October 23, 2023 • 21 mins
Over the past few weeks, we've delved deep into the stories of remarkable companies, visionary founders, and dynamic landscapes of emerging markets!
So, where are we zooming in today? Nigeria, Africa. We're exploring the remarkable story of Nigeria, a nation that has emerged as the largest economy in Africa. With a diversified economy and abundant natural resources, Nigeria’s journey isn't just about oil anymore. It’s about tech, entertainment, and an entrepreneurial spirit that refuses to be quelled.
Join us as we dive into the secrets behind Nigeria's transformation on the global stage, exploring the factors that propelled it to an economic powerhouse on the African continent.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jed Tabernero (00:00):
In the past few decades, it's been like watching
the world shrink right in frontof us.
Globalization has turned ourplanet into this super connected
place where everything's buzzingborders.
They've become kind of blurry.
(00:21):
I.
Businesses.
Oh man, they're popping up allover the globe and Tech.
Well, it's like the ultimategame changer, making even the
most remote spots possiblemarket hotspots, but the winds
of change are blowing.
Once again, enter globalization.
(00:52):
While it might sound like we'rehitting the brakes, it's a bit
more complicated than that.
Countries are revisiting thewhole global trade angle.
Thanks to the volatile past fewyears we've witnessed from
rising trade tensions, evolvinggeopolitics and supply chain
crises driven by covid.
(01:23):
We're moving from that wholeworldwide party mode to a chill
regional hangout scene.
Shikher Bhandary (01:39):
Over the past few weeks, we've delved deep
into the stories of remarkablecompanies, visionary founders,
and dynamic landscapes ofemerging markets.
So where are we zooming intoday?
The answer, Nigeria, Africa.
We're exploring the remarkablestory of Nigeria, a nation that
(02:00):
has emerged as the largesteconomy With a diversified
economy and abundant naturalresources, Nigeria's journey
isn't just about oil anymore.
It's about tech, entertainment,and an entrepreneurial spirit
that refuses to be quelled.
Join us as we unravel thesecrets behind Nigeria's
(02:22):
transformation on the globalstage.
Jed Tabernero (03:02):
Some songs that have been coming up in my on
repeat playlist.
It's been like number one forthe last maybe three months.
Just one song, bro.
Who Told You featuring Drake.
You know that song?
Nigeria_V0-02 (03:19):
no, no.
Nigeria_V0-01 (03:20):
Who told you bad men can't dance?
You don't know that song?
It's so good.
It's so good.
This really popular song is kindof a part of a wave of
Afrobeats, dude.
It's been hitting the nation.
Everywhere I go, when you hearclubs playing music, there's
some Afro beats.
(03:41):
So crazy,
Nigeria_V0-02 (03:42):
of like, um, reggaeton, right?
Where six years back, how manypeople were actually listening
to like, reggaeton?
Nigeria_V0-01 (03:51):
Yeah.
I mean, people in Latin Americaprobably,
Nigeria_V0-02 (03:54):
talking about like the global stage, right?
Bad Bunny wasn't a thing.
Now Bad Bunny is the biggestartist in the world.
So there's, there's a huge wideshift.
Nigeria_V0-01 (04:02):
Hell yeah.
And I feel like bad bunnyworking with artists like Drake
and folks in the U S like thatwas kind of insane for us to see
and to have songs where likeEnglish and another language was
there.
I don't know.
I felt like that was really coolto see that.
Nigeria_V0-02 (04:18):
Yeah, and and with this whole Afrobeat
sensation, it definitely is anexport of like culture of the
African culture, which is reallycool to see a big driver of all
this comes from Nigeria.
Nigeria_V0-01 (04:32):
Exactly.
And, um, Nigeria, of course, ifyou've paid attention to the
news, know that it's a growingeconomy it's got a GDP of half a
trillion as of 2022.
It's quite a large economy,
Nigeria_V0-02 (04:49):
Yeah, I wouldn't have guessed that it is half a
trillion, right?
That seems like a big number,considering how infrequent.
It's mentioned in businessmedia.
Nigeria_V0-01 (05:02):
Yeah.
I mean, if you've been payingattention, kind of like what
shows like the economist, whichI fricking love, they've been
talking about this phenomenon ofAfrica being kind of the next
economic powerhouse because it'sgrowing so much.
