10 Fintech Principles - Africa
Quick insights on principles that can guide and strengthen Fintech founders in Africa
Today, I want to share few insights for building fintech in Africa.These straightforward principles will help you stay prepared as you navigate this industry.
1. Fraud is not a question of whether it will happen or not; it is a matter of time before it happens.
2. High scalability does not equate to high compliance; one is always lagging behind. Know how to manage this.
3. Media will always look for bad news (layoffs, failure to close a round, struggling and more). Be prepared on how to respond.
4. African markets are not similar; they are very different, so your expansion strategy should be too.
5. Some partnerships will make you earn, and some will waste your time and money. You will learn from both partnerships but always remember the worst partnerships are those that force you to divert from your major focus.
6. Your investors see the bigger picture; you have to focus on the small details of product differentiation, competition, and more. In Africa, these small details matter because you are dealing with people and businesses with very tight budgets.
7. Approach economics every day as if you are navigating through a funding winter.
8. You are always learning important things and segments that incumbents ignore.
9. The real growth metric is not based on headcount or number of awards and publicity/media attention you are getting.
10. Global networks are valuable, but it is important to have local networks of people who can offer help on things that money can't.
Do you have more similar Fintech principles that you think are worth sharing? You can personally contact me via Twitter or LinkedIn or Email me at founder@swahilies.com then i will update them in this article.