined by Guy Futi, Co-founder of Orda. They talk about Uber leaving Nigeria and the implications for December in Lagos, Nomba’s recent debt raise, and Opay’s recent legal dispute with an influencer. __ This episode is sponsored by Busha — Nigeria’s licensed digital assets exchange for businesses looking to move money across borders. If you are running a business exploring fast cross-border payments, stablecoin and FX liquidity, and easy treasury management, get started at busha.io/business, and for individuals? You can buy, sell, and send digital assets anywhere in the world, and also save in naira or dollars, with up to 20% annual interest. Download the Busha App and use code OPENAFRICA or visit https://surl.li/jvbwvt to get started. _ We love hearing your thoughts! Find us on X (@TheOAPod) and Instagram (@openafricapod) and tag us in your conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

September 7, 202652 min

Paystack acquires Allawee

On this episode, Laolu, Furo, and Nosa talk about Moniepoint pulling back from its UK remittance play and shutting MonieWorld down, Paystack’s quiet acquisition of Allawee, and the Borderless Experience by Condia. We also discuss Chowdeck becoming headline sponsor for Shooting Stars (3SC), and Terra Industries’ raising additional $18M and closing at $52 million seed round. __ This episode is sponsored by Busha — Nigeria’s licensed digital assets exchange for businesses looking to move money across borders. If you are running a business exploring fast cross-border payments, stablecoin and FX liquidity, and easy treasury management, get started at busha.io/business, and for individuals? You can buy, sell, and send digital assets anywhere in the world, and also save in naira or dollars, with up to 20% annual interest. Download the Busha App and use code OPENAFRICA or visit https://surl.li/jvbwvt to get started. _ We love hearing your thoughts! Find us on X (@TheOAPod) and Instagram (@openafricapod) and tag us in your conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

July 30, 20261 hr 37 min

Zap is now selling Airtime

On this episode, Laolu, Furo, and Nosa are joined by Nnanna from Fintech is Easy to unpack Zap's expansion into airtime and data, Moniepoint's Kenya play, and what the recent fundings and acquisitions mean for the ecosystem. They also discuss Zpay's licence revocation in Ghana, the CBN's latest regulatory changes, Lemfi's evolving strategy, and other industry bits. _ This episode is sponsored by Busha — Nigeria’s licensed digital assets exchange for businesses looking to move money across borders. If you are running a business exploring fast cross-border payments, stablecoin and FX liquidity, and easy treasury management, get started at busha.io/business, and for individuals? You can buy, sell, and send digital assets anywhere in the world, and also save in naira or dollars, with up to 20% annual interest. Download the Busha App and use code OPENAFRICA or visit https://surl.li/jvbwvt to get started. _ We love hearing your thoughts! Find us on X (@TheOAPod) and Instagram (@openafricapod) and tag us in your conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

July 20, 20261 hr 9 min

How Polytope is rethinking payments with HyperFX

On this episode, Laolu, Furo, and Nosa discuss the recent revocation of microfinance bank licences by the CBN. Joined by Seun Lanlege, co-founder of Polytope Labs, they explore how Polytope is rethinking payments with its recently launched product – HyperFX, and the cost of building blockchain infrastructure in Africa. This episode is sponsored by Busha — Nigeria’s licensed digital assets exchange for businesses looking to move money across borders. If you are running a business exploring fast cross-border payments, stablecoin and FX liquidity, and easy treasury management, get started at busha.io/business, and for individuals? You can buy, sell, and send digital assets anywhere in the world, and also save in naira or dollars, with up to 20% annual interest. Download the Busha App and use code OPENAFRICA or visit https://surl.li/jvbwvt to get started. _ We love hearing your thoughts! Find us on X (@TheOAPod) and Instagram (@openafricapod) and tag us in your conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June 15, 20261 hr 10 min

