For many years, cost techniques in Africa had been simply one other space by which the continent lagged behind a lot of the remainder of the world. Right now, it’s estimated that there are over 1,000 fintech corporations working in or on African cost techniques, almost triple the quantity earlier than the pandemic.
Amongst these, Flutterwave might be essentially the most emblematic of the continent’s tech ambitions and potential. It’s definitely essentially the most worthwhile. Based in 2016 by two younger Nigerians, Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Flutterwave got down to resolve a deceptively easy drawback: the way to make funds seamless for companies working throughout Africa’s patchwork of economic techniques.
Beginning out as a cost infrastructure supplier for retailers, the corporate constructed platforms that enabled native and worldwide companies to course of funds in numerous African nations.
Beneath the management of Agboola, who took over from his co-founder as CEO in 2018, Flutterwave has expanded throughout over 30 African nations, partnering with world giants and integrating with main monetary establishments. By 2022, the corporate had reached a $3bn valuation, cementing its standing as a bona fide African unicorn.
Reflecting on the last decade since its founding, Olugbenga Agboola says: “After we began the corporate, our aim was to construct a superhighway infrastructure for funds in Africa; our aim has not modified.
“We consider very strongly in enterprise funds, in making certain that you simply construct best-in-class expertise and infrastructure for top-range retailers throughout Africa – each native and world.”
What has advanced over time is how funds are made. “Essentially the most outstanding cost sort in 2016 is just not the identical at this time. However the want has not modified. Folks need to pay with much less friction. They need to pay with much less restrictions. Companies need to scale globally with no need to include in all places they go.”
Flutterwave’s success has come from responding to this perennial want and innovating. “We pioneered the primary pay with financial institution switch ever inbuilt Africa in Nigeria; we pioneered it in Ghana. We additionally launched one in South Africa as properly.
“We’re constructing non-card rails throughout Africa utilizing current banking infrastructure, utilizing current banking account quantity techniques to make it simple for customers and retailers to pay and receives a commission throughout the continent,” he says.
Having discovered the system for progress, he says the corporate is sticking with it. “Our imaginative and prescient has at all times been to attach Africa to the world by seamless funds. Nevertheless, the seamless funds sort retains on evolving and as a forward-looking firm, we’re trying to be on the forefront of the evolution of that change; not the final man within the course of.”
The perfect at school
With over 890m transactions price over $34bn accomplished, Flutterwave is undoubtedly on the forefront. Its techniques have facilitated the entry of world gamers like Uber and Audiomack into African markets, enabling them to easily course of funds. Native manufacturers like Air Peace in Nigeria additionally depend on it to course of funds, each at residence and overseas.
It has additionally entered into partnerships with a big selection of economic establishments to increase its cost choices. Past commerce, Flutterwave has taken on crucial nationwide capabilities, together with enabling digital tax assortment for Nigeria’s Federal Inland Income Service and partnering with the Nationwide Info Know-how Improvement Company, additionally in Nigeria, to assist SME digitisation and monetary inclusion.
“We’re actually the most effective at school for enterprise funds,” Agboola says. “Right now, we’re essentially the most licensed non-bank entity in Africa. And what that creates for us is having the ability to do native funds at scale and make funds so equitable that it’s simpler for a world service provider to receives a commission regionally wherever all through Africa – or wherever else,” he provides.
This makes Flutterwave a complementary associate to banks and certainly different fintechs, moderately than a competitor, he argues. “We’re just like the I-95 in the USA,” he explains, likening Flutterwave to the famed interstate freeway connecting main US cities.
“We’re the community of networks. So we truly complement all people else. We complement M-Pesa. We complement Visa and MasterCard. We complement American Specific. We complement banks. We complement cell operators.”
This complementarity permits extra transactions throughout the board for everybody, he explains. “If we give our freeway to a service provider, their clients get to transact extra on their platform. We’re enabling extra use instances for them to transact on their platforms.”
