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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 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

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

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 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

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

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. 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 0:41 – The #1 thing you need to build in Nigeria 1:42 – Building a network from scratch (Twitter DMs & Saturday breakfasts) 3:58 – From UK lawyer to founder: the pivot home 6:01 – Nigerian law school, wig and tie 6:50 – "Data is a form of power" 8:03 – Why data is structured history 9:02 – The investor's edge founders don't have 10:17 – Why Nigeria didn't rebase its GDP for 20 years 14:41 – What Opay & Moneypoint reveal about the informal economy 16:36 – Inside The Room (Patreon) 17:29 – A word from Zobo Money 18:12 – The cultural reasons Africans won't share data 23:21 – What Stears actually is 25:02 – PE vs VC: how the money really works 28:51 – Boring businesses that make money 30:40 – Growth vs profitability: what investors want now 33:24 – The unsexy businesses that will build wealth 35:02 – Logistics, cold storage & agriculture 40:04 – Creative industries as a dollar export 42:25 – The $10 trillion succession problem 44:10 – Why Nigerian family businesses don't sell 49:09 – Franchises: iFitness, Chicken Republic & the PE playbook 55:07 – AI, data, and the future of Stears 56:29 – Why people are the real friction with AI 1:00:34 – Advice to founders who just raised: slow down 1:01:34 – The Loyola plane crash & learning grief young 1:05:27 – What legacy means in the age of AI 1:08:29 – Rapid fire 1:09:45 – Due diligence, culture & "remote intelligence" 1:12:22 – 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