Raises, Industry Trends and Chowdeck, again

On this episode, Laolu, Furo, and Nosa discuss some recent fundraises in the ecosystem — Spiro’s $215M raise backed by Impact Fund Denmark and Equitane, Nala’s $50M credit facility, LemFi’s $34.8M extension, BFREE’s growth round led by AfricInvest, and Shiprazor’s $2.65M seed funding. They also unpack Chowdeck’s vendor trust issues and explore broader financial trends and news. This episode is sponsored by Busha — Nigeria’s licensed digital assets exchange for businesses looking to move money across borders. If you are running a business exploring fast cross-border payments, stablecoin and FX liquidity, and easy treasury management, get started at busha.io/business, and for individuals? You can buy, sell, and send digital assets anywhere in the world, and also save in naira or dollars, with up to 20% annual interest. Download the Busha App and use code OPENAFRICA or visit https://surl.li/jvbwvt to get started. _ We love hearing your thoughts! Find us on X (@TheOAPod) and Instagram (@openafricapod) and tag us in your conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 18, 20261 hr 12 min

Chowdeck and the cost of a Super App

On this episode, Laolu, Furo, and Nosa talk about Chowdeck using its $9 million Series A to chase a superapp strategy and whether that ambition risks diluting the operational focus that made it Nigeria's best food delivery app, ARCON arresting small business owners for running Instagram ads without prior approval under the 2022 ARCON Act, the CBN's 2026 Guide to Charges, Airtel Money’s IPO, and other news in Nigeria’s Fintech ecosystem. This episode is sponsored by Busha — Nigeria’s licensed digital assets exchange for businesses looking to move money across borders. If you are running a business exploring fast cross-border payments, stablecoin and FX liquidity, and easy treasury management, get started at busha.io/business, and for individuals? You can buy, sell, and send digital assets anywhere in the world, and also save in naira or dollars, with up to 20% annual interest. Download the Busha App and use code OPENAFRICA or visit https://surl.li/jvbwvt to get started. _ We love hearing your thoughts! Find us on X (@TheOAPod) and Instagram (@openafricapod) and tag us in your conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 11, 20261 hr 22 min

Moniepoint acquires Orda

On this episode, Laolu, Furo, and Nosa talk about Flutterwave's acquisition of Mono to gain a National Microfinance Bank licence, the CBN's AML/CFT supervision pilot for six crypto and fintech firms including KuCoin and Paystack, Moniepoint's acquisition of restaurant management platform Orda Africa as a credit underwriting play, and OPay turning the CBN's new One Principal Rule for POS agents into an aggressive marketing campaign while opening physical branches across Nigeria. This episode is sponsored by Busha — Nigeria’s licensed digital assets exchange for businesses looking to move money across borders. If you are running a business exploring fast cross-border payments, stablecoin and FX liquidity, and easy treasury management, get started at busha.io/business, and for individuals? You can buy, sell, and send digital assets anywhere in the world, and also save in naira or dollars, with up to 20% annual interest. Download the Busha App and use code OPENAFRICA or visit https://surl.li/jvbwvt to get started. _ We love hearing your thoughts! Find us on X (@TheOAPod) and Instagram (@openafricapod) and tag us in your conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

March 9, 20261 hr 11 min

Moniepoint takes Alerzo to Court

On this episode, Laolu, Furo, and Nosa talk about Moniepoint taking Alerzo to court over ₦5 billion unpaid loan, NIN for sale and data compromise, Terra Industries’ partnership with DICON to boost sovereign defence production and give some context to Nigeria’s GSI framework for loan recovery alongside other industry news. This episode is sponsored by Busha — Nigeria’s licensed digital assets exchange for businesses looking to move money across borders. If you are running a business exploring fast cross-border payments, stablecoin and FX liquidity, and easy treasury management, get started at busha.io/business, and for individuals? You can buy, sell, and send digital assets anywhere in the world, and also save in naira or dollars, with up to 20% annual interest. Download the Busha App and use code OPENAFRICA or visit https://surl.li/jvbwvt to get started. _ We love hearing your thoughts! Find us on X (@TheOAPod) and Instagram (@openafricapod) and tag us in your conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.