And the theory that theeconomist at least laid out was
that because Africa had a reallyyoung population, Yeah.
(05:27):
And especially in like Nigeria,dude, 70 percent of the
population is under 30.
Isn't that crazy?
Nigeria_V0-02 (05:35):
Say that again.
Say that again.
Nigeria_V0-01 (05:37):
percent of the population is under 30 years
old.
Nigeria_V0-02 (05:41):
That's insane.
Nigeria_V0-01 (05:43):
that's a big number.
That's a big number.
And it's, it's a youngpopulation.
A lot of new ideas are comingout.
Like it's significance in theAfrican stage has been growing,
but it's not immune to likewhat's happened in the world in
terms of inflation.
The topic that we've beentalking about the last two
years, like it's still kind ofcrazy over there and
(06:05):
unemployment is still prettybad.
Like it's up 30%.
So it has its problems, butYou're right.
It's economic significance inthe region is is growing.
Nigeria_V0-02 (06:16):
Yeah.
And what's interesting is, uh,you know, a lot of, um, Indian
companies have explored Nigeriaand Western countries too with
subsidiaries in Nigeria.
So Airtel, which is a bigtelecom company in India has an
Airtel Nigeria.
Right.
Which is public and one of thebiggest stocks on their stock
(06:39):
market.
Same with like, uh, Cadbury, youknow, growing up in the
developing world.
You, you might know as well,Jed, we had Pepsi, we had
Cadbury, we had, you know, thosestaples.
So you do see those subsidiariesstill having a big presence in
the Nigerian market, butstaggering that it is home to
(07:01):
the largest youth population inthe world.
Nigeria_V0-01 (07:05):
Yeah.
It's pretty interesting and Ithink one of the things that
make it such a powerhouse is thenatural resource of oil.
Right?
I think if you know anythingabout oil reserves in the world,
Nigeria has one of the largest.
So it's been kind of endowedwith this natural resource that
(07:27):
they have been exporting at likevery large rates.
Like it's been very significantin its entire GDP.
Oil takes up a lot of that.
And right now, kind of therecent developments in the
industry and oil prices in thelast few years has been very
(07:51):
volatile.
It's hard to stick to oneresource.
We were chatting right beforethis call and we talked about,
you know, Saudi and how that'sgoing for them.
Them switching from a reallyresource heavy economy into like
something more like tech.
Nigeria_V0-02 (08:08):
Yeah, it's just about spreading risk, right?
80 percent of Nigeria's exportrevenue comes from oil.
Like, that is just one misstepin that direction could cripple
your entire economy.
So, uh, which is happening rightnow, right?
In recent years, they have beenhit hard by the decline in oil
production causing a recession.
(08:31):
Right.
Yes, it did rebound into 2021,but still the growth has been
slower than what it was in theearly 2010s.
My money's coming from just onesource.
I need to start diversifyingthat risk.
I need to start investing inother economies.
And that's what we're seeingwith Nigeria, where they're
investing in agriculture, tech.
(08:52):
The population is young, so theywant a cell phone, they want e
commerce.
And we are seeing these trendsaccelerate.
Nigeria_V0-01 (08:59):
Yeah, really interesting.
And you know, what's kind ofbeen happening to oil generally
has really been pushing thattrend, you know, pushing them to
make those decisions about riskand how to spread it.
Like for a 13th consecutivequarter, oil sector has
contracted, you know, it's It'sa long and slow burn for them,
(09:25):
but investing in these newthings, you know, like one of,
one of the biggest kind ofprojects that has happened to
the last few years is that thengo to refinery, this refinery
helps them actually refine theoil, instead of just being able
to extract the natural resource,the raw natural resource, right?
A capability they didn't havebefore.
(09:47):
So.
That's kind of one of the biginvestments that is going to
define how they interact withother industries going forward,
spreading that risk.
Nigeria_V0-02 (09:58):
So you mentioned that the oil sector shrank,
right, for the 13th straightquarter.
So how is it that this countrywith so much dependence on oil
still managed to grow,considering their biggest
industry shrank?
So what's the cause?
Is it, is it the non oil stuff?
Nigeria_V0-01 (10:20):
It's gotta be dude.
It's gotta be right.
Like these other economies liketech have been growing like
crazy, a lot of investments.
Also there's foreign investmentlike crazy because of kind of
the relative stability that it'sachieved over the last few
years.
