The Flip – Details, episodes & analysis

Farming is the number one source of employment in Africa, yet its agricultural productivity is the lowest of any region in the world. 

The opportunity is immense—60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land is on the continent—but rural communities are suffering from a lack of economic opportunity.

So young Africans are building innovative solutions to tackle the problems that are impacting their families and communities.

Wissal Ben Moussa is the Co-founder & R&D Officer of Sand To Green, a Moroccan startup pairing regenerative agroforestry techniques with data and technology to turn the desert green. 

Samuel Rigu is the Co-founder & CEO of Safi Organics, a Kenyan company employing a decentralized process to locally manufacture organic fertilizers. 

Francis Nderitu is the Founder of Keep IT Cool, a recent Earthshot Prize winner, building cold chain storage to reduce post-harvest losses in Kenya. 

00:00 - Africa has the lowest farming productivity in the world
01:08 - Sand to Green is reversing desertification in Morocco
04:30 - Safi Organics is manufacturing organic fertilizers in Kenya
07:23 - Keep IT Cool is reducing post-harvest loss in Kenya
10:15 - Solving problems for their local communities

Check out more episodes of The Greenprint here.

This episode was produced as part of our series on climate action in Africa, The Greenprint, in partnership with Catalyst Fund, Delta40, Africa Climate Ventures, and AgBase - an initiative powered by Briter and Mercy Corps AgriFin.

AgBase is a business intelligence platform offering real-time data, market insights, and a centralised hub for information on agtech and foodtech across emerging markets. This initiative, backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and hosted by Briter Bridges in partnership with MercyCorps AgriFin, is dedicated to bolstering the knowledge framework essential for catalysing investments in digital and technology-driven solutions, with an underlying mission is to transform the lives of smallholder farmers and boost socio-economic growth.

Delta40 is a venture studio and venture capital fund supporting diverse founders leading ventures in energy, agriculture, and fintech, with a special focus on supporting African and female entrepreneurs. Beyond capital, they provide hands-on support from experienced operators & investors to drive growth from idea to pan-African scale. 

Africa Climate Ventures is a pioneering venture builder working to build a portfolio of climate businesses on the continent. ACV invests to bring proven global climate technology to Africa, accelerate and de-risk the continental expansion of technologies and business models that have gained traction in one or a few African market(s), and add carbon revenue streams to existing African businesses with the potential to scale climate-positive solutions.

‍Catalyst Fund is a venture capital fund and venture builder, investing for a climate resilient future in Africa. They combine capital and a hands-on venture-building approach at the pre-seed stage, to partner with visionary founders who are developing climate adaptation solutions that enhance the resilience of communities and the planet.

This episode is made possible through a partnership with Prosper Africa’s Catalytic Investment Facility. Aimed at boosting investment and innovative climate adaptation and resilience ventures across Africa, The Catalyst Fund is one of the grantees under Prosper Africa's Catalytic Investment Facility. Prosper Africa is a Presidential-level national security initiative aimed at strengthening the strategic and economic partnership between the U.S. and Africa by catalyzing transformative two-way trade and investment flows.

Our Links -
🎥 YouTube - https://youtube.com/@TheFlipAfrica
💻 Website - https://theflip.africa
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
👥 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica/
📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica

Reports suggest that climate change is set to cost the global economy $38 billion per year by 2049. Emerging markets need close to $2.4 trillion per year by 2030 to meet the climate goals. That's 4 times what is currently invested. 

But high capital costs are stalling clean energy investment across Africa. If you want to build a renewable energy project in Sub-Saharan Africa, the weighted average cost of capital would be up to 4x as much as the same project in Western Europe or the US, due to the real and perceived risks of investing on the continent.

If the world invests in renewables and green technology in Africa at Africa's cost of capital, it will underinvest in green energy assets. 

00:00 - The climate funding gap
01:01 - It's 4x more expensive to build an energy project in Africa
02:10 - The cheapest energy is where there is high energy density
03:26 - Startup financing needs
06:23 - Addressing funding challenges at the multinational level

Check out more episodes of The Greenprint here.

