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Afropolitan: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Afropolitan
The Afropolitan PodcastHosted by Chika Uwazie & Eche EmoleThis isn’t just a podcast. It’s a mirror to the soul of the African diaspora.Each week, co-hosts Chika & Eche sit down with founders, culture-shapers, and bold thinkers to explore the truth behind the highlights, shedding light on grief, growth, legacy, power, identity, and everything in between.You’ll hear the stories you won’t find on panels.The questions most people are too afraid to ask.The answers that stay with you long after the episode ends.From billion-dollar builders to first-gen visionaries, we go there.About Afropolitan:Afropolitan is building a digital nation for Africans and the diaspora—powered by culture, capital, and code.The podcast
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- Yesterday2h 2m
Building Wealth in Nigeria Is Not What You Think It Is — Bankhead
He had 4 hours to empty a beach club with 5 swimming pools. The bulldozers were already working down the shore. He puts the loss at over ₦2 billion, and says compensation didn't cover 2% of it. Ten years earlier, Uber's launch lead walked into his club and asked for 3,000 cars. There were no cars. Just an app on a Lenovo laptop. "I can make you t-shirts. I can make you face caps. I didn't think about equity." Adewunmi Adebesin, better known as Bankhead, has spent 21 years in hospitality and entertainment. He was running Rehab at 20, turned Sunday into a party day with Grill at the Pent, and built Truth Beach Club. Now he's building FanVault, a subscription platform that pays African creators in their own currencies. In this episode we get into the hostesses who made ₦10 million in 2 months reselling his wristbands, the ₦60,000 weekly yam bill for 9 tubers, why he runs nightlife like a cartel, the day he passed on signing Davido, and why he thinks a ₦200 subscription beats a million views. Become a Member of The Room (Afropolitan Private Membership) Join our private community for deeper insights and exclusive content: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast EPISODE SPONSORS Zobo Money — Zobo is a money transfer app built for Africans in the diaspora. It lets you send money from the US, UK, and Europe to countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and more. https://www.zobo.money/afropolitan BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get a $10 bonus when you sign up, complete your KYC, and send $50 or more to Africa. Hisa — Hisa is an all-investments platform that lets you invest in Nigerian stocks, US stocks and ETFs from one app. https://invite.hisa.co/7fkf/AFROPOLITAN BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get your first two trades commission-free. CONVO BY AFROPOLITAN Book 1:1 calls with Africa's boldest thinkers: https://convo.vip/ WHERE TO FIND BANKHEAD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatbankheadboy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adebesin-adewunmi-92299875/ FANVAULT Website: https://fanvault.vip/ AFROPOLITAN Twitter/X: https://x.com/afropolitan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afropolitanpodcast Newsletter: https://www.afropolitan.io/newsletter Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Four hours to move out 2:25 The biggest myth about opening a club 3:20 Who nightlife is really built for 4:13 The creator economy: $3B now, $17B by 2030 5:26 "Creativity is unlimited in Africa. Monetization is a problem." 5:58 Why he calls it modern day slavery 6:57 The ₦200 subscription math 8:02 Do Nigerians really not pay for content? 12:38 Why Twitch and OnlyFans can't take naira 14:16 Why are we watching Tesla ads? 14:59 Pay in shillings, get paid in naira 16:37 The Room on Patreon 17:28 Sponsor: Zobo Money 18:16 Sponsor: Hisa 19:43 Running Nigeria's biggest club at 20 21:34 The only job he ever had (4 weeks) 22:55 Booking Dotstar with no money to pay him 25:22 Passing on Davido 26:58 Before Lagos partied on Sundays 27:47 Fill an empty rooftop, take 20% 29:12 What Gen Z changed about nightlife 31:44 Why strict rules built the best clubs 32:31 Run the club like a cartel 33:50 Name 40 ways to steal from this business 34:36 The hostesses who made ₦10M in 2 months 39:03 Where the stolen money was hiding 41:44 Threatened at knifepoint for catching thieves 44:09 ₦60,000 of yam for 9 tubers 45:47 How kitchens recycle oil with baking powder 47:04 The coastal road comes for Landmark 47:56 The building that wasn't marked 49:06 The phone call that changed everything 50:10 "We lost over 2B" 50:50 The weeks he didn't pick up his phone 53:46 When connections stop working 55:25 Why he still smiles on the coastal road 57:09 Can you build generational wealth here? 58:26 The concession playbook 59:21 Why Ilashe beach houses won't last 1:03:23 "I started Uber in this country" 1:04:15 "I need 3,000 cars" 1:06:00 The 10% of Uber Nigeria he never asked for 1:08:52 Dashboard money 1:11:27 Why club money hits a ceiling 1:12:01 800 women and mocktails 1:14:28 Why Nollywood legends end up crowdfunding 1:17:18 Is Pella bigger than Kai Cenat in Africa? 1:20:10 Davido's ₦20M Twitch problem 1:21:33 The Cardi B content model 1:24:21 Pornhub vs OnlyFans: the $7.6B lesson 1:27:40 Will your audience follow you off YouTube? 1:31:13 The Onitsha marketer model 1:32:29 ₦22M in one hour 1:34:19 Revenue splits built into every post 1:37:02 Asleep by 9pm after 21 years 1:43:50 Rapid fire 1:44:46 The $20K tip from a man who wanted tea 1:45:44 His most expensive mistake 1:48:39 The debtor who sent ₦50M by mistake 1:49:45 A blacklist for club debtors 1:54:13 Who should be in this chair next 1:57:07 What Gege left on the table
- 1 weeks ago1h 35m
Nigeria's Banking Problem Is Not What You Think It Is - Olu Akanmu
40 million people have a government ID and no bank account. Olu Akanmu's fix: lock the regulators, the banks and the fintechs in one room and give them 3 months to go and find them. During the cashless crunch, a bank that needed more server capacity had to write a board paper, get approval, source dollars, import the server, clear it through customs and install it. 3 to 4 months. OPay could look at capacity at 9pm, see 70%, and add 40% by morning. Traders in Balogun started telling customers to get OPay so they could be paid. Olu was President and Co-CEO of OPay Nigeria from 2021 to 2023. Before that he was the third Nigerian hired for MTN's commercial launch, ran retail banking at Bank PHB and FCMB, and was CMO at Airtel. He started out as a pharmacist at Glaxo. Today he's academic director of the Lagos Business School Tech-Leap Initiative. In this episode we get into the POS machine that costs 5% of a bank branch, why MTN sent its South African team home one month after launch, Airtel's 3G towers in places with no smartphones, the ₦10 million he'd put in a dollar bond at 30, and why digital payments grew from 22% to 56% while access to credit went from 2% to 6%. Become a Member of The Room (Afropolitan Private Membership) Join our private community for deeper insights and exclusive content: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast EPISODE SPONSORS Zobo Money — Zobo is a money transfer app built for Africans in the diaspora. It lets you send money from the US, UK, and Europe to countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and more. https://www.zobo.money/afropolitan BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get a $10 bonus when you sign up, complete your KYC, and send $50 or more to Africa. Hisa — Hisa is an all-investments platform that lets you invest in Nigerian stocks, US stocks and ETFs from one app. https://invite.hisa.co/7fkf/AFROPOLITAN BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get your first two trades commission-free. CONVO BY AFROPOLITAN Book 1:1 calls with Africa's boldest thinkers: https://convo.vip/ WHERE TO FIND OLU AKANMU LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olu-akanmu-88280a/ X/Twitter: https://x.com/OluAkanmu Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oluakanmu/ LAGOS BUSINESS SCHOOL TECH-LEAP INITIATIVE Website: https://www.lbs.edu.ng/initiatives/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lbs_techleap/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LBSTech-LeapInitiative AFROPOLITAN Twitter/X: https://x.com/afropolitan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afropolitanpodcast Newsletter: https://www.afropolitan.io/newsletter Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast TIMESTAMPS 0:00 40 million people with an ID and no bank account 2:50 The biggest myth about scaling in Africa 3:48 The managers behind the famous founders 6:44 Two founders in: who do you hire next? 8:45 The 21,000 agent ceiling OPay blew past 10:12 How business school teaches you to exclude half the market 12:03 A POS machine is 5% of the cost of a branch 13:44 Selling mobile to a country with 0.4 lines per 100 people 16:48 When 4 out of 5 Nigerians wanted to be on MTN 19:43 Influencer marketing is mercenary marketing 21:33 The Room on Patreon 23:04 Sponsor: Zobo Money 23:49 Sponsor: Hisa 24:58 What winners in telecoms, banking and fintech all do 27:35 Big Brother influencers and the wrong customer 28:38 "We're in the era of Indomie marketing" 30:48 From Glaxo pharmacist to banker 32:25 The evening Bank PHB came for a telco guy 35:00 "Give me two weeks": Googling retail banking 37:10 What foreign companies get wrong about Nigeria 38:05 Airtel's 3G towers in places with no smartphones 40:34 MTN sent the South Africans home a month after launch 42:32 Why Chinese managers show up in Balogun market 44:09 The cashless policy and OPay's 6x growth 46:05 Board papers, customs and a 4 month wait for a server 47:46 Adding 40% capacity overnight 49:42 Eche's two-minute OPay account test 52:46 Redesigning Nigeria's payments stack from scratch 57:28 The banking lobby vs the telco route 59:24 Lock them in a room for 3 months 1:01:29 Is Nigeria hard, or does it punish ignorance? 1:04:25 3 things to know before building wealth in Nigeria 1:06:23 30 years old with ₦10 million: what he'd do 1:08:05 Omoluwabi and the price of a good name 1:11:49 Compounding, excellence and peace of mind 1:14:21 The maths teacher who became a professor 1:16:03 Nigerian tech and the printing press 1:18:48 Rapid fire: beans, telecoms and "too late" 1:22:59 What the second seat learns that founders miss 1:25:01 Why big banks can't build fintechs 1:29:22 Payments grew. Credit didn't. 1:31:08 What credit does for a trader in the market 1:32:56 Who should be in this chair next 1:34:51 Would he go into politics?
