Afropolitan

Eight years. A chart-topping podcast. A deal with one of the biggest podcast networks in America. And Les Alfred still asks herself what it was all for.

Her words: "I've worked so hard and I've sacrificed so much and it didn't get me what I thought it would." She expected more money and a bigger platform by now. When Chika asked if being a Black woman had anything to do with it, she answered in one word: "Probably."

Les started Balanced Black Girl in 2018 while still working a corporate job, recording in her bedroom in Seattle. It grew into a chart-topping, NAACP Image Award-nominated show, signed with Dear Media in 2023, and was rebranded last year as She's So Lucky.

In this episode we get into the Monday thought that turned into a Dear Media offer by Thursday, why she calls naming her brand after balance a mistake, the $2,500 check that made her an angel investor, the three wishes her mom kept from first grade, the most expensive lesson she's learned, and what to look for in year three when the work is working but the money isn't moving.

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 LES ALFRED

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lesalfred

SHE'S SO LUCKY

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shessoluckypod

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@shessoluckypod

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shessoluckypod

Newsletter: https://shessolucky.kit.com/bestcase

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 "What was it all for?"

2:12 Before we start

2:28 The biggest myth about building a podcast business

3:23 How she lets guests actually talk

4:56 The only good reason to start a podcast

6:03 Why asking your audience for money feels awkward

7:59 When does a Black woman podcaster get the big deal?

9:17 Every way a podcast makes money

10:50 Why she fought video for years

12:58 How she grew an audio-only show

14:40 How she uses AI

15:05 A Monday thought, a Thursday email from Dear Media

16:36 What joining a network changed

17:25 Behind the scenes with Chika and Eche

18:05 The Room: Afropolitan's private membership

18:56 Sponsor: Zobo Money

19:41 Sponsor: Hisa

20:48 Growing up Black in America, explained for Africans

23:54 Her Nigerian best friend

25:07 The 2008 crash that ended her journalism dream

26:17 Falling asleep at a corporate finance job

27:16 The wellness blog she started at 24

28:29 Why old-school journalists struggle with new media

31:09 From Balanced Black Girl to She's So Lucky

33:08 How her audience took the rebrand

34:20 How to create your own luck

35:28 Reinventing at 50: Amy DuBois Barnett's story

37:35 What Oprah taught her at Cannes Lions

39:53 Her quieter season

40:19 "It didn't get me what I thought it would"

41:41 Does being a Black woman have anything to do with it?

43:03 "Grifters are winning"

44:05 The three wishes her mom kept from first grade

45:41 Grading herself on the five types of wealth

47:53 How a broke social media manager got into angel investing

52:22 Her first angel check was $2,500

53:15 What an SPV is and how to get into one

55:21 "My mistake was naming it balance"

56:39 Year three and the money isn't moving

57:15 Signs your podcast is actually working

58:16 The most expensive lesson she's learned

58:58 Media personality vs content creator

1:01:11 Rapid fire

1:02:42 "Money has to move"

1:03:01 Is a Birkin an investment?

1:03:32 The side of her the internet never sees

1:05:30 "People only relate to losers"

1:07:41 Who should be in this chair next

1:08:46 The pitches she ignores

1:10:20 Her dream guest

At 16, Mannywellz went to get his learner's permit. His mom sat him down and told him he couldn't. He didn't have papers.

A few years later the college bills came in at $20,000 to $50,000 and there was no way to pay them. So he told his family to put his younger sister through school instead. He would sing.

Mannywellz (Emmanuel Ajomale) moved from Nigeria to Maryland at 9, taught himself to produce on Fruity Loops, and built a sound that sits between Afrobeats, R&B, soul and gospel. He made "Peace" with Tems before most of the world knew her name, has records with Wale, toured with Jidenna, and is one of the DACA artists on the Grammy-winning album American Dreamers. He's fully independent, and his catalog pays his bills.

In this episode we get into what one independent song really costs (from $2,500 to $30,000), paying producers in ownership when you can't pay in cash, why "nothing is usually as organic as it seems," quitting a bank job over a record deal that didn't exist, how "Peace" with Tems came together, getting dropped by his distributor right before his biggest run, and what therapy told him about carrying too much.

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 MANNYWELLZ

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mannywellz

X/Twitter: https://x.com/Mannywellz

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MannywellzTV

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mannywellzz

Website: https://mannywellz.com

All links: https://www.fvr.fan/mannywellz

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 found out I didn't have papers when I was 16"

1:51 The biggest misconception about going independent

3:40 "I don't hate deals. I just hate unfair deals"

4:43 Born in Nigeria, raised in Maryland by a gospel songwriter

5:57 Asa, Ryan Leslie and teaching himself to make beats

7:18 Fusing Lagos and America before it was a lane

9:16 What independence actually costs

10:10 The DC couple who taught him publishing and masters

11:47 Why viral moments fizzle without infrastructure

13:45 The real budget to get one song off the ground

15:41 When producers charged $100,000 a beat

16:05 Mixing, from $50 to $5,000 a track

17:13 Pay in ownership when you can't pay in cash

18:21 The No I.D. and Brent Faiyaz story

19:29 A friend's first $600 publishing check

20:19 Videos, stylists and a $5,000 creative director quote

23:56 Photo shoots and usage rights

25:10 What can $5,000 of marketing really buy?

25:43 Dating the algorithm

26:33 "Nothing is usually as organic as it seems"

26:56 Follow Eche and Chika on Snapchat

27:36 The Room on Patreon

28:28 Sponsor: Zobo Money

29:13 Sponsor: Hisa

30:20 Pink Sweat$ and the team behind "Honesty"

34:54 Losing his voice in the middle of a tour

36:17 Finding out at 16, and choosing not to hide

38:47 Giving his college shot to his sister

39:22 Fans in London and Lagos he couldn't fly to see

40:23 Four days at Ledo Pizza, four hours at DKNY

42:45 Why he couldn't keep a job past six months

43:45 Quitting the bank over a record deal that didn't exist

44:32 The pandemic taught him what money is

44:57 How "Peace" with Tems came together

49:18 What it feels like to have a hit

49:46 "I have the hit. It just hasn't been received"

52:38 Wasn't the spotlight a risk?

54:44 When a border officer asked him to sing

55:43 Why he passed on Substack

57:43 Small Chops, the starter before the album

58:59 Back in Lagos after 18 years

1:00:17 Too American for Nigeria, too Nigerian for America?

1:04:02 Why Lagos is his top streaming city

1:05:40 The lesson that cost him the most

1:07:45 How his parents took him leaving school

1:09:30 Buying a house with his mom

1:10:43 The question he wishes people asked

1:13:03 Rapid fire

1:17:09 What therapy told him

1:18:48 Learning to rest

1:19:44 Who should be in this chair next

Mayorkun was two months from being homeless when Mama dropped. The first check from that song went straight to rent.

A year earlier he was in a bank's marketing department, opening accounts. He posted a short piano cover only because his phone was out of storage and he planned to delete it. Davido saw it and sent a DM: send me your number. Then two weeks of silence. The message that changed his life landed on WhatsApp as he walked back to his seat after leading praise and worship in church: pack your load and come.

Ten years later, Mayorkun is the Mayor of Lagos. Albums including The Mayor of Lagos and Back in Office, hits from Eleko and Mama to Of Lagos and Betty Butter, and B4 B4 with Davido and FOLA on Davido's 2026 album Oriadé.
In this episode we get into the lawyer Davido paid for so Mayorkun wouldn't sign his deal blind, why blowing up is "light work" compared to staying, the 2 years he stopped writing clever lyrics because it felt like no one was listening, why he says most streaming numbers are doctored, the bank that later paid him more for one show than he'd have earned there in 5 years, and the 18 hours he lasted in London before wanting to come home.

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 MAYORKUN
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iammayorkun
X/Twitter: https://x.com/Mayorkun
Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/mayorkunn
Website: https://www.mayorkun.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 was two months to be homeless"
1:41 The biggest myth about staying relevant
3:08 "I'm not cosplaying any madness for clicks"
3:49 Why he never plans a song before the studio
5:48 The girl who heard his song 30 times before release
6:36 Eleko did 1 million views in 7 days. The party didn't know it
8:04 Staying is harder than blowing up
8:56 Is Afrobeats going through a weird time?
11:57 Giving away songs that didn't sound like him anymore
13:33 The hits he wrote for others and won't name
14:19 The most expensive part of his career
16:56 Davido made him get a lawyer and paid for it
17:46 Long-term business with long-term people
20:59 Join The Room on Patreon
21:50 Sponsor: Zobo Money
22:35 Sponsor: Hisa
23:42 Learning about riders the hard way
25:58 What it costs a new artist to get a chance now
27:17 A million eyes and the low phase he climbed out of
28:45 The 2 years he stopped writing clever lyrics
30:52 PR budgets that could shoot 5 videos
32:22 Standing on his own after Davido
34:22 Two months from homeless when Mama dropped
36:01 Why he hid his mum's identity at university
37:28 Leaving the bank: "Can't you do it part-time?"
39:32 The video he almost deleted to free up storage
40:20 Davido's DM at his boss's desk
41:57 The WhatsApp message after praise and worship
43:59 The day the bank paid him to perform
45:48 Of Lagos: insulted overnight, number one by morning
46:37 Would Mayorkun ever japa?
49:29 2020: five hits in five different lanes
53:14 "You can't be mysterious" anymore
54:31 Why he prefers the pre-streaming days
55:32 The hood test for a real number one song
56:11 The Snapchat money he was late to
57:49 Making B4 B4 at 1 a.m.
1:00:41 "Nobody knows the hits"
1:03:21 Touring the UK and US vs performing at home
1:06:36 Rapid fire
1:08:59 The version of him still at the bank
1:09:44 What to ask before signing to a big label
1:10:17 Fame is the most overrated part of success
1:12:30 Who should be in this chair next
1:13:05 The Sony deal

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

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?

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

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
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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

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.

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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
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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

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

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
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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

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
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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

She spent $225,000 of her own money on a brand that hadn't sold a single bottle yet.
Before that, she priced her first fragrance at $250 and the internet came for her. "Who do you think you are? You're not Gucci. You're not Creed." Her team told her the price is the price. She sold out, did over a million dollars in six months, and people started reselling the bottles on eBay for $600.
Funmi Monet is the founder and CEO of Influxious, the fragrance brand that launched exclusively at Sephora. She was a licensed therapist first. Then she trained at ISIPCA in Versailles, joined the Sephora Squad, and built an audience of more than 500,000 people who trust her nose.
In this episode we get into where the $225,000 went and why she doesn't regret a cent, the standard founder advice she ignored on purpose, the VC who told her a million dollars was too small a check to write, how she studied the Ami Colé shutdown so she wouldn't repeat it, why niche fragrance brands don't pay creators, and the de-auntie era that started with one rude comment about her wig.

Shop everything in the Influxious collection here: https://shopmy.us/collections/4363401
Gold Standard:
https://go.shopmy.us/p-78615163
High Life:
https://go.shopmy.us/p-78615206
Discovery Set:
https://go.shopmy.us/p-78615281
Well Loved:
https://go.shopmy.us/p-78615369
Magic Hour:
https://go.shopmy.us/p-78615443
Shop more of my favorite products here: https://shopmy.us/shop/softnest

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 FUNMI MONET
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/funmimonet/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@funmimonet
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@funmimonet
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/funmi-monet-68613363/

INFLUXIOUS
Website: https://influxious.co/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/influxious.co/
Shop at Sephora: https://www.sephora.com/brand/influxious

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 "You're not Gucci. You're not Creed."
1:15 Quick favor before we start
1:31 The biggest misconception about the fragrance industry
3:12 You don't need a wall of perfume, you need an audience
4:23 The question she wishes people would ask her
5:57 Why that perfume smells different on you
7:40 Charging $250 and the backlash that followed
9:05 Sold out, then resold on eBay for $600
10:15 From Clubhouse to a Sephora shelf
11:54 The founder advice she deliberately ignored
13:34 Raising a $1M pre-seed with $7 in her account
15:15 What she needs from angel investors right now
17:45 The Room: inside the Afropolitan private membership
18:28 Sponsor: Zobo Money
19:13 How her ambition actually changed
20:27 Why scaling too fast kills good brands
22:00 Where the $225,000 of her own money went
23:29 What fragrance houses do to new brands with no money
26:41 Perfume school in Versailles
27:43 Cutting out the middleman on packaging
28:32 How she's avoiding the Ami Colé situation
31:11 Saying no to money she badly needed
32:50 The therapist chapter
33:10 The Dr. Cheyenne Bryant licensing debate
36:35 High functioning vs high value men
37:38 The therapy session that started all of this
39:39 Why she'll probably never hit a million followers
41:19 Nigeria to Oklahoma
42:53 Losing Yoruba and her biggest regret
45:24 The Nigerian parents who let her take art class
46:34 Influxious was a high school art project
47:35 Her mother's perfume and special occasions
49:38 Choosing yourself on the days you don't want to
50:05 The de-auntie era
51:43 Turning 30 with none of the plan intact
54:30 When your parents redirect the prayer
58:36 Dating while launching a business
59:52 Why niche fragrance brands don't pay creators
1:01:56 Lean into your personality and build a series
1:04:51 Building the Influxious Insiders community
1:06:13 "You are the niche"
1:09:38 The lesson that cost her the most
1:11:27 For the woman who thinks her thing is too small
1:13:17 What her clients taught her about what people really want
1:14:48 The stranger who recognized her in Istanbul
1:15:38 One year out, five years out
1:18:24 The delulu number
1:19:51 Rapid fire
1:26:56 Who should be in this chair next

Everyone believes power in Lagos belongs to one man, that he holds it, transfers it at his pleasure, and there's nothing anybody can do about that. GRV has spent three years trying to prove that's a myth.

