Hello.
Today I’m discussing:
- Building Patricia after failing in 13 businesses
- iWello's healthcare service for ₦300 ($0.76)
- African teachers and educational technology
- Airtel Money's partnership with Flutterwave
Building Patricia after failing in 13 businesses
Perseverance is one of the qualities of successful business owners. Although it takes time for a business to thrive, this usually depends on keeping your eyes on the goal regardless of obstacles.
Techpoint Africa's Chief Servant, Múyìwá Mátùlúkò, had a chat with Hanu Fejiro Agbodje, CEO of Patricia — an alternative payment solutions platform — about his failure in 13 other businesses before Patricia.
In this insightful discussion, Agbodje reveals how his failed business experiences later paid off.
Interestingly, he just wanted to make ₦30,000 ($84*) monthly, so in 2017, Agbodje started the company as a gift card exchange platform before evolving into a cryptocurrency exchange.
One of the things that struck me was that he kept a journal where he jotted down all his ideas. For me, that's pretty inspiring because in the past, I've had some brilliant ideas, but I never remembered them because I didn't write them down.
As a neurodivergent person, this is something I want to start doing because I get easily distracted, forget things quickly, and rarely have light bulb moments just by thinking. So, once I've forgotten an idea, it's difficult to recall the concept again.
Moreso, despite having no technical background and being unaware of the existence of a tech community that could assist his business, Agbodje's 13 failed business experiences paid off immensely.
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Do you want to know how? Please, read this: From ‘urgent’ ₦30k to $50m: How Hanu Fejiro Abodje built Patricia from scratch
Want a different experience? You can watch it here: From ‘urgent’ ₦30k to $50m: How Hanu Fejiro Abodje built Patricia from scratch
*- dollar exchange rate in 2017
iWello is making healthcare available for ₦300 ($0.76)
According to an International Finance Corporation (IFC) report, Sub-Saharan Africa's healthcare system remains the worst in the world. And few countries can afford the $34 to $40 per person per year that the World Health Organization (WHO) considers the bare minimum for essential healthcare services.
Also, per the United Nations (UN), most Africans, primarily the poor and middle-class, rely on underfunded public health facilities. At the same time, a small minority has access to well-funded, high-quality private health care.
In Nigeria, 83 million people live in poverty as of 2020 and can not afford basic health services.
To solve this, iWello, a telemedicine startup, is making healthcare available to Nigerians for ₦300 ($0.76).
Founded in July 2021 by Ismail Adejonwo, the startup provides healthcare consultation and surgery funding for procedures like appendix removal, caesarean section for pregnant women, and kidney failure issues.
For context, kindly read: Nigerian telemedicine startup, iWello, is making healthcare available to people living on less than $1 per day
African teachers and educational technology
The role of technology in education can be traced back to 2,500 years ago. And the main goal of incorporating technology into education is to change how teachers and students gather, access, analyse, present, and transmit information.
This research by the Academy of Finland says that technology transforms the teacher's role from that of a traditional knowledge provider to that of a facilitator, guiding the students' learning processes and engaging in joint problem-solving with the students.
And around the world, education systems are investing in technology to help teachers be more effective.
But, given that the edtech industry is still in its early stages in Africa, what does the advancement of educational technology mean for teachers?
Joy and Chimgozirim explained what this means here: What do current edtech innovations mean for teachers in Africa?
Airtel Money partners with Flutterwave
Airtel's mobile money platform, Airtel Money, has announced a partnership with African payments company, Flutterwave to expand Airtel Money's services to business across Eastern Africa.
What exactly does this mean? Consequently, businesses in Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, and Rwanda can accept Airtel Money payments and make bulk payments into Airtel Money wallets.
This partnership was declared just one day after Airtel Africa announced that Olusegun Ogunsanya, former CEO of Airtel Nigeria, has assumed the role of Managing Director and CEO of Airtel Africa on October 1, 2021.
Why this partnership? Airtel Money believes that as consumer behaviour changes and eCommerce grows, businesses will be increasingly required to accept mobile money payments from customers for goods and services.
It also claims that larger businesses are discovering that sending large amounts of money to their employees' or customers' mobile money wallets is less expensive, faster, and more convenient.
Is this similar? Yes. In September 2021, Flutterwave announced a partnership with MTN Group, Africa’s telecoms company, to enable businesses in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia to accept payments via MTN Mobile Money (MoMo).
Olugbenga Agboola, Flutterwave CEO, says, "We are excited to have partnered with Airtel Money to further advance local businesses payment methods which will allow them to increasingly provide more services to their customers, grow their customer base and revenue."
What I’m reading and watching
- Facebook Lost About $65 Million During Hours-Long Outage. Read.
- What They Don't Tell You About Mental Illness. Watch.
- Is Africa's Future Online? Watch.
Have an amazing day ahead.
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa.
