This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint

My guest today is Uka Eje, the co-founder and CEO of ThriveAgric. I've known Uka since 2017, when he and his co-founder, Ayo, received their first institutional investment from Ventures Platform.

ThriveAgric empowers nearly one million smallholder farmers on the continent with technology, credit, and access-to-market. The company started as an idea between two classmates, and their journey so far has involved overcoming operational and financial hurdles, surviving a near collapse during the COVID-19 pandemic, pivoting, and maturing into one of the most impactful businesses in Africa.

This year, ThriveAgric was recognized by the Financial Times as one of Africa’s fastest-growing companies, with partnerships with major offtakers like Flour Mills of Nigeria, Dangote Foods, and Nestle.

In this episode, we discussed:.

• The uniqueness and importance of ThriveAgric’s business model, including how they enable capital and market access for smallholder farmers, organizing them into efficient production clusters, resulting in significant yield increases.
• The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including logistical disruptions, and how ThriveAgric fortified its risk management and operational capabilities.
• The pivotal decision to bring in a more experienced CEO, Adia Sowho, to help rebuild stakeholder trust, stabilize operations, and refocus efforts towards the company’s long-term growth.
• Uka’s growth as a leader through the different phases of the company’s journey.

I am grateful to Uka for having an honest conversation with me. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

Book Recommendation: The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

Quote: “Quite a number of people asked me why stepping down was the solution for Thrive Agric. My response was pretty simple, although the process was not easy for me emotionally, considering we built this business, myself and my co-founder, right?

But we had to ask ourselves a question: ‘what is most important to us, that this business survives and it continues to be a scalable business, or the idea that it’s on record that there was a step down?’ [...] We also had to think about the future of the business. We wanted to build something for the long haul. [...] people need to trust you enough to do business with you”

CREDITS

Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku
Produced by: The Subtext
Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi, Chinedu Anatune
Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa
Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu
Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi
Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku

This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint

My guest today is Deepankar Rustagi, a seasoned tech entrepreneur in Nigeria. I've known Deepankar for over 7 years, dating back to his days at Vconnect. He was one of the first entrepreneurs featured on this podcast—check out episode 8 to hear about his journey from Nigeria to India and back, where he initially worked for Tolaram Group before founding Vconnect.

In this episode, we continue Deepankar's story, focusing on his next venture, OmniRetail, an asset-light B2B e-commerce platform. OmniRetail has been recognized by the Financial Times as the fastest-growing company in Africa, with annual revenue exceeding $100 million. As a board member, I’ve seen Deepankar's thoughtful leadership and execution firsthand.

Our discussion covers:

• How OmniRetail uses decentralized warehouses and partnerships with third-party logistics providers to boost efficiency and scalability, sticking to their asset-light approach.
• OmniRetail's focus on profitability from day one, following traditional trade practices to achieve sustainable growth with strong gross margins, ensuring long-term success and customer loyalty.
• The importance of unit economics: distinguishing transaction-level profitability from overall profitability, stressing the need for profitability at the unit level right from the start.
• The impact of digitizing transactions through OmniPay to streamline payments and improve reconciliation, and the broader role of fintech in boosting profit margins.
• The inevitability and benefits of consolidation: discussing how combining specialized firms like FinTech and logistics experts enhances value and profitability.
• The impact of currency devaluation on servicing dollar loans, which can potentially shut down businesses and strategies for converting dollar debt into local currency debt to ensure business stability.

Quote: “...don't fantasize about your product in a boardroom. Go out there and see expressions and responses from real stakeholders on what they feel about the product or what they feel about the technology. They might not understand every bit of it, but if they understand the value that you're trying to offer, if they are willing to change their behavior a little to accept that value, then you're working in the right direction.”

Educational Recommendation: Business Insider, Entrepreneur.com

Transcript

CREDITS

Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku
Produced by: The Subtext
Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi, Chinedu Anatune
Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa
Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu
Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi
Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku

This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint

My guest today is Elo Umeh, founder and CEO of Terragon Group, a leading data and marketing cloud company in Africa. I've known Elo personally for some time; his leadership at Terragon has been transformative.

Founded in 2009, Terragon initially focused on mobile websites and launched Twinpine, a mobile ad network, in 2012. Under Elo's guidance, Terragon now offers marketing automation, customer data platforms, and enterprise insights, impacting over 350 million profiles in Africa. They acquired Alcatel Lucent Mobile Advertising across 16 markets, integrating 60 million customer profiles, and also acquired their long term technical partner, BiZense (India).

In this episode we discuss:

• The significance of achieving substantial enterprise value (EV) relative to the capital raised, aiming for a 10x return to ensure strong, scalable businesses and meaningful returns for investors.
• The unique challenges and opportunities in the African market, emphasizing the need for patient capital, understanding local value chains, and building strong relationships to navigate infrastructure and liquidity issues.
• The crucial role of leadership and investor responsibility in fostering sustainable businesses, advocating for realistic EV expectations and a focus on long-term value creation and responsible business practices.
• The importance of staying passionate about your venture, maintaining humility, and focusing on customers to drive long-term success and adaptability in the business world.
• The differences between creating a product and building a company, stressing the need for embedding the founder's vision, culture, and governance structures to ensure long-term growth and stakeholder engagement.

Elo also serves as an Executive in Residence at the Lagos Business School, shaping business leadership in Africa. Join me as we explore Elo Umeh's journey and insights in driving digital innovation on the continent.

Book Recommendations:

• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
• Better, Simpler Strategy: A Value-Based Guide to Exceptional Performance by Felix Oberholzer-Gee
• Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

Quote: A company is not yet a company if it doesn't deliver a platform for sustained wealth creation.
Transcript

CREDITS

Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku
Produced by: The Subtext
Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi, Chinedu Anatune
Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa
Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu
Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi
Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku