Small retailers in Nigeria power the economy. But they’re going through some tough times. Devaluation, food inflation, and overall poor economic conditions have made it especially hard for these small businesses to operate.

To better understand how retail works, and how these small businesses can grow, we hit the streets of Lagos with Deepankar Rustagi, CEO of OmniRetail.

OmniRetail was ranked Africa's #1 Fastest Growing Company in 2024 by Financial Times.

In this episode, Deepankar explains small retailers' working capital challenges and how OmniRetail is helping them grow their business by turning over their inventory faster.

00:00 - Intro
01:00 - Working capital
02:08 - Faster inventory turnover
02:48 - Lack of credit
03:39 - Understanding consumer demand
04:57 - Building a Systematically Important Platform

Read more from Deepankar - Rethinking Metrics in B2B Commerce: https://theflip.africa/newsletter/rethinking-metrics-in-b2b-ecommerce
Learn more about OmniRetail here: https://omniretail.africa

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One of the African tech ecosystem's largest exits was the 2020 sale of Sendwave to WorldRemit for $500 million.

Sid Sridhar was Sendwave's Head of Business at the time, and in this episode, Sid shares his M&A lessons for the African tech ecosystem.

Sid is now the Head of Business at Wave, the mobile money company spun out of Sendwave that's competing head-on with the telcos in Francophone West Africa. Wave raised a $200 million Series A in 2021, valuing the company at $1.7 billion.

00:00 - Introduction
01:32 - Every deal is different
02:16 - Know the business model that you're building for
02:40 - Companies get bought not sold
03:41 - How to qualify a deal
04:53 - Be smart & strategic with information
05:31 - Be transparent
06:24 - Stay close to potential buyers
07:39 - Alignment with investors

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Check out other episodes from the Fintech in Africa Summit:
Nigerian Neobank Roundtable: Moniepoint, Kuda, FairMoney
Why Are Cross-Border Payments So Hard?
Tackling Africa’s $330 Billion Credit Gap

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🎥 YouTube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
💻 Website - https://theflip.africa
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There is a $330 billion credit gap, according to the IFC. But why is it so hard to lend in African markets?

We explore that question with Chijioke Dozie, Co-founder and CEO of Carbon, and Mark Straub, CEO of Smile Identity.

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 - Introduction
01:36 - The credit infrastructure problems in Africa
02:28 - Carbon's approach to lending
03:51 - SmileID's perspective on credit infrastructure
08:10 - Ability to pay vs. willingness to pay
10:06 - Private sector solutions
17:36 - The challenges of scaling lending without infrastructure

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This episode was the third in our series of interviews recorded live from the Fintech in Africa Summit.
Nigerian Neobanks with Moniepoint's Tosin Eniolorunda, Kuda's Babs Ogundeyi & Fairmoney's Laurin Hainy: https://theflip.africa/podcast/nigerian-neobank-roundtable-moniepoint-kuda-fairmoney
Cross-Border Payments with NALA's Benjamin Fernandes & GTXN's Dan Kleinbaum: https://theflip.africa/podcast/why-are-cross-border-payments-so-hard

Our Links -
🎥 YouTube - https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica
💻 Website - https://theflip.africa
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica
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