Very relative by the way.
Still not like Western standardsin a way, but you know, it's
(10:44):
getting there.
Therefore investment is flowingin, especially for tech tech is
a huge driver in this, you know,a lot of large, um, tech giants
are already forming up fromNigeria.
Like flutter wave, right?
Nigeria_V0-02 (11:00):
I just pulled up the stat and it showed that this
whole diversification of theeconomy is kind of bearing fruit
because even though the oilsector shrank, the non oil
sector grew by 4.
6%.
So overall, you know, Theeconomy still grew so very
interesting to show that showsthat hey, you know Your tech and
(11:24):
entertainment can emerge as akey driver of growth We started
this call talking aboutafrobeats.
They are actually exportingtheir culture.
Nigeria_V0-01 (11:33):
Yeah, dude.
Burn a boy, burn a boy, baby.
Nigeria_V0-02 (11:36):
Yeah.
Yeah
Nigeria_V0-01 (11:37):
you know what I mean?
Like,
Nigeria_V0-02 (11:38):
Okay, he was The opening act for the 2022
champions league final.
So his, his rise to stardom isincredible.
He's selling out stadiums in theUK, in Europe, in Paris, uh, in
the U S.
So, yeah, I mean, the beacons.
(12:00):
Of this new Africa, this newNigeria, right?
So, uh, it's definitely comingtogether and hopefully this
continues over the next 10, 20years.
Uh, because there are, thetrends are not lying.
Like, uh, you have these globaltech giants that are
establishing presence inNigeria.
(12:20):
Stripe acquired Paystack, right?
Flutterwave, you just mentioned,raised over a billion dollars.
Nigeria_V0-01 (12:27):
Raising a lot of money.
Google, Microsoft, Facebook, allof them have offices out there.
Also, we mentioned thepopulation was young.
Right.
And so a lot of them are open tothese kinds of new tech
environments, and they'regetting used to that, like
getting used to working in that.
And so very interesting where itall plays into the tech wave,
(12:49):
the population.
And so it's more successful inthis area.
There's a lot of people thatare, you know, taking larger
risks and coming into these techspaces to try to innovate.
One of the interesting startupsthat are coming out of Africa
and Nigeria specifically is, isJumia.
Think about what Amazon kind ofdid for the U S it was a huge
(13:11):
unlock for small businesses, forconsumers in general, right?
Like expecting now that I canget a package by either tonight
or tomorrow is ridiculous, dude.
If I wanted something, whateverit is, I could order it online.
That's a huge unlock for theeconomy because that presents a
lot of opportunity for othercompanies to build up.
(13:33):
There are brands that have beenborn in Amazon, that have made
it out of Amazon, right?
And become an independent brand.
And so Jumio is one of thosethings, a platform that allowed
other businesses to grow.
As well.
And it's a fricking largecompany, dude.
10 K people in Nigeria now.
Nigeria_V0-02 (13:52):
And.
That growth of digital tradejust helps bring more people
participating in the economy.
Nigeria_V0-01 (14:01):
Yeah.
Jumia has achieved so much,right?
There's a lot of transactionshappening on Jumia today.
And it's still like doing thesame thing as Amazon was burning
through money, right?
Not making enough money to, tokeep up.
And it's really difficult tooperate with within this
environment, but that shows youthat even an unprofitable
(14:23):
company can strive in thiseconomy.
It's growing.
It's growing.
They're able to mimic whathappens in Silicon Valley.
Nigeria_V0-02 (14:31):
And other global players start looking at these
economies for growth, big globalplayers.
enter the African market throughacquisitions.
Now Paystack, we just mentionedanother Nigerian fintech
company.
They provide payments processingsolutions, right?
To businesses and consumers.
(14:53):
Stripe, which is the largest,uh, payment processing solution
out there in 2020 and boughtthem for 200 million, right?
So this is one of the largestexits for an African startup,
which is massive, huge lift forthe entire economy.
Uh, the tech and startupecosystem, because everyone
(15:13):
thinks now, Hey, you know what,maybe I can start something and
get enough traction and therecould be significant dollar
amount for this business, forthis idea, right?
Paystack has been an incrediblesuccess story.
They, they, what.
What process close to 25 milliontransactions per month, right?
(15:35):
What every bill, what over abillion.
So, um, you know, these bigcompanies, big international,
uh, multinational corporationsare looking to Africa to be
their growth engine.
Nigeria_V0-01 (15:49):
It's an opportunity for them to grow
where they're having, you know,like a lot of the large FinTech
FinTech firms, Visa andMasterCard, right.
Are investing in companies likePaystack because they're trying
to look for growth.
They're already based in areaswhere growth has kind of stalled
and there's not too many newcustomers anymore.
(16:10):
Like in a market like this,Nigeria, one of the most
populated countries in Africa,you know, they can really grow
in these spaces.
So it's interesting what'shappening for them in, um, tech
generally.
Nigeria_V0-02 (16:25):
yeah.
Now, uh, just shifting gears abit, uh, Jed, how, how does
their, um, trading and theirpolicies look like, because I
know we did cover it in theMexico episode, in the Brazil
episode, so I kind of wanted totouch on that because It's great
saying, Hey, population isyoung.
They're addicted to phones.
E commerce is growing.
(16:46):
They are trying to diversifyfrom oil to tech, but there's
got to be some policies andregulations that's probably
allowing a lot more commerce,right?
Nigeria_V0-01 (16:56):
Yeah.
It's super important for theirgrowth and the growth as a
region, I think in Africa.
Um, so there's.
Two major organizations.
I think I'm just gonna glazeover, which is one is the
African continental free tradearea.
It is a coalition of countriesthat have signed up in Africa to
be able to support each other,similar to what NAFTA would be
(17:18):
in the U.
S.
For North America.
It's kind of the same type offree trade.
Right.
Lowering import export taxes forcertain goods that are
strategic, um, for theiradvantages so that the region
can grow as a whole.
So that's one interesting thingwhere Nigeria takes a really
huge leadership role.
(17:39):
So when they're important policydecisions, Nigeria has a very
large vote.
Um, for that region and thatincreases, it's kind of soft
power in the area.
Yeah.
And then another one is theeconomic community of West
African states.
It's similar to what, um, the AFCFTA is as well.
(18:01):
Uh, where it allows for easytrade and sort of like cultural
trade in between the countriesas well, like it's economic
benefit, economically beneficialfor both countries, supposedly,
that's at least the intent.
Of these organizations.
So we're also seeing that whereeverybody's investing in
regional growth, finding outwhat is best to do for, um, each
(18:24):
other in the region.
I think that's key to a lot ofthese like developing nations
experiencing crazy growth at themoment and who've changed like
entire economies, right?
Like we're talking about Nigeriashifting from oil to tech.
Like that's, what's happening asa result of these partnerships
as well.
Flutter wave is operating inmultiple African.
(18:47):
Um, countries because of easytrade like this as well, right?
Like there's a lot of incentivesfor trade in between these
African countries.
What's happening in Nigeria andgenerally Africa has been pretty
interesting.
And this soft power concept thatwe talked about is also another
way to say that economicallythey're improving.
(19:12):
So it's nice to see that theaverage GDP per capita will
probably also grow as a resultof this.
So it's a nice positive, um,thing that's happening for the
region and for the folks thatlive in Nigeria.
It's crazy dude, like one inevery five Africans is Nigerian.
(19:32):
That's how significant, kind oflike,
Nigeria_V0-02 (19:35):
Wow.
Nigeria_V0-01 (19:35):
from a demographic perspective, Nigeria
is in addition to the soft powerit's like, you know, currently
growing into.
So it's, It's nice that we'reable to explore stuff like this.
I enjoyed the research that wedid.
Nigeria_V0-02 (19:50):
And I wanted to actually drop a link, a Howard
business study link of theinterplay between soft power and
hard power.
You cannot be a true big, big.
Economy, unless you can leverageboth, right?
So we'll drop that link.
It's really interesting.
Soft power is more about beingable to shape the preferences of
others.
(20:10):
They want your KFCs.
They want your Nike sneakers,the Air Jordans, you know,
that's, it shapes thepreferences of someone else.
So it's interesting how, youknow, music media, uh, coming
out from this part of the worldis actually influencing people
on the global stage.
Nigeria_V0-01 (20:27):
Exactly.
We hope you liked this episodeon Nigeria and our kind of foray
into talking about Africancountries.
It was really fun to do all thisresearch and to learn about how
much Nigeria has grown andchanged.
Um, but thank you so much fortuning in tonight.
And as always, stay curious.
(20:52):
The information and opinionsexpressed in this episode are
for informational purposes only.
And are not intended asfinancial investment or
professional advice.
Always consult with a qualifiedprofessional before making any
decisions based on the conceptprovided.
Neither the podcast, nor iscreators are responsible for any
(21:13):
actions taken as a result oflistening to this episode.
In the past few decades, it's been like watching
the world shrink right in frontof us.
Globalization has turned ourplanet into this super connected
place where everything's buzzingborders.
They've become kind of blurry.
(00:21):
I.
Businesses.
Oh man, they're popping up allover the globe and Tech.
Well, it's like the ultimategame changer, making even the
most remote spots possiblemarket hotspots, but the winds
of change are blowing.
Once again, enter globalization.
(00:52):
While it might sound like we'rehitting the brakes, it's a bit
more complicated than that.
Countries are revisiting thewhole global trade angle.
Thanks to the volatile past fewyears we've witnessed from
rising trade tensions, evolvinggeopolitics and supply chain
crises driven by covid.
(01:23):
We're moving from that wholeworldwide party mode to a chill
regional hangout scene.
Shikher Bhandary (01:39):
Over the past few weeks, we've delved deep
into the stories of remarkablecompanies, visionary founders,
and dynamic landscapes ofemerging markets.
So where are we zooming intoday?
The answer, Nigeria, Africa.
We're exploring the remarkablestory of Nigeria, a nation that
(02:00):
has emerged as the largesteconomy With a diversified
economy and abundant naturalresources, Nigeria's journey
isn't just about oil anymore.
It's about tech, entertainment,and an entrepreneurial spirit
that refuses to be quelled.
Join us as we unravel thesecrets behind Nigeria's
(02:22):
transformation on the globalstage.
Jed Tabernero (03:02):
Some songs that have been coming up in my on
repeat playlist.
It's been like number one forthe last maybe three months.
Just one song, bro.
Who Told You featuring Drake.
You know that song?
Nigeria_V0-02 (03:19):
no, no.
Nigeria_V0-01 (03:20):
Who told you bad men can't dance?
You don't know that song?
It's so good.
It's so good.
This really popular song is kindof a part of a wave of
Afrobeats, dude.
It's been hitting the nation.
Everywhere I go, when you hearclubs playing music, there's
some Afro beats.
(03:41):
So crazy,
Nigeria_V0-02 (03:42):
of like, um, reggaeton, right?
Where six years back, how manypeople were actually listening
to like, reggaeton?
Nigeria_V0-01 (03:51):
Yeah.
I mean, people in Latin Americaprobably,
Nigeria_V0-02 (03:54):
talking about like the global stage, right?
Bad Bunny wasn't a thing.
Now Bad Bunny is the biggestartist in the world.
So there's, there's a huge wideshift.
Nigeria_V0-01 (04:02):
Hell yeah.
And I feel like bad bunnyworking with artists like Drake
and folks in the U S like thatwas kind of insane for us to see
and to have songs where likeEnglish and another language was
there.
I don't know.
I felt like that was really coolto see that.
Nigeria_V0-02 (04:18):
Yeah, and and with this whole Afrobeat
sensation, it definitely is anexport of like culture of the
African culture, which is reallycool to see a big driver of all
this comes from Nigeria.
Nigeria_V0-01 (04:32):
Exactly.
And, um, Nigeria, of course, ifyou've paid attention to the
news, know that it's a growingeconomy it's got a GDP of half a
trillion as of 2022.
It's quite a large economy,
Nigeria_V0-02 (04:49):
Yeah, I wouldn't have guessed that it is half a
trillion, right?
That seems like a big number,considering how infrequent.
It's mentioned in businessmedia.
Nigeria_V0-01 (05:02):
Yeah.
I mean, if you've been payingattention, kind of like what
shows like the economist, whichI fricking love, they've been
talking about this phenomenon ofAfrica being kind of the next
economic powerhouse because it'sgrowing so much.
And the theory that theeconomist at least laid out was
that because Africa had a reallyyoung population, Yeah.
(05:27):
And especially in like Nigeria,dude, 70 percent of the
population is under 30.
Isn't that crazy?
Nigeria_V0-02 (05:35):
Say that again.
Say that again.
Nigeria_V0-01 (05:37):
percent of the population is under 30 years
old.
Nigeria_V0-02 (05:41):
That's insane.
Nigeria_V0-01 (05:43):
that's a big number.
That's a big number.
And it's, it's a youngpopulation.
A lot of new ideas are comingout.
Like it's significance in theAfrican stage has been growing,
but it's not immune to likewhat's happened in the world in
terms of inflation.
The topic that we've beentalking about the last two
years, like it's still kind ofcrazy over there and
(06:05):
unemployment is still prettybad.
Like it's up 30%.
So it has its problems, butYou're right.
It's economic significance inthe region is is growing.
Nigeria_V0-02 (06:16):
Yeah.
And what's interesting is, uh,you know, a lot of, um, Indian
companies have explored Nigeriaand Western countries too with
subsidiaries in Nigeria.
So Airtel, which is a bigtelecom company in India has an
Airtel Nigeria.
Right.
Which is public and one of thebiggest stocks on their stock
(06:39):
market.
Same with like, uh, Cadbury, youknow, growing up in the
developing world.
You, you might know as well,Jed, we had Pepsi, we had
Cadbury, we had, you know, thosestaples.
So you do see those subsidiariesstill having a big presence in
the Nigerian market, butstaggering that it is home to
(07:01):
the largest youth population inthe world.
Nigeria_V0-01 (07:05):
Yeah.
It's pretty interesting and Ithink one of the things that
make it such a powerhouse is thenatural resource of oil.
Right?
I think if you know anythingabout oil reserves in the world,
Nigeria has one of the largest.
So it's been kind of endowedwith this natural resource that
(07:27):
they have been exporting at likevery large rates.
Like it's been very significantin its entire GDP.
Oil takes up a lot of that.
And right now, kind of therecent developments in the
industry and oil prices in thelast few years has been very
(07:51):
volatile.
It's hard to stick to oneresource.
We were chatting right beforethis call and we talked about,
you know, Saudi and how that'sgoing for them.
Them switching from a reallyresource heavy economy into like
something more like tech.
Nigeria_V0-02 (08:08):
Yeah, it's just about spreading risk, right?
80 percent of Nigeria's exportrevenue comes from oil.
Like, that is just one misstepin that direction could cripple
your entire economy.
So, uh, which is happening rightnow, right?
In recent years, they have beenhit hard by the decline in oil
production causing a recession.
(08:31):
Right.
Yes, it did rebound into 2021,but still the growth has been
slower than what it was in theearly 2010s.
My money's coming from just onesource.
I need to start diversifyingthat risk.
I need to start investing inother economies.
And that's what we're seeingwith Nigeria, where they're
investing in agriculture, tech.
(08:52):
The population is young, so theywant a cell phone, they want e
commerce.
And we are seeing these trendsaccelerate.
Nigeria_V0-01 (08:59):
Yeah, really interesting.
And you know, what's kind ofbeen happening to oil generally
has really been pushing thattrend, you know, pushing them to
make those decisions about riskand how to spread it.
Like for a 13th consecutivequarter, oil sector has
contracted, you know, it's It'sa long and slow burn for them,
(09:25):
but investing in these newthings, you know, like one of,
one of the biggest kind ofprojects that has happened to
the last few years is that thengo to refinery, this refinery
helps them actually refine theoil, instead of just being able
to extract the natural resource,the raw natural resource, right?
A capability they didn't havebefore.
(09:47):
So.
That's kind of one of the biginvestments that is going to
define how they interact withother industries going forward,
spreading that risk.
Nigeria_V0-02 (09:58):
So you mentioned that the oil sector shrank,
right, for the 13th straightquarter.
So how is it that this countrywith so much dependence on oil
still managed to grow,considering their biggest
industry shrank?
So what's the cause?
Is it, is it the non oil stuff?
Nigeria_V0-01 (10:20):
It's gotta be dude.
It's gotta be right.
Like these other economies liketech have been growing like
crazy, a lot of investments.
Also there's foreign investmentlike crazy because of kind of
the relative stability that it'sachieved over the last few
years.
Very relative by the way.
Still not like Western standardsin a way, but you know, it's
(10:44):
getting there.
Therefore investment is flowingin, especially for tech tech is
a huge driver in this, you know,a lot of large, um, tech giants
are already forming up fromNigeria.
Like flutter wave, right?
Nigeria_V0-02 (11:00):
I just pulled up the stat and it showed that this
whole diversification of theeconomy is kind of bearing fruit
because even though the oilsector shrank, the non oil
sector grew by 4.
6%.
So overall, you know, Theeconomy still grew so very
interesting to show that showsthat hey, you know Your tech and
(11:24):
entertainment can emerge as akey driver of growth We started
this call talking aboutafrobeats.
They are actually exportingtheir culture.
Nigeria_V0-01 (11:33):
Yeah, dude.
Burn a boy, burn a boy, baby.
Nigeria_V0-02 (11:36):
Yeah.
Yeah
Nigeria_V0-01 (11:37):
you know what I mean?
Like,
Nigeria_V0-02 (11:38):
Okay, he was The opening act for the 2022
champions league final.
So his, his rise to stardom isincredible.
He's selling out stadiums in theUK, in Europe, in Paris, uh, in
the U S.
So, yeah, I mean, the beacons.
(12:00):
Of this new Africa, this newNigeria, right?
So, uh, it's definitely comingtogether and hopefully this
continues over the next 10, 20years.
Uh, because there are, thetrends are not lying.
Like, uh, you have these globaltech giants that are
establishing presence inNigeria.
(12:20):
Stripe acquired Paystack, right?
Flutterwave, you just mentioned,raised over a billion dollars.
Nigeria_V0-01 (12:27):
Raising a lot of money.
Google, Microsoft, Facebook, allof them have offices out there.
Also, we mentioned thepopulation was young.
Right.
And so a lot of them are open tothese kinds of new tech
environments, and they'regetting used to that, like
getting used to working in that.
And so very interesting where itall plays into the tech wave,
(12:49):
the population.
And so it's more successful inthis area.
There's a lot of people thatare, you know, taking larger
risks and coming into these techspaces to try to innovate.
One of the interesting startupsthat are coming out of Africa
and Nigeria specifically is, isJumia.
Think about what Amazon kind ofdid for the U S it was a huge
(13:11):
unlock for small businesses, forconsumers in general, right?
Like expecting now that I canget a package by either tonight
or tomorrow is ridiculous, dude.
If I wanted something, whateverit is, I could order it online.
That's a huge unlock for theeconomy because that presents a
lot of opportunity for othercompanies to build up.
(13:33):
There are brands that have beenborn in Amazon, that have made
it out of Amazon, right?
And become an independent brand.
And so Jumio is one of thosethings, a platform that allowed
other businesses to grow.
As well.
And it's a fricking largecompany, dude.
10 K people in Nigeria now.
Nigeria_V0-02 (13:52):
And.
That growth of digital tradejust helps bring more people
participating in the economy.
Nigeria_V0-01 (14:01):
Yeah.
Jumia has achieved so much,right?
There's a lot of transactionshappening on Jumia today.
And it's still like doing thesame thing as Amazon was burning
through money, right?
Not making enough money to, tokeep up.
And it's really difficult tooperate with within this
environment, but that shows youthat even an unprofitable
(14:23):
company can strive in thiseconomy.
It's growing.
It's growing.
They're able to mimic whathappens in Silicon Valley.
Nigeria_V0-02 (14:31):
And other global players start looking at these
economies for growth, big globalplayers.
enter the African market throughacquisitions.
Now Paystack, we just mentionedanother Nigerian fintech
company.
They provide payments processingsolutions, right?
To businesses and consumers.
(14:53):
Stripe, which is the largest,uh, payment processing solution
out there in 2020 and boughtthem for 200 million, right?
So this is one of the largestexits for an African startup,
which is massive, huge lift forthe entire economy.
Uh, the tech and startupecosystem, because everyone
(15:13):
thinks now, Hey, you know what,maybe I can start something and
get enough traction and therecould be significant dollar
amount for this business, forthis idea, right?
Paystack has been an incrediblesuccess story.
They, they, what.
What process close to 25 milliontransactions per month, right?
(15:35):
What every bill, what over abillion.
So, um, you know, these bigcompanies, big international,
uh, multinational corporationsare looking to Africa to be
their growth engine.
Nigeria_V0-01 (15:49):
It's an opportunity for them to grow
where they're having, you know,like a lot of the large FinTech
FinTech firms, Visa andMasterCard, right.
Are investing in companies likePaystack because they're trying
to look for growth.
They're already based in areaswhere growth has kind of stalled
and there's not too many newcustomers anymore.
(16:10):
Like in a market like this,Nigeria, one of the most
populated countries in Africa,you know, they can really grow
in these spaces.
So it's interesting what'shappening for them in, um, tech
generally.
Nigeria_V0-02 (16:25):
yeah.
Now, uh, just shifting gears abit, uh, Jed, how, how does
their, um, trading and theirpolicies look like, because I
know we did cover it in theMexico episode, in the Brazil
episode, so I kind of wanted totouch on that because It's great
saying, Hey, population isyoung.
They're addicted to phones.
E commerce is growing.
(16:46):
They are trying to diversifyfrom oil to tech, but there's
got to be some policies andregulations that's probably
allowing a lot more commerce,right?
Nigeria_V0-01 (16:56):
Yeah.
It's super important for theirgrowth and the growth as a
region, I think in Africa.
Um, so there's.
Two major organizations.
I think I'm just gonna glazeover, which is one is the
African continental free tradearea.
It is a coalition of countriesthat have signed up in Africa to
be able to support each other,similar to what NAFTA would be
(17:18):
in the U.
S.
For North America.
It's kind of the same type offree trade.
Right.
Lowering import export taxes forcertain goods that are
strategic, um, for theiradvantages so that the region
can grow as a whole.
So that's one interesting thingwhere Nigeria takes a really
huge leadership role.
(17:39):
So when they're important policydecisions, Nigeria has a very
large vote.
Um, for that region and thatincreases, it's kind of soft
power in the area.
Yeah.
And then another one is theeconomic community of West
African states.
It's similar to what, um, the AFCFTA is as well.
(18:01):
Uh, where it allows for easytrade and sort of like cultural
trade in between the countriesas well, like it's economic
benefit, economically beneficialfor both countries, supposedly,
that's at least the intent.
Of these organizations.
So we're also seeing that whereeverybody's investing in
regional growth, finding outwhat is best to do for, um, each
(18:24):
other in the region.
I think that's key to a lot ofthese like developing nations
experiencing crazy growth at themoment and who've changed like
entire economies, right?
Like we're talking about Nigeriashifting from oil to tech.
Like that's, what's happening asa result of these partnerships
as well.
Flutter wave is operating inmultiple African.
(18:47):
Um, countries because of easytrade like this as well, right?
Like there's a lot of incentivesfor trade in between these
African countries.
What's happening in Nigeria andgenerally Africa has been pretty
interesting.
And this soft power concept thatwe talked about is also another
way to say that economicallythey're improving.
(19:12):
So it's nice to see that theaverage GDP per capita will
probably also grow as a resultof this.
So it's a nice positive, um,thing that's happening for the
region and for the folks thatlive in Nigeria.
It's crazy dude, like one inevery five Africans is Nigerian.
(19:32):
That's how significant, kind oflike,
Nigeria_V0-02 (19:35):
Wow.
Nigeria_V0-01 (19:35):
from a demographic perspective, Nigeria
is in addition to the soft powerit's like, you know, currently
growing into.
So it's, It's nice that we'reable to explore stuff like this.
I enjoyed the research that wedid.
Nigeria_V0-02 (19:50):
And I wanted to actually drop a link, a Howard
business study link of theinterplay between soft power and
hard power.
You cannot be a true big, big.
Economy, unless you can leverageboth, right?
So we'll drop that link.
It's really interesting.
Soft power is more about beingable to shape the preferences of
others.
(20:10):
They want your KFCs.
They want your Nike sneakers,the Air Jordans, you know,
that's, it shapes thepreferences of someone else.
So it's interesting how, youknow, music media, uh, coming
out from this part of the worldis actually influencing people
on the global stage.
Nigeria_V0-01 (20:27):
Exactly.
We hope you liked this episodeon Nigeria and our kind of foray
into talking about Africancountries.
It was really fun to do all thisresearch and to learn about how
much Nigeria has grown andchanged.
Um, but thank you so much fortuning in tonight.
And as always, stay curious.
(20:52):
The information and opinionsexpressed in this episode are
for informational purposes only.
And are not intended asfinancial investment or
professional advice.
Always consult with a qualifiedprofessional before making any
decisions based on the conceptprovided.
Neither the podcast, nor iscreators are responsible for any
(21:13):
actions taken as a result oflistening to this episode.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.