This episode of The Greenprint was produced in partnership with Catalyst Fund, Delta40, and Africa Climate Ventures.

Delta40 is a venture studio and venture capital fund supporting diverse founders leading ventures in energy, agriculture, and fintech, with a special focus on supporting African and female entrepreneurs. Beyond capital, they provide hands-on support from experienced operators & investors to drive growth from idea to pan-African scale. 

Africa Climate Ventures is a pioneering venture builder working to build a portfolio of climate businesses on the continent. ACV invests to bring proven global climate technology to Africa, accelerate and de-risk the continental expansion of technologies and business models that have gained traction in one or a few African market(s), and add carbon revenue streams to existing African businesses with the potential to scale climate-positive solutions.

‍Catalyst Fund is a venture capital fund and venture builder, investing for a climate resilient future in Africa. They combine capital and a hands-on venture-building approach at the pre-seed stage, to partner with visionary founders who are developing climate adaptation solutions that enhance the resilience of communities and the planet.

This episode is made possible through a partnership with Prosper Africa’s Catalytic Investment Facility. Aimed at boosting investment and innovative climate adaptation and resilience ventures across Africa, The Catalyst Fund is one of the grantees under Prosper Africa's Catalytic Investment Facility. Prosper Africa is a Presidential-level national security initiative aimed at strengthening the strategic and economic partnership between the U.S. and Africa by catalyzing transformative two-way trade and investment flows.

Our Links -
🎥 YouTube - https://youtube.com/@TheFlipAfrica
💻 Website - https://theflip.africa
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
👥 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica/
📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica

Benjamin Fernandes, the Founder and CEO of the remittance platform NALA, likes to say that payments are just 1% built in Africa. 

Why are cross-border payments so hard? 

In this episode, we're joined in conversation with Benjamin Fernandes and Dan Kleinbaum, a co-founder of Beyonic, which sold to Onafriq, and now the Founder of the FX platform GTXN. 

This episode was recorded live from the FT Partners Fintech in Africa Summit in New York City. Download their FinTech in Africa research report, published in March 2024.

00:00 - Intro
01:29 - Payments are 1% built in Africa
06:32 - How to solve problems in Cross-Border payments
08:28 - Do we need more payment apps?
15:51 - Navigating regulatory challenges
17:03 - Why are Benji & Dan solving these problems?
20:30 - What's the cross-border payments pitch to investors?
25:39 - Benji & Dan turn the tables on Justin

This episode was the second in our series of interviews recorded live from the Fintech in Africa Summit. Our first episode was with the Nigerian Neobanks: https://theflip.africa/podcast/nigerian-neobank-roundtable-moniepoint-kuda-fairmoney

Episode Links:
Follow Benji on Twitter
Follow Dan on Twitter
Read Benji's Medium post: Are African Remittances Finished?

Our Links -
🎥 YouTube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
💻 Website - https://theflip.africa
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
👥 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica/
📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica

In this episode, we're joined in a panel conversation with the CEOs of three of Nigeria's biggest digital banks: Moniepoint's Tosin Eniolorunda, Kuda's Babs Ogundeyi, and FairMoney's Laurin Hainy.

This episode was recorded live from the FT Partners Fintech in Africa Summit in New York City. Download their FinTech in Africa research report, published in March 2024.

00:00 - Intro
01:18 - Moniepoint's distribution-first strategy
02:45 - FairMoney's credit-led approach
04:46 - Kuda's neobank strategy
06:48 - Banks, product, competition, expansion
25:45 - Growth, VC returns
33:56 - What does success look like?

Our Links -
🎥 YouTube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
💻 Website - https://theflip.africa
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
👥 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica/
📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica

In our first episode of this series on jobtech platforms and the future of work, we argued that the future of work is a tech-enabled portfolio of work. 

But what does a portfolio of work really look like? And what happens next? 

We know we need to create more formal jobs in Africa, and we need to boost the productivity of the informal sector. But how do we get there? 

Considering the context of the markets in question, the future of work isn’t going to be designed or endowed; it’s going to be bootstrapped. 