- 2 weeks ago1h 56m
The Dark Side of Being Afrobeats’ Most Wanted Director — TG Omori
For six months he lay in a hospital bed while the internet decided he had fallen off. "He doesn't shoot no more." "Nobody rocks with him anymore." "He has outpriced himself out of the market." He was fighting for his life. The first kidney came from his brother. After a seven-hour surgery, the doctors came back with the news: no flow, his body wouldn't take it, and it had to come out. Before they wheeled him back into theatre he posted online and said what he believed was his last prayer. "God, let your will be done." TG Omori is the Headies-winning director behind some of the defining videos of modern Afrobeats, from the Marlian era with Naira Marley to Asake's run of Terminator, Bandana and Organise. He started out making whole videos on ₦2 million budgets. Today a single video can run past $100,000. In this episode we get into why a director can take a big budget and still go home with nothing, the year he and Asake worked like "two people in one body" with no treatments and no revisions, why he dropped his public fight for 10% of music video streams, what dialysis really costs in Nigeria (about ₦31 million a year), the "pull me on" texts from friends still in the hood, and why every day is a good day for greatness. Become a Member of The Room (Afropolitan Private Membership) Join our private community for deeper insights and exclusive content: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast EPISODE SPONSORS Zobo Money — Zobo is a money transfer app built for Africans in the diaspora. It lets you send money from the US, UK, and Europe to countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and more. https://www.zobo.money/afropolitan BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get a $10 bonus when you sign up, complete your KYC, and send $50 or more to Africa. Hisa — Hisa is an all-investments platform that lets you invest in Nigerian stocks, US stocks and ETFs from one app. https://invite.hisa.co/7fkf/AFROPOLITAN BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get your first two trades commission-free. CONVO BY AFROPOLITAN Book 1:1 calls with Africa's boldest thinkers: https://convo.vip/ WHERE TO FIND TG OMORI Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boy_director X/Twitter: https://x.com/boy_director Website: https://tgomori.com AFROPOLITAN Twitter/X: https://x.com/afropolitan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afropolitanpodcast Newsletter: https://www.afropolitan.io/newsletter Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast TIMESTAMPS 0:00 "I said my last prayer" 1:52 The biggest myth about music video directors 2:52 Why directors go home with nothing 4:22 Why a $100,000 video pays more in Lagos than LA 5:59 The hidden cost of shooting in Lagos 6:52 Area boys at 3 a.m. on a private set 10:44 The video that made him feel he'd arrived 12:58 "It was a cult": first taste of real fame 14:25 Organise and the poetry of Parajanov 15:04 The backlash he got for shooting to the emotion 16:57 "I want to create madness" 19:00 Let directors have a system 21:34 When fans started following the director 22:25 He was supposed to be an actor 24:19 No new videos in 3 years, and the love stayed 26:17 The Room on Patreon 27:06 Sponsor: Zobo Money 27:51 Sponsor: Hisa 29:47 Why artists leave the director who made them 33:46 Why stars stop jumping for the camera 35:35 "I had the best of Asake's years" 37:43 The Asake run, video after video 38:36 "Two people in one body" 42:52 The first cut that went straight to YouTube 44:54 The video where he couldn't read Asake anymore 46:28 When artists outgrow the people who got them out 48:20 Nothing is permanent. Build your own ecosystem 51:40 The chapter of his life he couldn't direct 54:47 The diagnosis 56:33 "You don't have insurance. Go back to Nigeria" 57:43 In hospital while people said he fell off 59:09 His brother's kidney 59:47 "My body is not accepting it" 1:01:47 Why he couldn't call his mum 1:02:47 A second transplant 1:03:36 200,000 messages and a deactivated Instagram 1:08:57 Shoot every video like it's your last 1:10:20 What dialysis really costs in Nigeria 1:12:01 A $2.5 million transplant insurance wouldn't cover 1:14:22 His dad's ₦50K salary 1:18:47 The business of music videos for young directors 1:22:58 "When you're in demand, they'll pay" 1:26:03 The lesson that cost him the most 1:28:06 "Every day is a good day for greatness" 1:30:48 Why he fought for 10% of video streams 1:33:24 Why he dropped the royalty fight 1:36:02 Before your body sends you the bill 1:38:22 Rapid fire 1:39:05 The people Afrobeats doesn't credit enough 1:41:07 The Asake song he wishes he shot 1:42:49 Survivor's guilt 1:44:42 He didn't know directing existed until 16 1:45:57 "Put you on to my pain?" 1:48:03 Who should be in this chair next
- 3 weeks ago1h 6m
The Dark Side Of Being A Female Afrobeats Artist Nobody Talks About - Fave
