BROADCASTS.com

b"The last couple of months or so have been rather eventful for Africa's fintech scene\\u2014 particularly in Nigeria where Interswitch notably attained unicorn status in November following Visa acquiring 20% of the company for a reported $200 million. \\n\\nTwitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey's much-publicised visit to Africa last month also did much to put a global spotlight on the continent\\u2019s fintech arena, and the subsequent capital raises by OPay (backed by Opera) and PalmPay (backed by Transsion) drew attention to the on-going race for platform dominance in the space.\\n\\nIn this instalment of the African Tech Roundup podcast, Andile Masuku and The Subtext\\u2019s Osarumen Osamuyi are joined by Malawian mobile tech entrepreneur, Wiza Jalakasi, to unpack some of the more pertinent fintech industry signals and discuss their implications for the continent\\u2019s tech and innovation ecosystem at large. (To skip the introductory niceties, head straight to [11:58].)\\n\\nWiza is a passionate USSD proponent who formerly headed up business development and international expansion at Africa\\u2019s Talking. He is currently the head of strategy and business development at Hover.\\n\\nQuestions discussed in this episode include:\\n\\n1) Is the hype around Jack Dorsey\\u2019s recent Africa visit well-deserved? [12:38]\\n2) Why might PalmPay\\u2019s $40 million seed round be the most significant China-related fintech startup play of late? [25:47]\\n3) Are aspiring \\u2018banks\\u2019 like Google and Facebook well-positioned to dominate Africa\\u2019s fintech industry? [28:52]\\n4) Is there credence to Jack Dorsey\\u2019s citing of Bitcoin as a key part of the future of African fintech? [37:55]\\n5) How significant is the trend towards digital-first and digital-only banks? [50:46]\\n6) Could the Zimbabwean mobile telco NetOne spark a continental trend by making mobile money transactions free? [1:01:57]\\n7) How will Google\\u2019s new Play Store lending term restrictions for financial services apps impact microlenders on the continent? [1:07:34]\\n\\nTo view resources referenced in this episode, visit https://www.africantechroundup.com/fintech-signal-check-2019-part-1/\\n\\nImage credit: Namnso Ukpanah"