Whereas Agboola insists Flutterwave selected to not be a financial institution and isn’t attempting to be a financial institution, he leaves the door barely ajar to that risk: “I see ourselves continuously innovating for cost sorts. If that entails buying a financial institution sooner or later, I wouldn’t say no. However even when we do purchase a financial institution sooner or later – if, for instance, it’s a cost sort that’s going to be very, essential for us to do this – it can nonetheless be constructed round complementing cost sorts.
“We don’t see ourselves as deposit-taking; we see ourselves as being the most effective at school in funds.”
Adyen, the European funds utility, which has acquired banking licences within the EU, the UK and the US, presents a helpful analogy. “Adyen didn’t purchase a banking licence to turn into like a daily excessive avenue financial institution, however to make sure that they get rid of infrastructures that may create friction for his or her clients,” he factors out.
Equally, Stripe, a US-based funds platform has additionally utilized for a licence for that goal. “You want a financial institution to sponsor you for account numbers and cost transfers, amongst different issues. That mentioned, whereas our aim is to not be a deposit-making financial institution, if it requires a banking licence to assist us to offer our clients the best-in-class funds, I can’t rule that out.”
And whereas Flutterwave would possibly share a philosophy and even a house (it’s based mostly in San Francisco, as is Stripe) with these world gamers, Agboola factors out that they’re working in remarkably totally different terrains.
Within the US, UK, Europe and different markets with extra subtle monetary providers techniques, cost suppliers usually must combine with just one overarching system. As Agboola places it, “For those who do playing cards within the UK and Europe, you possibly can go to mattress.”
Not so in Africa, Flutterwave’s major market. “In Africa, after I do playing cards, I’m simply getting began. I’ve pay-with-bank switch. I’ve Cellular Cash; MTN’s MoMo; M-Pesa. I’ve all these cost sorts. Right now in my infrastructure, I’m linked to over 150 cost sorts.”
The fluff is now out
In Africa’s fragmented ecosystem, cost platforms must innovate relentlessly to fulfill clients the place they’re. In some ways they must be pioneers charting a path by the ‘Wild West’ of African funds, making it usable for patrons and leaving a path for companies and different suppliers to comply with.
“It’s a completely totally different ballgame,” says Agboola. “We’re constructing a market. We’re constructing the infrastructure earlier than we construct the merchandise, so we are able to then construct an expertise for our clients.
“It takes braveness to do this on this continent – and that’s what now we have as an organization proper now,” he says.
“We consider within the digital way forward for Africa. So now we have to construct for long-term sustainability. We’ve got to construct with endurance, construct for scale, and on the similar time construct for the myriad, a number of, fragmented, everlasting sorts. That’s what now we have to do and that’s what we’ve achieved.”
Agboola says the African tech ecosystem goes by its ‘teenage years’ after a few decade discovering its goal. “Folks now perceive precisely what they need to construct,” he observes. “Persons are targeted on profitability. Persons are specializing in progress. They’re focussed on creating nice outcomes, with concepts that transcend simply beginning an organization and elevating capital. The fluff is now out.”
What these corporations would profit from is a few African capital. At the moment, a whole lot of the continent’s startups are depending on overseas capital, with the inherent dangers that include it.
Agboola notes that whereas startups usually are not able to refuse funding from wherever – Flutterwave’s traders are largely overseas – he feels it’s essential for African capital to again African innovation. “It’s essential. As a result of it’s a must to be on the bottom to grasp the nuances of the African market.” He’s assured, nonetheless, that as African corporations get greater, a number of the gathered capital would turn into accessible for African startups. “It’s already taking place, however not on the scale we will be proud of.”
There have additionally been enhancements within the regulatory setting that Agboola finds heartening. “Once you look again to 2016 or 2017, there was no approach to even apply for a fintech licence in Ghana, for instance,” he recollects. “Now it’s 2025. Ghana not solely has a approach to apply, they’re exploring constructing a cost framework with Rwanda. That’s unbelievable progress. That’s unbelievable progress.”
Comparable shifts are taking place throughout the continent, with central banks from Ghana to Nigeria, and from Rwanda to Senegal, transferring from being cautious observers to lively enablers of fintech innovation. “The Ghanaian central financial institution is engaged on a crypto technique and a stablecoin technique,” he says.