00:00 - Intro
01:17 - Bootstrapping Development
01:53 - Bootstrapping a portfolio of work
05:48 - Pathways for jobtech users
06:45 - This is how development happens

Watch the first episode of this series on jobtech platforms: https://theflip.africa/podcast/what-we-get-wrong-about-jobs-in-africa

To learn more about the Jobtech Alliance, visit https://jobtechalliance.com

Check out last year's podcast series on the future of work: https://go.theflip.africa/future-of-work

Our Links -
🔔 Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
💻 Website - https://theflip.africa
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
👥 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica/
📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica

In January 2024, we hosted a live show in Lagos with The Subtext's Osarumen Osamuyi on the relationship between the tech ecosystem and the media. 

It was a follow-up to a 2020 episode we published entitled Much Ado About the Media.

A lot of founders still feel the media is acting in bad faith amidst more accountable media coverage. In this episode, we explore this tension and have an important discussion with the ecosystem players themselves.

00:00 - Intro
01:22 - Reflecting on 2020's episode
08:20 - Paga's Tayo Oviosu's founder perspective
12:20 - TechCabal's Tomiwa Aladekomo's media perspective
19:04 - What about business models?
22:20 - Stears Nchedolisa Akuma on subscriptions
24:58 - Moniepoint's Didi Uwemakpan's marketing perspective
28:14 - The global perspective from TechCrunch's Tage Kene-Okafor
30:49 - FT's Aanu Adeoye
36:20 - How to give local context to a global audience
42:02 - Local vs. global media
45:43 - Who keeps the media in check?
46:36 - Editorial perspectives from TechCabal's Olumuyiwa Olowogboyega
50:03 - Negative stories about advertising partners
53:03 - Osarumen & Justin's retrospective

Much Ado About the Media, part one: https://theflip.africa/podcast/s2e9

Our Links - 
🎥 YouTube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica  
💻 Website - https://theflip.africa
🐦 Twitter -  https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
👥 LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica/
📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica

Live from the BIG Summit, a platform hosted by investor and 2x NBA All-Star Baron Davis, at the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, a conversation with three operators connecting Africa to the world through culture and commerce. 

In this conversation, we're joined by Clare Akamanzi, the CEO of NBA Africa, Abdul Karim Abdullah, the Founder and CEO of AfroFuture music festival, and entrepreneur and private equity investor Tuyee Yeboah. 

00:00 - Intro
02:38 - NBA Africa
05:32 - AfroFuture
08:34 - Investing across Africa and the US
10:55 - Basketball's role in Africa's development
12:20 - Changing perceptions about the continent
17:35 - How do we get more investors involved?
21:20 - African talent

Episode Links - 
AfroFuture - https://www.afrofuture.com/
BAL - https://bal.nba.com/
BIG Summit - https://www.teambig.io/

Our Links - 
🎥 YouTube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica  
💻 Website - https://theflip.africa
🐦 Twitter -  https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
👥 LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica/
📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica

The African continent has the highest levels of poverty, the lowest levels of formal employment, and its population is going to double in the next 30 years. 

African countries need to create more jobs. But what kinds of jobs? And how? 

What if I told you that the way governments and development organizations are trying to create jobs in Africa is all wrong? 

 To make a dent in this problem requires an understanding of the realities on the ground and how that has impacted the preferences of the labor markets in question. 

The future of work, for Africans in particular, is not a formal job but a technology-enabled portfolio of work. 

00:00 - Intro
01:36 - Informal is normal
03:14 - A portfolio of work
05:24 - Using jobtech platforms like Tendo for supplemental income
08:33 - To what degree can jobtech platforms address the underemployment issues across the continent?

To learn more about the Jobtech Alliance, visit https://jobtechalliance.com

Check out last year's podcast series on the future of work: https://go.theflip.africa/future-of-work

Our Links -

🔔 Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica  

💻 Website - https://theflip.africa

🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica

👥 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica/

📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica

Despite research showing that female founders outperform their male peers, startups with a solo female founder or an all-female founding team raised a mere 2% of all the funding in Africa last year. There is a huge gender funding gap. How do we close it?