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV) is an architect, activist, and the ADC's gubernatorial candidate for Lagos State, one of the most recognizable political figures of his generation. He took his 2023 election petition all the way to the Supreme Court, and he's back with a harder, more organized run at 2027.

In this episode, we get into how Lagos government actually works from the ward level up, the ₦160 million generator hidden in the state budget, carrying a five-generation Lagos family legacy, the Funsho Williams murder that still shapes Lagos politics today, the diaspora land scam that still haunts him, why he calls integrity "expensive," and his unfiltered message to Nigerians abroad thinking about coming home.

WHERE TO FIND GBADEBO RHODES-VIVOUR (GRV)
Campaign Website: https://grvlagos.com/
X/Twitter: https://x.com/GRVlagos
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grvlagos/
X/Twitter (Media): https://x.com/grvlagosmedia
Instagram (Media): https://www.instagram.com/grvlagosmedia/

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/

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 Biggest Myth About Power in Lagos
1:41 – Quick Ask Before We Go Deeper (Subscribe to the Afropolitan Family)
2:03 – Is Lagos Really a Six-Horse Race?
4:19 – Why 2027 Feels Different From 2023
5:48 – "The Worst Experience in 20 Years": How Bad Governance Broke the Naira
6:59 – Divide and Rule: How Tribal Politics Kept Nigerians Fighting Each Other
9:39 – What Happens When Voters Finally Wake Up
10:26 – Breaking Down the Six-Horse Race
12:28 – How Lagos Government Actually Works, Ward to State
17:23 – What a Governor Controls That the President Can't Touch
19:04 – The IGR Number Every Diaspora Nigerian Should Know
20:40 – Where Do Lagos's Trillions Actually Go?
23:03 – The ₦160 Million Generator: Inside Lagos's Budget Padding
26:37 – Carrying a Five-Generation Lagos Legacy
27:22 – How Fighting GMOs Turned Into a Political Career
28:38 – The Grand-Uncle Who Died Bombing Nazi Germany
29:46 – "Integrity Is Expensive": Why Not Everyone Can Afford to Stand
32:55 – Zobo Money: How GRV Sends Money Home
33:35 – Why Nigeria's Elite Have Failed the Country
34:04 – From "The Giant of Africa" to Where We Are Now
41:15 – Philosopher Kings vs. Rulers: What Real Leadership Looks Like
45:19 – The Murder That Still Haunts Lagos Politics (Funsho Williams)
48:56 – What a Singapore Minister's Salary Taught Him About Corruption
51:58 – Why Nigerians Sell Their Votes, and Why He Won't Judge Them
53:48 – How a Clean Politician Gets Compromised From the Inside
55:16 – "A Part of Me Died After the Election Cycle"
58:19 – Going to the Supreme Court and Losing
1:01:46 – His Honest Message to Nigerians in the Diaspora
1:07:23 – The Diaspora Land Scam That Still Haunts Him
1:09:04 – "Why Are These Things Unthinkable?": Naming What We Normalize
1:10:51 – We Glamorize Our Suffering, and He's Tired of It
1:14:14 – The Demolition, the Tear Gas, and the Man Beaten in Front of Him
1:16:21 – Anthony Joshua's Emergency and What It Says About All of Us
1:19:20 – The Direct Question: Can He Actually Win?
1:22:01 – Why He Left the Coalition Talks and Joined the ADC
1:24:06 – Building a 50-Year Plan for Black People
1:28:59 – "We Should Be Like Wakanda": On Africa's Vulnerability
1:33:47 – Why Africa Needs Leaders Who Plan in Secret
1:37:51 – The Federalist Papers Quote That Explains Africa's Struggle
1:41:31 – What Lee Kuan Yew Understood That Nigeria's Leaders Don't
1:43:27 – "I Will Not Go to Court": His Line in the Sand
1:46:35 – Rapid Fire: Food, Cities, Songs and Regrets
1:47:59 – The Man He Calls His Hero
1:48:52 – The Unpopular Decision That Cost Him Support
1:53:38 – His Real Plan to Win Lagos
1:55:05 – What Power Does to People Who Were Never Ready for It

Tonye Cole co-founder of Sahara sit down with Eche Emole and Chika Uwazie, one of Africa's largest energy conglomerates, and a Nigerian politician who walked away from the comfort of the private sector to run for office. An architect by training who started out making models for cash in his university years, he went bankrupt overnight when a new administration cancelled every contract his young company had and rebuilt.