“Ten years in the past, folks had been nonetheless asking, What do you guys even do? Are you a pockets? A model? Now there’s a lot extra understanding of our enterprise, of our mannequin, and why it issues.”
It helps that there’s new blood within the continent’s regulatory chambers. “Right now, most of the folks inside central banks are ex-fintech operators or ex-bankers. They perceive what this sector wants. The evolution has been unbelievable.”
Whereas the dream of a single licence enabling continental protection, just like the passporting system in Europe, stays out of attain for now, initiatives such because the Pan-African Fee and Settlement System (PAPSS) are promising indicators of what’s to come back.
Monetary self-discipline and innovation
With their tenth anniversary simply forward, it could be comprehensible for a startup as worthwhile as Flutterwave to think about going public. However Agboola has different concepts. “My present aim is profitability,” he says.
Having overhauled the corporate’s value constructions and sharpened its procedures, it’s lastly delivering spectacular margins. From this place, he says, there is no such thing as a stress to go to the marketplace for what can be an eagerly watched IPO. “We’re listening to all our stakeholders. Our aim is admittedly to make sure that we continue to grow sustainably,” he says. “For those who had been to ask me what my aim is, it’s to construct the biggest non-public tech firm from Africa that’s worthwhile and sustainable.”
That target monetary self-discipline and long-term imaginative and prescient, Agboola believes, “will give me entry to any choice I need as an organization – do you need to keep non-public; would you like an IPO; do you need to be acquired?”
He reiterates nonetheless, that the one aim the corporate has in thoughts is to be worthwhile and sustainable. “What we’re constructing for requires a whole lot of endurance,” he says. “The chance is limitless, and we need to be right here to harness it with none stress, however with profitability in our focus.”
If and when it does go public, Agboola needs Africa to be concerned. “Our personal market is essential for us; Nigeria is vital to us. We wish to suppose that on this market the common shopper, the common enterprise, is aware of how their life is touched by Flutterwave, like ours. That’s key for us.”
What’s extra sure is that Flutterwave will need to stay on the slicing fringe of innovation and at this time, which means synthetic intelligence (AI). “Gen AI is right here to remain, that’s for positive. And I believe all people in each business ought to pay attention to how AI can consolidate infrastructure.”
AI is already being deployed in a number of key areas by the corporate and it’s set to launch its next-generation API platform, which Agboola describes as “AI-powered developer infrastructure”.
The brand new system will enable builders to be guided by AI as they combine with Flutterwave’s platform, a primary of its sort in Africa and a significant shift in how technical onboarding is approached. “It’s the primary time we’re utilizing Gen AI to information engineers throughout integration,” he says.
The expertise can also be being deployed “to generate guidelines, perceive a service provider’s model, monitor their transactions, and examine that with adjustments in compliance ranges, all utilizing AI,” he explains. “Then we assign a rating, take motion, and advocate outcomes, all in actual time.”
To improve the client expertise, the corporate is creating what he describes as a “world-class AI-based software” to enhance responsiveness and person satisfaction. “We may have fewer folks within the firm going ahead,” he concedes, “however that’s nice. The aim is to make sure that we get extra environment friendly and create extra worth.”
The Agboola methodology
We come to maybe the important thing query everybody within the business needs to know: how did Agboola construct Flutterwave into the excellent unicorn it has turn into?
“As a founder, it’s a must to study to function like a firefighter and an architect, typically each in the identical day,” he says. “You additionally must be quick at fixing issues. However as a CEO, it’s now not concerning the dash. It’s about construction, techniques, and sustainability.”
Within the course of, he says, he has transitioned from being “the mind” to “constructing brains”; from being the one who executes, to the one who permits others to guide, resolve, and scale. “I’ve realized to let go of being the boss on every little thing, however not let go of course and technique,” he explains. “My job now isn’t simply to push the bus ahead, it’s to drive the bus neatly.”
What’s his management philosophy? “Management can’t be stagnant,” he insists. “It’s important to evolve. An organization can want a distinct type of management at totally different occasions.”
