Africa’s Fintech Boom: From Mobile Money to Purpose-Driven Lending

Couchonomics with Arjun

💡 Africa’s fintech story is no longer a local experiment — it’s a global test case for the future of inclusion, innovation, and capital flows.
In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, we’re joined by Yustus Aribariho, Co-Founder of Furaha Financial (part of SC Ventures by Standard Chartered). Yustus is now on a mission to unlock education financing and opportunity across Sub-Saharan Africa.

We unpack:
💸 Why capital inflows into African fintech lag behind the opportunity
📱 How mobile money became the blueprint for financial inclusion worldwide
🛠 The frictions of regulation, repatriation, and cross-border flows
👥 Why human capital and local talent could be Africa’s ultimate advantage
Furaha isn’t just another fintech — it’s building infrastructure that bridges capital and impact in one of the world’s fastest-growing regions.
🎧 Watch the full episode now on YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts.
Couchonomics with Arjun Season 04 is brought to you by our partners:
Adyen https://www.adyen.com/
Thunes https://thunes.com/
Mastercard https://mastercard.com/
E& https://www.eand.com/
Digit9 https://www.digitnine.com/
SC Ventures https://scventures.io/
Hala https://hala.com/

Chapters:
00:00 Episode Highlights
02:40 State of FinTech in Sub-Saharan Africa
08:11 Challenges and Opportunities in African FinTech
10:48 The Role of Mobile Money and Digital Banks
15:00 Investment Dynamics and Regulatory Challenges
17:57 Affordability and Financial Inclusion
21:46 Alternative Financial Services in Africa
27:46 High Cost of Borrowing and Risk-Based Pricing
28:36 Purpose-Driven Financing
33:37 Addressing the Education Financing Gap
35:43 Building an Ecosystem for Education Loans
37:42 Why Uganda?
45:29 Future Expansion and Challenges
48:04 Business Model and Partnerships
52:25 Vision for the Future
55:26 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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