A major label signed her, handed her enough money to go buy a car, and then let her music sit. So she asked to leave. Less than a month after she got out, "Intentions" took off and it hasn't slowed down since. Fave doesn't dance around why she walked. "What I want as an artist from my label is the money to market my music," she says. "I don't think they truly understand how things work here in Africa." Two years into a deal with Atlantic, she decided she would rather bet on herself than keep fighting to be somebody's priority. She started as a law student posting one-minute freestyles to Twitter. Within 24 hours the internet couldn't look away. Since then she's been named Rookie of the Year, tapped as an Apple Music Africa Rising act and a Spotify EQUAL Africa ambassador, and pulled onto tracks by some of the biggest names in the game. This is the artist behind Baby Riddim, Kante and Intentions. In this episode we get into the double standard female artists face across Africa, the "Afrobeats Queen" label and why crowning one woman for 200 million people makes no sense, rebelling against a strict Pentecostal home to chase music, getting stranded at a Kenyan airport by a promoter who cancelled the flights home, why she left Atlantic, and how Kante with Davido actually came together. Become a Member of The Room (Afropolitan Private Membership) Join our private community for deeper insights and exclusive content: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast EPISODE SPONSORS Zobo Money — Zobo is a money transfer app built for Africans in the diaspora. It lets you send money from the US, UK, and Europe to countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and more. https://www.zobo.money/afropolitan BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get a $10 bonus when you sign up, complete your KYC, and send $50 or more to Africa. Hisa — Hisa is an all-investments platform that lets you invest in Nigerian stocks, US stocks and ETFs from one app. https://invite.hisa.co/7fkf/AFROPOLITAN BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get your first two trades commission-free. CONVO BY AFROPOLITAN Book 1:1 calls with Africa's boldest thinkers: https://convo.vip/ WHERE TO FIND FAVE Music: https://onerpm.link/RNBling Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faveszn TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@favesavage X/Twitter: https://x.com/faveszn AFROPOLITAN Twitter/X: https://x.com/afropolitan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afropolitanpodcast Newsletter: https://www.afropolitan.io/newsletter Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast TIMESTAMPS 0:00 "It's hard to manage a female artist" 0:23 The law student who went viral in 24 hours 2:08 Subscribe to the Afropolitan family 2:36 The difficulty of a male-dominated industry 3:00 "We're held to very different standards" 3:45 Judged by everything but the music 4:16 Why female artists give more on stage 5:06 Sexual advances just to get in the room 5:21 The labels that won't sign women 6:33 Wanting to put other women on 7:18 How streaming changed who gets to blow 7:47 Grouped together, never seen as individuals 8:31 Tiwa Savage vs Ayra Starr makes no sense 9:00 Too scared to headline a show at home 9:52 "Afrobeats Queen? One woman for 200 million?" 10:57 Why the comments still keep her up 12:24 A strict home and the case for rebellion 13:42 The talent her parents wouldn't let her nurture 15:31 The viral video before the song existed 16:40 A text from Olamide and a run to Lagos 17:43 Follow Chika and Eche on Snapchat 18:23 The Room: join the Afropolitan Patreon 19:14 Sponsor: Zobo Money 20:02 Sponsor: Hissa 21:06 "Wage war against your parents" 22:01 Studying law and why she couldn't be a lawyer 22:48 Baby Riddim was too big to ignore 23:31 Building a team you can actually trust 25:32 "It's a jungle, especially in Lagos" 27:00 Did law school help the business of music 30:43 Where "Dutchie girl" came from 32:00 Rebelling against the stylist template 33:49 Why she keeps getting compared to Tems 36:15 Men, women, and thumbnails that perform 37:45 Leaving Atlantic Records 38:24 "Money to ball vs money to market" 39:53 What Don Jazzy spent on Calm Down 40:52 Independent, then Intentions exploded 41:10 Is independence actually worth it 43:00 The Kenyan promoter who stranded her team 46:26 The artist's side of leaving a label 48:00 "I was very depressed at my label" 50:08 Kante with Davido: how it came together 52:55 The European tour and reaching the diaspora 54:00 Does music travel organically 56:03 Rapid fire begins 56:33 Studio at 2am, the night crawler 57:02 Dating apps or meeting organically 58:45 Why she's building on Snapchat 1:00:08 Favorite Nigerian food and city 1:01:49 Why artists are leaving Nigeria 1:03:11 The first time she hit the stage 1:05:10 Who should be in this chair next
- 4 weeks ago1h 9m
Dangote Refinery’s IPO Is Not What You Think It Is