Proper now, he sees himself as a “chief enabler”: “I’m not the man who does issues any extra. I allow, I query, I measure. I’ve gone from fixing issues to creating the setting for others to resolve issues. I don’t give solutions; I ask questions.
“Even after I’m not right here, the corporate continues to run, continues to develop, continues to scale,” he says. “That’s key for me – to be there, by constructing the individuals who will maintain it going.”
Agboola’s private journey into the billion-dollar bracket, he says, has not been simple. “I realized that my accountability was to do what was vital for our folks and our mission, even when it wasn’t one thing I personally preferred to do.”
That perception has come to form his total philosophy. Management is just not about showing infallible, he provides. “It’s about preventing that fireside. It’s not about stamina. It’s not about having all of the solutions. It’s about having the empathy to grasp that I don’t have the reply, however we’ll determine it out.”
It’s a mindset that has not solely guided his personal progress however has additionally turn into a defining cultural trait at Flutterwave. “Mission first, folks first,” he stresses, including that “that’s the secret sauce. That’s what drives me. That’s why I’m not afraid.”
In follow, which means taking very deliberate steps to develop new leaders on the firm, a few of whom have gone on to guide elsewhere, together with at top-tier names reminiscent of Google, Netflix and PayPal.
He considers this as a badge of honour. He recollects seeing former workers when he goes to fulfill different associate companies. “It makes me proud that that individual handed by our techniques,” he says, emphasising that creating an enterprise like Flutterwave means creating the folks and techniques round it too.
This philosophy impressed the launch of Flutterwave’s coaching programme, designed to deal with what he sees as a long-standing imbalance between expertise, which is evenly distributed, and alternative, which isn’t. “If we need to construct an African cost firm, we actually must spend money on African expertise,” he argues. For him, this has paid off. Fairly than having to depend on imported expertise, Flutterwave has native groups in Nigeria creating world-class merchandise and infrastructure utilized by clients around the globe. “That fills me with delight,” Agboola says. “It’s important to construct the folks. It’s important to construct the chance. It’s important to construct every little thing alongside you.”
This mindset will be traced to his earlier experiences at Entry Financial institution, the Nigerian banking big, the place Agboola first obtained his begin. The financial institution, he recollects, despatched a few of its prime expertise to Wharton, the College of Pennsylvania’s enterprise college, for a bespoke coaching programme that yielded super outcomes. “That total class is at this time both constructing corporations, or working at large banks like JP Morgan, or operating so many corporations throughout Africa and globally. That’s an instance of the way you construct expertise.
“Inside our sources, we’re additionally doing the identical factor. We’re investing in folks, giving folks alternatives, attempting our greatest to make sure that we construct the markets with the expertise as we develop and scale.”
Entry Financial institution can also be the place he encountered – and was impressed by – Herbert Wigwe, the financial institution’s famed founder, who tragically misplaced his life in a helicopter crash within the US final 12 months. “Entry Financial institution is a significant mirror driver in my private life – particularly Herbert,” he displays.
“Herbert employed me. My final firm was acquired by Entry Financial institution earlier than I joined them, and I believe he was a significant a part of Flutterwave’s success and story.” That assist and perception, he says, was essential to his going to San Francisco within the early days to pitch Flutterwave to traders. He additionally attracts inspiration from a large circle of African leaders, together with Abubakar Suleiman, CEO of Sterling Financial institution; Arunma Oteh, the previous Director-Normal of Nigeria’s Securities and Change Fee; and Tony Elumelu of UBA. One other function mannequin is Hakeem Belo-Osagie, whose report goes from founding banks and funding corporations to a present tutorial function at Harvard.
Inevitably, that cycle continues, with Agboola now a supply of inspiration to different innovators. A thought-leader and in-demand speaker, his views are sought by each coverage makers and entrepreneurs in Africa and past. In 2023, he was appointed to the African Artwork Advisory Board of the Smithsonian, which he describes as “an enormous second, personally and professionally”. It might simply be one other step in a journey that has already generated many large moments and is certain to have many extra sooner or later.
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