In this episode we get into why power trumps money every single time, the trick he and his partners used to get around Nigeria's expatriate bias in the '90s, why politics in Nigeria functions like a lottery ticket, what he learned processing the 2023 election, the three reasons business partnerships collapse, 43 years of compounding and why he says he can't go broke, the difference between outward humility and inward pride, and how his wife's housemanship salary kept the family alive while he built the company. Also: mental health, grief, and the year his mother died. A long, unhurried conversation about power, faith, and building something that outlasts you.

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.

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

Preston Ideh is the co-founder and CEO of Stears, the company building the data infrastructure for African markets (think Crunchbase meets the Bloomberg Terminal, built for Africa). A UK-qualified lawyer who walked away from big law, moved back to Nigeria, and bet everything on one idea: information is power, and Africa is dangerously under-documented.

In this episode we get into why data is "structured history," how investors quietly hold the edge over founders, the real difference between PE and VC money, why the next wave of African wealth is hiding in boring businesses, what the AI shift means for builders, and a rare, personal story about learning grief far too young. One of our sharpest conversations yet on money, power, and what it actually takes to build.

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 PRESTON IDEH
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/preston-timeyin-ideh-06484775
X/Twitter: https://x.com/TimeyinPI
Stears (website): https://www.stears.co
Stears on X/Twitter: https://x.com/StearsInsights
Stears on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stearsco
Stears on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stears

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 – Cold open
1:56 – The #1 thing you need to build in Nigeria
2:57 – Building a network from scratch (Twitter DMs & Saturday breakfasts)
5:13 – From UK lawyer to founder: the pivot home
7:16 – Nigerian law school, wig and tie
8:34 – "Data is a form of power"
9:18 – Why data is structured history
10:17 – The investor's edge founders don't have
11:32 – Why Nigeria didn't rebase its GDP for 20 years
15:56 – What Opay & Moneypoint reveal about the informal economy
17:51 – Inside The Room (Patreon)
18:44 – A word from Zobo Money
19:27 – The cultural reasons Africans won't share data
24:36 – What Stears actually is
29:07 – PE vs VC: how the money really works
30:07 – The boring businesses that make money
31:55 – Growth vs profitability: what investors want now
35:02 – The unsexy businesses that will build wealth
36:17 – Logistics, cold storage & agriculture
40:44 – Creative industries as a dollar export
43:40 – The $10 trillion succession problem
45:27 – Why Nigerian family businesses don't sell
51:07 – Franchises: iFitness, Chicken Republic & the PE playbook
56:20 – AI, data, and the future of Stears
57:21 – Why people are the real friction with AI
1:01:52 – Advice to founders who just raised: slow down
1:02:49 – The Loyola plane crash & learning grief young
1:06:52 – What legacy means in the age of AI
1:09:44 – Rapid fire
1:10:52 – Due diligence, culture & "remote intelligence"
1:13:07 – Who needs to be on this couch next?

She went from a Birmingham estate to 104 caps for England, qualified as a lawyer at one of the most elite firms in the world, and wrote a six-figure check to prove women's football is an investable asset. But Eni Aluko's story was never just about sport.

In this episode, Eche and Chika sit down with Eni Aluko — former England and Chelsea striker, qualified solicitor, sporting director, and investor — for a conversation about identity, money, and what it costs to stand alone. Eni breaks down why she put her own money into women's football, what she learned taking on the FA and winning a landmark case against Joey Barton, and how Blackness feels different living between the US and the UK. She gets honest about the friendships she lost, the version of herself she had to grieve, and why she'd rather be respected than liked.

This is a conversation about legacy, power, and who gets to control the narrative — and it's our first-ever sit-down with a sports figure on the couch.

Become a Member of The Room (Afropolitan Private Membership)
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 — Borderless investments for Africa. Use code AFROPOLITAN: https://hisa.co/

CONVO BY AFROPOLITAN Book 1:1 calls with Africa's boldest thinkers: https://convo.vip/

—

WHERE TO FIND ENI ALUKO
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enialuko
X/Twitter: https://x.com/Eni_Aluko
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/eniola-aluko-mbe-4922032a

—

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

—

#AfropolitanPodcast #EniAluko #WomensFootball #Diaspora

0:00 - Intro
2:08 - Why women's football is an investable asset
3:45 - The six-figure check into Mercury 13
7:48 - Birmingham estate, a senator father, an economist grandfather
10:02 - Her mother's sacrifice as a young immigrant
12:18 - Running law and football in parallel
14:48 - The one phone call that changed everything
17:08 - Grieving the "magic circle partner" she could have been
18:44 - The doors football opened: World Cups, royalty, CAF & UEFA
22:14 - The Room on Patreon
23:07 - Zobo Money
23:50 - Blackness in the US vs the UK
28:42 - Stephen Bartlett, proximity to whiteness & African identity
33:17 - Who protects Black women? Shicks & Gigs, BAFTAs, Michael B. Jordan
36:46 - Class: the UK ceiling vs Nigerian "splash"
39:48 - Ambition, guilt, and the UK tax exodus
43:18 - The FA case and standing on principle
45:59 - Taking on Joey Barton and setting a legal precedent
48:06 - What the fight cost her — and getting herself back
50:28 - What the storm revealed about friendship
55:02 - When she stopped hiding being Nigerian
56:39 - On being disliked: haters, Meghan Markle & security
1:00:30 - Online accountability, anonymity & her work with Ofcom
1:03:01 - Living up to her name: dignity and wealth
1:04:40 - Firing managers, Abramovich & the Chelsea winning culture
1:07:27 - Players as assets and the private-equity model in football
1:09:44 - Player leverage: Messi, Beckham & Ronaldo
1:11:40 - Apple TV vs Netflix in sports
1:12:53 - The 2026 World Cup ticket mess
1:17:13 - Why Mexico is the "real Bali"
1:18:22 - Spa & wellness culture in Mexico and Lagos
1:20:18 - Investing in African sports infrastructure
1:23:55 - The AFCON final drama: Senegal, Morocco & the walk-off
1:27:15 - Hisa
1:28:27 - Rapid fire
1:37:54 - Who should be in the chair next
1:41:26 - Come home: the diaspora pulling back to the continent

Iyinoluwa "Iyin" Aboyeji helped build two of Africa's most important tech companies — Andela and Flutterwave. Now he's after something bigger: making sure every African can earn at least $10,000 a year by leveraging AI. In this episode, Iyin sits down with Eche and Chika to break down why "investing is for lazy people," the two competing visions of the future (America vs. China), why the real origins of AI trace back to Africa, and why anyone in the diaspora who doesn't come home in the next two years may regret it. A conversation about power, capital, energy, and who you actually choose to build for.

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 — Borderless investments for Africa. Use code AFROPOLITAN: https://hisa.co/

CONVO BY AFROPOLITAN
Book 1:1 calls with Africa's boldest thinkers: https://convo.vip/

WHERE TO FIND IYIN ABOYEJI
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iaboyeji
X/Twitter: https://x.com/iaboyeji
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eaboyeji
Future Africa: https://www.future.africa/
Accelerate Africa: https://acceler8.africa/

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 – "Investing is for lazy people"
2:27 – Two visions of the future: America vs. China
7:11 – How China engineered 70 years of growth
9:43 – A message to the diaspora
14:13 – Breaking down the Dangote blueprint
19:01 – The mission: every African earning $10,000 a year
26:44 – Trump, power, and who you make money for
33:41 – Sponsor: Zobo Money
36:01 – The real origins of AI
42:36 – Inside the raise: radical capital, built for Africa
46:38 – Why Africa wins the energy war
49:23 – Owning the rails: data, goods, and payments
53:32 – Data centers, Netflix, and the creative economy
1:00:18 – Building the diaspora bridge with intention
1:09:14 – Future Africa and the fundraising reset
1:15:32 – Co-founders, equity, and valuing contribution
1:29:47 – Accelerate Africa vs. Y Combinator
1:32:32 – One executive order from eviction: why come home
1:39:33 – "Anybody who doesn't come home in the next two years…"
1:43:59 – Unicorns, monopolies, and the Dangote debate
1:48:24 – Validation vs. inspiration
1:59:59 – Who needs to be in the room
2:02:03 – The closing question: who belongs on this chair

Join us for a historic fireside chat with Her Excellency Graça Machel. Liberation fighter, former Education Minister of Mozambique, global humanitarian, and the only woman in modern history to serve as First Lady of two nations (Mozambique and South Africa).
Three days before the first G20 Summit ever held on African soil, this conversation lands right on time. As world leaders gather in Johannesburg, we put the uncomfortable questions on the table: partnership, investment, and what real solidarity between Canada and Africa actually looks like.
WHO IS GRAÇA MACHEL?
At 80, Graça Machel has spent six decades building institutions and challenging power. As Mozambique's first Education Minister (1975-1989), she pushed enrollment from 40% to over 90% and cut illiteracy from 93% to 72%, and she did it with limited resources and a lot of will.
Through the Graça Machel Trust, she has backed more than 5,200 women entrepreneurs across seven countries, helped create over 30,000 jobs, and opened up $5 million in funding pipelines. She is Deputy Chair of The Elders, Chancellor of African Leadership University, and she has the standing to say the things most people won't.
WHAT WE GET INTO:
- Why Canada's Africa Strategy launched with zero new funding, and what has to change
- Can extractive industries ever be real development partners?
- How Africa's $4 trillion in mobilizable capital could change the continent
- The AfCFTA opportunity: 1.3 billion people, a $6.7 trillion market by 2030
- What gender-lens investing gets wrong, and what it should look like
- The move from aid dependency to investment-driven prosperity
- What Canada's Prime Minister should actually say at the G20 in three days
WHY THIS MATTERS NOW:
This one carries real stakes. With the G20 in Johannesburg, Canada holding the G7 presidency, and Africa at a decisive moment, the conversation holds comfortable assumptions to account. Machel earned the right to be, in her words, "frank and unrestrained." We're making room for the truth Canadian decision-makers need to hear, from someone who has built institutions, governed nations, and delivered results you can measure across decades.
HOSTED BY: The Afropolitan Podcast in collaboration with The Asili Initiative
DATE: November 19, 2025
LOCATION: University of Toronto
JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
- Drop your questions and thoughts in the live chat
- Subscribe and turn on notifications
- Tag us and share widely

FOLLOW GRAÇA MACHEL TRUST:
LinkedIn: @Graça Machel Trust
Facebook: @TheGraçaMachelTrust
Instagram: @g_macheltrust
Twitter: @G_MachelTrust

FOLLOW THE ASILI INITIATIVE:
Instagram: @asiliinitiative
LinkedIn: @theasiliinitiative
YouTube: @theasiliinitiative
Facebook: @theasiliinitiative

FOLLOW AFROPOLITAN:
For unfiltered conversations with Africa's boldest builders and visionaries.
- Website: https://www.afropolitan.io
- Newsletter: https://afropolitan.io/newsletter
- Twitter: https://x.com/afropolitan
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afropolitanpodcast
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/afropolitannation/
A luta continua. The struggle continues.

0:00 Millions of girls still without a chance
1:23 What's fueling her fire for Africa's future
2:23 A girl from rural Mozambique
4:24 The women working hard with no opportunity
6:18 "We are not allowed to fail"
8:21 The G20 in Johannesburg and what's at stake
11:04 From statements to real implementation
12:35 Investment that transforms raw materials inside Africa
15:47 "Believe that Africans are capable"
17:01 Equality, solidarity, sustainability (you are because I am)
18:20 Why this isn't charity: the world needs Africa
21:27 Women Creating Wealth: from income to abundance
24:44 Why 5,000 trained women won't change the structure
27:05 "It has to become the norm, not a privilege"
28:51 AfCFTA and removing the barriers to trade
30:30 Infrastructure: "Don't scream billions. It's necessary."
33:42 Her challenge to the diaspora: come sit with us
36:37 "When are you coming?" The invitation to Africa
38:39 Is it too late for Canada to compete?
39:01 AfriShela: capital in the hands of women
42:13 The check size that actually moves the needle
44:16 The "missing middle" and women over-mentored but underfunded
48:32 The end of aid as usual
52:55 "When women hold wealth, nations hold wealth"
53:28 Moving from extraction to co-creation
1:00:02 The informal economy is the economy
1:06:22 The diaspora's real job: end "us and them"
1:09:20 What partnership means: sharing decision-making
1:12:33 "I bring history, knowledge, wisdom, and aspirations of my own"
1:13:27 A warning: don't recreate "them and us"
1:16:07 Global Affairs Canada on trust and blended finance
1:20:20 A February promise to come to Johannesburg
1:22:22 Listen to women, youth, and farmers, not just governments
1:24:30 Building the collective African narrative
1:26:25 Listen, then share so we can implement

She turned $30,000 and one stubborn goal into an eight-figure fortune — then almost lost herself building it. Teri Ijeoma quit her job as an assistant principal, put $30,000 of trading education on a credit card, and went on to make her first million dollars in a single day. In this episode she breaks down the number one myth about trading options, the $26,000 loss that taught her everything, how to actually invest $1,000 right now, her three-layer framework for investing in AI, and the wound that made her rich but still hasn't healed.

WHERE TO FIND TERI IJEOMA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teriijeoma

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@teriijeoma

Twitter/X: https://x.com/teriijeoma

Teri's Latest Book The Risk Worth Taking: https://www.theriskworthtaking.com

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 — Borderless investments for Africa. Use code AFROPOLITAN: https://hisa.co/

CONVO BY AFROPOLITAN Book 1:1 calls with Africa's boldest thinkers: https://convo.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

0:00 The $26,000 loss in a single trade
1:08 Quick subscribe break
1:24 Afropolitan goes global (recording in the US)
1:48 The #1 myth people believe about trading options
2:30 Do you have to be glued to your screen to trade?
3:28 From assistant principal to multimillionaire trader
5:18 Betting half her salary on a credit card
6:27 Why Black wealth-building can't wait 30 years
7:39 Setting realistic expectations for your returns
8:49 How to navigate losses: the Pandora story
11:01 Position size, stop losses & reward-to-risk
12:36 Discipline, greed & FOMO in trading
14:20 What growing up taught her about money
16:09 Minister and millionaire: faith and wealth
17:20 Black tax & "you have to work for it"
18:29 The Room on Patreon
19:25 Zobo Money
20:05 Are courses still worth it in the AI era?
21:55 Scaling from 35 to 35,000 students — and burning out
23:30 The breaking point: booking a flight to Mexico
24:45 Tony Robbins & the six core needs
26:55 The five types of wealth & grieving relationships
28:58 When did she finally feel free?
30:47 How losing a friend became the catalyst
32:30 Why she wrote The Risk Worth Taking as a novel
33:47 The four C's of taking any risk
35:35 How to invest $1,000 right now
38:36 Investing in AI: the three-layer pyramid
40:33 The $500K AI portfolio that returned $200K
43:32 The wound that made her rich
46:28 The dinner-table wealth gap
47:33 Grading herself on the five types of wealth
50:46 Alignment, energy & the hustle trap
51:34 Hitting her first million & the emptiness after
53:41 Learning to teach and scale online courses
56:00 What to read and watch to learn investing
57:11 The next risk: becoming a NYT bestseller
59:45 Day trading vs. swing trading explained
1:00:15 Where women can actually talk about money
1:01:30 Calls, puts & margin calls explained
1:03:06 The AI app layer & Claude's disruption
1:05:01 Hisa
1:06:11 Rapid fire
1:09:37 A money habit rich people have that broke people think is crazy
1:10:25 The investment that has nothing to do with stocks
1:11:35 Advice for her mom & who's next in the chair

YCee disappeared for four years. The story behind why is heavier than anyone knew.

In 2020, at the peak of his run — Jagaban everywhere, Juice on every aux, sold-out shows, a sound that helped define Afrobeats — he got diagnosed with bipolar disorder. What followed was six years of meds that fogged his creativity, hospitalizations, a Nigerian mental health system not built for it, and the strange reality of being one of the biggest songs in the country playing while he tried to put himself back together.

He sits down with Eche and Chika to talk about all of it — and goes further than he's gone publicly. The hundreds of millions of streams he never got paid for. The Tiny Entertainment fallout he couldn't shake. Why he repeated SS2 and accidentally fell into music. What it actually takes to disappear for four years and not start tweeting a GoFundMe link. And his unflinching read on where Afrobeats and Nigerian rap are right now — the missed naming opportunity, the foreign players running the industry from outside the continent, the "Olodo Uprising," and why "beef is necessary for the culture" is a lie that gets people killed.

Plus: the new album Out of Sight, Out of Mind, why Odumodublvck gets rap right, and a take on J. Cole pulling out of the battle that you've not heard anywhere else.

This one moves.

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WHERE TO FIND YCEE
Instagram: http://instagram.com/iam_ycee
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yceeanbt
Twitter: https://x.com/iam_ycee
Ycee's Latest Album Out of Sight Out of Mind: http://onerpm.link/oosoomycee

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Cold open
01:42 — Where have you been? Four years off the map
02:11 — The 2020 bipolar diagnosis and London lockdown
05:35 — How the meds attacked his creativity
06:17 — Why Kanye's apology made him open up
08:31 — Mental health in Nigeria: Yaba Left, exorcisms, and a broken system
11:26 — Performing through an episode in Benue
13:58 — The golden era of Afrobeats and what's been lost
19:00 — Streaming, virality vs. artistry, and the death of the album listen
24:07 — Hundreds of millions of streams. Zero dollars.
28:22 — Lessons from the Tiny Entertainment fallout
29:52 — Repeating SS2 and accidentally finding music
36:46 — From cybercafé to mixtape to first record deal
38:12 — Old YCee vs. new YCee
40:31 — Why he had to learn to sing — and the Nigerian identity in his sound
44:28 — Making music for impact, not numbers
46:53 — When you're hot vs. when you're not
49:22 — Out of Sight, Out of Mind: the album breakdown
54:32 — What Nigerian rap should actually sound like (Odumodublvck, Black Bones)
56:50 — The Olodo Uprising and the collapse of the Nigerian school system
58:14 — Foreign players, label-by-proxy, and the missed Afrobeats opportunity
1:05:07 — Why Afrobeats artists don't perform in Nigeria anymore
1:09:33 — Meet and greets, building a real fanbase, and shared fans
1:11:33 — Rapid Fire
1:14:12 — J. Cole, the Kendrick/Drake battle, and why rap beef isn't a game