American financial services company Stripe recently acquired a Nigerian start-up Paystack for a reported $200m (£146m).
Paystack was co-founded by Shola Akinlade in 2016 as a solution for merchants in Nigeria and Ghana to get paid by anyone, anywhere in the world. It now processes over 50% of all web payments in Nigeria, as well as payments for over 60,000 organisations, including FedEx, UPS, South African mobile operator MTN and many others.
So how do young entrepreneurs know when to sell or grow their business? The Paystack co-founder Shola Akinlade told us:
"The work of an entrepreneur is to build and grow your business. The work of investors is to look for good businesses".
He said some successful companies die because of a misjudgement of the market.
"People thought the market was small, think about the number of people doing online payments in Nigeria in 2016... the interesting this is that five years later, Paystack alone is doing five times more than what Nigeria was doing in 2016," he says.
Here is Mr Aklinlade's full interview:
Latest Stories
-
NSMQ 2025: Prempeh College into Ashanti Zonal semis, chasing first title since 2021
1 minute -
“A true professional and musical gem” – Appietus pays tribute to Daddy Lumba
2 minutes -
Mahama pledges tax waivers on agro-processing machinery, boost for local fabrication sector
18 minutes -
‘Mahama has no interest in Bawku conflict’ – Edudzi Tamekloe
37 minutes -
15 members of Obogu Saviour Church Youth Ministry perish in a gory accident at Juaso
39 minutes -
Newborn baby found dead at refuse dump at Diabaa
1 hour -
Tapping into Gen Z: How Ghanaian businesses can succeed with the new workforce
2 hours -
Atwima Mponua Rural Bank increases deposits by 109%
2 hours -
Yango Group CBO meets Mahama to deepen private partnerships, affirm long-term commitment
2 hours -
UniBank collapse: Tuah Yeboah slams AG for dropping Duffuor case
2 hours -
Gov’t will give preference to products manufactured in Ghana – Mahama
2 hours -
Kenpong Football Academy appoints Sudan U-23 Coach Aleksandar Jović
2 hours -
KMA cracks down on unapproved transport fares
2 hours -
AMA to make waste separation at source mandatory under revised sanitation by-laws
2 hours -
Finance Ministry approves acquisition of over 600 agricultural machines under Big Push – Mahama
2 hours