The entire stock market of Africa's biggest economy is worth about $114 billion. One refinery just outside Lagos is asking investors to value it at $50 billion. On day one. That is one company reaching for almost half of a whole national exchange, and it just opened its doors to outside money through a private placement that raised billions. So we brought in someone who actually builds the rails for this. Eke Urum walks through what the Dangote Refinery IPO really is, why he calls it "anchor infrastructure," and why he thinks it joins the short list of Nigerian companies you can almost never go wrong buying. He also names his own reservations, from the crude supply risk to the way the business has leaned on the Nigerian system. Eke Urum is the founder and CEO of Risevest, the dollar investment platform that acquired Chaka and now runs Hisa, the app letting everyday people own Nigerian and US stocks in minutes. He has spent years tearing down the paperwork that kept regular people out of the market. Sign up for Hisa - https://invite.hisa.co/7fkf/AFROPOLITAN In this episode we get into where a Nigerian in the diaspora should actually put money right now, why refineries make money from far more than fuel, the $80 to $100 billion number Eke puts on Dangote over the next decade, how private placements work and who really gets in first, the 600,000 trading accounts in a country of 200 million people, and a step by step plan to get ready for the September IPO. Become a Member of The Room (Afropolitan Private Membership) Join our private community for deeper insights and exclusive content: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast EPISODE SPONSORS Zobo Money — Zobo is a money transfer app built for Africans in the diaspora. It lets you send money from the US, UK, and Europe to countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and more. https://www.zobo.money/afropolitan BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get a $10 bonus when you sign up, complete your KYC, and send $50 or more to Africa. Hisa — Hisa is an all in one investing app that lets you own Nigerian and US stocks. Sign up with your BVN or NIN and start trading in minutes. https://invite.hisa.co/7fkf/AFROPOLITAN BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get your first two trades for free. Download on the App Store or Google Play. CONVO BY AFROPOLITAN Book 1:1 calls with Africa's boldest thinkers: https://convo.vip/ WHERE TO FIND EKE URUM X/Twitter: https://x.com/eldivine LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekeurum RISEVEST Website: https://www.risevest.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rise.vest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rise-vest HISA Website: https://hisa.co Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hisaapp AFROPOLITAN Twitter/X: https://x.com/afropolitan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afropolitanpodcast Newsletter: https://www.afropolitan.io/newsletter Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Owning a piece of Dangote 1:23 Quick one: subscribe to the family 1:40 Where should I put my money in Nigeria? 2:19 Start with the stock market 3:35 Real estate in Lagos and the liquidity trap 4:23 The small businesses nobody is funding yet 5:33 Robinhood, Hisa and democratizing access 6:56 Own things that go up in value 7:45 Our parents did it the broker way 9:17 Why we made this episode 9:50 What the refinery really represents 10:46 Why refineries print money through byproducts 11:42 Getting the shares before the open market 12:16 A $50B valuation next to the whole NGX 12:37 Stop anchoring to the past 14:53 Why it could be worth $80 to $100B in 10 years 15:49 The 4 or 5 stocks you can't go wrong buying 16:40 50/50 diaspora signups since relaunch 17:54 Dividends in dollars and currency risk 19:15 Follow Chika and Eche on Snapchat 19:55 The Room on Patreon 20:47 Sponsor: Zobo Money 21:35 Sponsor: Hisa 22:39 A rocket, two chopsticks, and a fact 23:54 Story vs numbers in the internet era 25:45 His reservations about Dangote and the system 27:03 The $20B in remittances that just gets consumed 31:01 Money you consume is gone 31:55 What private placements actually are 33:47 Don't chase the IPO, own the business 35:50 India and Kenya as diaspora playbooks 38:35 A stock market built by colonial masters 41:45 The 7-Eleven that doesn't exist in Nigeria 43:40 Wounded by paperwork at the exchange 46:29 600K accounts in a country of 200 million 48:43 Betting everything on convenience 50:26 The real risks: crude supply and the debt 51:47 The crude supply risk nobody talks about 52:50 How to prepare for the September IPO 56:18 Can you become a millionaire off Nigerian stocks? 1:00:53 Proof homegrown capital can build Nigeria 1:02:57 $1M per megawatt: the power plant nobody built 1:04:10 Rapid fire 1:06:19 Give your money a worldview 1:08:16 Who should be in this chair next
- Sep 2, 20261h 48m
Nigeria's Minister Exposes Why The World Makes Us Look Worse Than We Are - Tunji Alausa
For over 40 years, one problem broke every education minister who walked in before him. Strikes that shut universities for months at a time. Students who started a four-year degree with no idea when they would actually graduate. He says it took one president and a handful of honest meetings to end it. When his team asked the president to approve a 40% salary increase for academic staff, he thought the number was too much to ask for. The president looked up and said yes. "It was as if I won a jackpot," he says. "I was about to run out of his office before he called me back." Dr. Tunji Alausa is a physician and nephrologist who built a career across Nigeria, the UK and the US, and served as chief resident at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. He came home to serve as Minister of State for Health, and today he runs education for a country of 220 million people, roughly 70% of them under the age of 30. In this episode we get into the real number of out-of-school children and why he says UNICEF and UNESCO have it wrong, flipping classrooms from 70% theory to 80% practice, taking nursing enrollment from 28,000 to over 140,000 a year, why he tore up the idea that a plumber ranks below a doctor, bringing Nigerian history and a new national anthem back into the classroom, and a blunt message to the diaspora: come back home before the opportunity is gone. Become a Member of The Room (Afropolitan Private Membership) Join our private community for deeper insights and exclusive content: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast EPISODE SPONSORS Zobo Money — Zobo is a money transfer app built for Africans in the diaspora. It lets you send money from the US, UK, and Europe to countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and more. https://www.zobo.money/afropolitan BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get a $10 bonus when you sign up, complete your KYC, and send $50 or more to Africa. Follow Chika on Snapchat https://snapchat.com/t/c1ercPU6 WHERE TO FIND DR. TUNJI ALAUSA X: https://x.com/DrTunjiAlausa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtunjialausa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-tunji-alausa FEDERAL MINISTRY OF EDUCATION X: https://x.com/NigEducation AFROPOLITAN Twitter/X: https://x.com/afropolitan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afropolitanpodcast Newsletter: https://www.afropolitan.io/newsletter Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast TIMESTAMPS 0:00 The lines that stopped a 40-year problem 1:41 Quick favor: hit subscribe 1:57 The biggest myth about running education 2:52 "ASUU will be your biggest problem" 4:26 40 years of broken promises and mistrust 7:17 No more bogus agreements 8:06 "No committee between you and me" 8:44 The 40% raise he thought was too much 9:00 "It was as if I won a jackpot" 9:23 Diverting looted funds into education 10:11 "Nigeria is in a renaissance" 11:40 The 20 states that couldn't pay salaries 14:16 The president who reads every paper by dawn 15:32 A message to the diaspora 16:48 Equipping Lagos hospitals from Chicago 18:50 How Tinubu became his mentor 19:20 The year he knew Tinubu wanted the presidency 20:53 "I'd be a hypocrite to stay in America" 21:41 "Polish your shoes" — the offer to serve 22:48 From Health to Education in 18 months 23:25 Flipping the classroom to practical-first 25:10 "Government needs more madmen" 25:52 How technical schools were made to look primitive 27:49 "A plumber earns more than a doctor" 28:37 Suffering in the midst of plenty 30:22 The fight over polytechnic degrees 33:57 The dual-mandate win for colleges of education 36:13 "Why send your child abroad?" 38:03 How Ilorin stayed number one by banning strikes 40:44 24 Nigerian universities ranked, 17 of them public 43:14 Billions into med schools, labs and hostels 47:09 Taking campuses off the grid with solar 50:02 Building job creators, not job seekers 52:53 Nursing: from 28,000 to 140,000 a year 54:55 Medical seats: from 5,000 toward 20,000 57:36 The "Olodo uprising" and graduates of nothing 58:34 When Nigeria had water and light 24/7 1:04:02 Putting real skills back in school 1:05:41 Coursera certificates for global jobs 1:07:48 Rewriting the curriculum from the ground up 1:10:38 "Without data, you're flying blind" 1:12:17 Why history was cut, and how it came back 1:15:39 Why the national anthem changed 1:17:00 "We do not have 15 million out-of-school children" 1:20:20 Counting on the grid: the real numbers 1:25:00 "It's not the West's job to fix us" 1:28:17 Keeping children safe in school 1:32:25 A message to the bandits 1:34:37 Rapid fire: Chicago or Lagos? 1:37:33 What Africa should stop waiting for 1:42:48 Favorite food: beans and dodo 1:43:31 The book that shaped him 1:45:53 Who should be in this chair next
- Aug 26, 20261h 19m
Beauty Founder Exposes What It Takes For A Woman To Build In Africa - Diiadem
She landed in China with $1,500 in her pocket. That money had to cover the flight she had already booked, somewhere to sleep, and the products she came to manufacture. The factory told her the minimum order was 12,000 pieces. She stayed anyway. She paid a $1,000 deposit on a $6,000 order, called her cousin and her father from a hotel room until they sent what they could, and flew back to Lagos still owing the balance. Then she signed her car papers over to a loan company. "Collect the car. Just give me the loan." Ten years later Beauty by AD makes 37 shades of foundation and sold out a three day London pop up on the first afternoon. Adeola Adeyemi, known everywhere as Diiadem, is the founder and CEO of Beauty by AD, one of the few Nigerian cosmetics brands that manufactures its own base products from scratch instead of buying and stamping. She joined The Real Housewives of Lagos in season 3, represented the Nigerian beauty industry at the UK House of Lords in 2025, and was one of the first Nigerian creators Snapchat ever paid. In this episode we get into the manufacturer who told her her money could not do anything for her, why 15 shades of foundation were not enough and 37 are, the blogger who accused her of sleeping with a sitting governor and what she did about it, the mother she only met once before a stroke took the answers away, the empty refill palette she designed while sitting on a toilet seat, why she hands every new product to working makeup artists before it ships, and the $3,000 to $5,000 she pulls off Snapchat every two weeks. Become a Member of The Room (Afropolitan Private Membership) Join our private community for deeper insights and exclusive content: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast EPISODE SPONSORS Zobo Money — Zobo is a money transfer app built for Africans in the diaspora. It lets you send money from the US, UK, and Europe to countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and more. https://www.zobo.money/afropolitan BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get a $10 bonus when you sign up, complete your KYC, and send $50 or more to Africa. CONVO BY AFROPOLITAN Book 1:1 calls with Africa's boldest thinkers: https://convo.vip/ WHERE TO FIND ADEOLA DIIADEM ADEYEMI Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/@diiadem Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diiadem TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adeoladiiadem X: https://x.com/adeoladiiadem Threads: https://www.threads.com/@diiadem LinkedIn: https://ng.linkedin.com/in/adeola-adeyemi- Website: https://adeoladiiadem.com BEAUTY BY AD Website: https://beautybyad.com Shop: https://beautybyad.com/shop Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautybyad TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@beautybyad Threads: https://www.threads.com/@beautybyad AFROPOLITAN Twitter/X: https://x.com/afropolitan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afropolitanpodcast Newsletter: https://www.afropolitan.io/newsletter Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast TIMESTAMPS 0:00 "I will debunk it" 0:40 The $1,500 that had to cover everything 1:15 Her first 800,000, made by hand 1:38 Subscribe to the Afropolitan Podcast 2:09 Driving around Lagos with a makeup box in the car 2:57 Mixing shades by hand because nothing matched 3:25 "How long do you want to do this for?" 4:29 Why Western brands still miss African undertones 5:32 Building from customer feedback instead of trends 6:56 37 shades and the for us by us rule 7:42 Self funded, and why that is not an excuse 8:47 $1,500 for a flight, a factory and a bed 9:32 The manufacturer's verdict 11:02 Paying the $1,000 deposit anyway 12:13 Her cousin and her father borrowed the rest 13:13 Handing over her car papers for a loan 14:31 What the first production run actually cost 14:54 The first store in Lekki 17:26 Letting people go in peace 18:53 The Room on Patreon 19:45 Sponsor: Zobo Money 20:30 Joining Real Housewives of Lagos on purpose 23:48 Why every influencer needs an exit plan 27:19 Why she does not overpay influencers 28:34 The mother she never got to know 30:36 Refusing to blame her mother 33:26 The blogger who tied her success to a governor 36:11 "Even if a man is sponsoring me, what is your business" 38:33 The naira going from 318 to 1,600 42:15 Sephora versus a beauty brand in Lagos 44:44 The influencers abroad who would not touch African brands 45:38 The London fair that sold out on day one 48:27 What Nigerian women actually spend on beauty 51:52 People copying her products 52:59 The empty palette she thought up on a toilet seat 56:54 "Two things I can't keep are friends and men" 1:00:17 In no hurry to be married 1:04:53 Giving every makeup artist a sample 1:05:58 Why Snapchat builds cult followings in Nigeria 1:07:46 Getting verified, then getting paid 1:08:59 $3,000 to $5,000 every 2 weeks 1:11:52 Rapid fire 1:15:15 Her favourite product she makes 1:16:26 Who should be in this chair next
- Aug 19, 20261h 2m
The Dark Side of Afrobeats Nobody Talks About - WurlD
