Interview By Emmanuel Abara Benson
Babatunde Akin-Moses Tells us about Sycamor’s Ambition for the rest of the Year
W
hen we first spoke to Babatunde Akin-Moses in January, he accurately predicted the Nigerian Government’s excessive regulation of the tech ecosystem in H1 2021. He also projected that the year would be favorably disposed to the fintech sector and by extension, positively impact his startup Sycamor. Now, looking back at the first two quarters of the year, he suggests that it has rather been an interesting and unpredictable year. As for the remaining two quarters, the plan is to continue to expand Sycamor to other parts of the country. Enjoy the conversation. It’s nice to talk to you again, Mr Moses. Earlier this year, we asked you about your expectations for the new year. Now, the first half of the year has come and gone. How would you assess H1 2021? Has it been what you expected?
22 | Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 116
It’s been an awesome half year to be honest. As a business, it has surpassed our expectations. On the broad macro level, we have seen a lot of moves by the government to regulate the Fintech space as much as possible. We have seen more regulation by the SEC and CBN. Amid all these regulations, even Twitter was not spared. I’d say it’s been a very interesting and unpredictable year so far. Could you tell us some of the highlights of the first half for Sycamore? Any major accomplishments or hurdles that were overcome? I think one of the biggest highlights is us doing our last year numbers within the first half of this year, by way of disbursements. It’s been a lot of hard work and some good luck, of course. But we are very proud of what we have accomplished. I think the biggest challenge has been attracting and retaining top talents. The talent market is really competitive, but I’m glad that we have been able
www.businesselitesafrica.com