This episode is the last episode of a five-episode series on gender lens investing, co-hosted by Eloho Omame, Founding Partner of First Check Africa, an early-stage fund backing female-led startups. Each episode of this series will explore a different level of the fundraising value chain. 

In this episode, we're exploring ecosystem and capacity building with Jessica Espinoza, the CEO of 2X Global, an organization aimed at unlocking gender smart capital at scale. Jessica chairs the 2X Challenge which has raised more than $27 billion of gender lens investments since its launch at the G7 Summit in 2018.

00:00 - Intro
02:10 - Unlocking gender-smart capital at scale
03:43 - What is gender-smart capital?
06:46 - Applying the 2X framework to investing
10:25 - Building the gender-smart investing ecosystem
19:52 - The primary issue is bias
22:54 - Mainstreaming gender-smart capital
25:55 - What is success for 2X Global?
33:29 - A retrospective conversation with Eloho & Justin

In Episode 1 of this series, we spoke to the founders: Bamboo's Yanmo Omorogbe & Uncover's Sneha Mehta: https://theflip.africa/podcast/why-is-only-2-of-funding-going-to-female-founders

In Episode 2 of this series, we spoke to angel investor Yemi Keri, Co-founder of Rising Tide Africa: https://theflip.africa/podcast/this-angel-investor-is-closing-the-gender-funding-gap

In Episode 3 of this series, we were joined by the fund managers: Alitheia Capital's Tokunboh Ishmael & TLcom Capital's Andreata Muforo: https://theflip.africa/podcast/investing-in-women-is-an-economic-imperative

In Episode 4 of this series, we spoke to an LP investing in the fund managers: Sam Akyianu, Managing Director of the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund: https://theflip.africa/podcast/mastercard-foundation-is-investing-150-million-into-20-gender-lens-funds

This series is created under the ScaleX project: Co-designing Solutions to close the early stage gender-financing gap in Africa, an initiative of Make-IT in Africa.

Make-IT in Africa promotes entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems across Africa for green and inclusive development. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implements this project on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). 

Our Links -

🔔 Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica  

💻 Website - https://theflip.africa

🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica

👥 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica

📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica

Despite research showing that female founders outperform their male peers, startups with a solo female founder or an all-female founding team raised a mere 2% of all the funding in Africa last year. There is a huge gender funding gap. How do we close it?

This episode is the fourth of a five-episode series on gender lens investing, co-hosted by Eloho Omame, Founding Partner of First Check Africa, an early-stage fund backing female-led startups. Each episode of this series will explore a different level of the fundraising value chain. 

The Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund is a $150 million fund-of-funds initiative investing in twenty gender lens funds, with a particular focus on closing the financing and support gap for females. 

And in this episode, we're joined by Sam Akyianu, Managing Director of the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund.

00:00 - Intro
01:54 - Investing $150m in 20 vehicles
08:06 - Fund evaluation & investment decisions
23:09 - Measuring success
31:25 - Overmentored and underfunded?
35:04 - Getting other LPs onboard
36:43 - A retrospective conversation with Eloho & Justin

In Episode 1 of this series, we spoke to the founders: Bamboo's Yanmo Omorogbe & Uncover's Sneha Mehta: https://theflip.africa/podcast/why-is-only-2-of-funding-going-to-female-founders

In Episode 2 of this series, we spoke to angel investor Yemi Keri, Co-founder of Rising Tide Africa: https://theflip.africa/podcast/this-angel-investor-is-closing-the-gender-funding-gap

In Episode 3 of this series, we were joined by the fund managers: Alitheia Capital's Tokunboh Ishmael & TLcom Capital's Andreata Muforo: https://theflip.africa/podcast/investing-in-women-is-an-economic-imperative

This series is created under the ScaleX project: Co-designing Solutions to close the early stage gender-financing gap in Africa, an initiative of Make-IT in Africa.

Make-IT in Africa promotes entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems across Africa for green and inclusive development. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implements this project on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). 

Our Links -

🔔 Youtube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica  

💻 Website - https://theflip.africa

🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica

👥 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica

📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica