Wave just raised $200M, at a $1.7B valuation.
I’ve always been fascinated by how the mobile money emergence in Sub-Saharan Africa has played out. Mainly because it is an interesting case of the Innovator’s Dilemma, Clayton Christensen’s theory of how disruption happens within industries.
Today, mobile money is by far the most popular way for people to move money and access basic financial services across SSA. (As of 2020, there were 300+ live mobile money services worldwide. Out of these, 55.2% were in Africa).
But even more interesting is the next sequence of innovation that we are beginning to see. Wave, an alternative to the telco-operated mobile money solutions, is not only positioning itself as a viable alternative, but also the back-bone of Fintech innovation across the continent. This will unlock innovation at an unprecedented scale.
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