Investing in African Talent with YC's Michael Seibel & Microtraction's Kwamena Afful

Today's guests are Michael Seibel, the Managing Director of Y Combinator, and Kwamena Afful, a Founding Partner of Microtraction. Michael has been an avid supporter of the African tech ecosystem. Since his first trip to Lagos in 2016, and since Paystack joined YC's winter batch earlier that year, the number of African startups that have participated in the global accelerator has grown to 89. And for Microtraction, the early-stage fund was founded in 2017, in part in relation to the increased global interest in the African tech ecosystem, where Microtraction's early financial support and local know-how could help fill the gap. In this episode, we hear from Michael and Kwamena about their shared perspectives on the opportunities they see and their bet on African talent.00:00 - Intro03:08 - Honorary Chieftan Michael Seilbel04:28 - Supporting the African tech ecosystem07:41 - Fintech deep dive10:19 - Software companies crossing borders14:49 - Solving African problems22:24 - What about the continent's population growth?25:47 - Investing in African talent29:38 - Creating jobs31:44 - Connecting African talent to the global marketplace🔗 Our Links🔔 Youtube -  https://youtube.com/@theflipafrica💻 Website - https://theflip.africa🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/theflipafrica👥 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theflipafrica📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/theflipafrica

Om Podcasten

The Flip is an editorial-style podcast exploring contextually relevant insights from entrepreneurs and investors changing the status quo in Africa. The name The Flip comes from the opportunity to flip the script – question some of the pervasive narratives on entrepreneurship, challenge the ubiquity of Silicon Valley thought leadership, and champion the entrepreneurs building a future inspired by Africa. Produced and hosted by Johannesburg-based entrepreneur and American expat Justin Norman. Sayo Folawiyo is the executive producer and b-mic.