WurlD went digging through his own royalty data and found somebody else's name sitting where his publisher should be. Three, four years of money had already moved. He only caught it because he knew what to look for. Back in 2015 he started showing Nigerian producers how to register their records properly. IPI numbers, publishing splits, performing rights organizations, all of it. "I made some enemies in the process," he says, because he was walking into rooms telling people the person handling their paperwork was putting the records under their own name. WurlD is Sadiq Onifade. Born in Lagos, studied computer science at Georgia State while sneaking into Atlanta studios at night, wrote records for Akon and B.o.B before anyone would sign him as an artist, co-wrote Davido and Chris Brown's Blow My Mind, and made I Love Girls With Trobul with Sarz. His new album Born To Win is on the way. In this episode we get into the EP he pulled off every streaming platform, the two years he sat on a finished hit, the night he almost got stuck in Berlin filming COLORS as the world shut down, why he left clothes behind to fit his recording rig in a suitcase, and why he gave Blow My Mind away. Become a Member of The Room (Afropolitan Private Membership) Join our private community for deeper insights and exclusive content: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast EPISODE SPONSORS Zobo Money — Zobo is a money transfer app built for Africans in the diaspora. It lets you send money from the US, UK, and Europe to countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and more. https://www.zobo.money/afropolitan BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get a $10 bonus when you sign up, complete your KYC, and send $50 or more to Africa. CONVO BY AFROPOLITAN Book 1:1 calls with Africa's boldest thinkers: https://convo.vip/ WHERE TO FIND WURLD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisiswurld TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisiswurld Twitter/X: https://x.com/thisisWurlD YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thisiswurld WURLD LIVE Website: https://www.wurldlive.com/ Live in Atlanta at Terminal West, Sunday September 6. Doors 7:00 PM, show 8:45 PM. Full live band, new music. Tickets: https://www.axs.com/events/1540218/wurld-tickets AFROPOLITAN Twitter/X: https://x.com/afropolitan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afropolitanpodcast Newsletter: https://www.afropolitan.io/newsletter Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast TIMESTAMPS 0:00 The producers he worked with were not registered 0:59 "We don't like it when it sounds too American" 1:21 Someone else put their name on his publishing 1:40 A quick word about that subscribe button 2:12 Lagos to Atlanta, and how the career started 2:29 The calling he had to hide from his parents 2:45 "People wanted songwriters more than African artists" 4:27 Writing for Akon and B.o.B 5:37 When labels wanted the artist instead of the writer 6:10 The EP he pulled off every streaming platform 6:38 A house record that blew up in Eastern Europe 7:04 The beat that became Show You Off 8:10 Do writing code and writing songs rhyme? 9:17 The Tiny Desk moment that explained songwriting 9:38 How the money actually moves 11:57 Coming home to a business run on vibes 12:37 The registrations that kept coming back blank 12:54 "I made some enemies in the process" 13:47 Producers with huge records still chasing credits 14:34 "If that can happen to someone like me that's informed" 15:14 Lagos-born, US-raised, and why that is the advantage 16:11 Quiet in life, loud in the music 16:41 Meeting Sarz in LA 18:49 Recording Mad in Lagos 19:01 The Room on Patreon 19:52 Sponsor: Zobo Money 20:38 Sitting on a hit for two years 21:41 Putting the producer's name on the front 22:46 Where the blue came from 24:55 Why he slowed the tempo down 27:28 "Trust your gut and the God feeling" 27:59 "Show You Off was not a trend" 29:21 The Afrobeats and Nigerian-American disconnect 30:54 "If you're going to speak Yoruba, speak it with the gut" 32:16 CDs to iTunes to streaming 33:51 The 2021 breakdown 34:50 Filming Ghost Town at COLORS as the world shut down 35:30 Almost stuck in Berlin and London 36:24 Making Lagos feel like home after 18 years away 37:12 He traded clothes for his recording gear 38:09 "The industry only loves you when you're on top" 39:03 "I'm moving on every song" 40:24 "Find your tribe and communicate" 41:44 "Don't sound like another WurlD" 42:11 Keeping Blow My Mind or giving it away 44:20 "More hype than actually great music" 47:06 The new album and what is coming 49:07 What AI is about to do to creatives 51:40 "I've heard more no's in my career than yes" 52:45 Where the name WurlD came from 54:08 Rapid fire 57:48 The producers he loves working with 1:01:13 What legacy looks like for WurlD 1:01:41 Who should be in this chair next
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About Afropolitan
The Afropolitan PodcastHosted by Chika Uwazie & Eche EmoleThis isn’t just a podcast. It’s a mirror to the soul of the African diaspora.Each week, co-hosts Chika & Eche sit down with founders, culture-shapers, and bold thinkers to explore the truth behind the highlights, shedding light on grief, growth, legacy, power, identity, and everything in between.You’ll hear the stories you won’t find on panels.The questions most people are too afraid to ask.The answers that stay with you long after the episode ends.From billion-dollar builders to first-gen visionaries, we go there.About Afropolitan:Afropolitan is building a digital nation for Africans and the diaspora—powered by culture, capital, and code.The podcast
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