@AlliOlabisi5@Onsogbu Human development first before infrastructure development.
Where you reverse the oder this is what you get.
When you fail to raise peoples consciousness through quality mass education the same people will destroy whatever infrastructure you are developing.
@OlayinkaLere Human development first before infrastructure development.
Where you reverse the oder this is what you get.
When you fail to raise peoples consciousness through quality mass education the same people will destroy whatever infrastructure you are developing.
Hakeem Belo-Osagie, founder of FSDH Merchant Bank, on why he sold UBA for $250m in 2005.
He says he was merely an investor, not a banker. And he also got tired of the constant investigations from SEC, Military intelligence, and other government agencies.
He had bought the bank for $15m in 1994
Early in the 2000s, we made a lot of money in tech by sending engineers to companies to support third-party enterprise apps, analyzing transaction logs, and fixing problems. We turned enterprise tech support in Africa into a lucrative niche.
I used to go to tech events regularly to find new partners we could support, and I met Splunk. They had automated our work. That day, I knew the business model was over, and we had to figure out something new.
I was going insane with worry. I got my guys to learn virtualization and move more towards cloud and infrastructure, as I also saw that the on-prem support days were coming to an end.
We decided to return to building products, and I hired a product manager who was with us for only 6 months. I had to go and learn product management at @ga all over again. I also took an HBS course on launching new ventures, which changed everything for me.
I started backing startups and made more money from doing that than all the work I had done before. I also saw the handwriting on the wall for startup investments as the Chinese were coming for our market. PalmPay and OPay are not flukes.
We partnered with Huawei, and I tell you, the Chinese build better software than anyone in Africa. MTN is not stupid with their recent ANT Financial partnership. The Chinese own fintech. Huawei’s infrastructure and products power the largest fintech implementations in Africa. Forget all the Mickey Mouse games people are playing. They will win.
AI came, and I was relieved. I felt it would help us close the gaps. AI is now threatening everything about tech as I used to know it. Forget all of the posturing and plenty of talk. The next decade is going to be the most tumultuous for tech professionals and tech investors. AI has eaten up everything. It dominates the news cycle and sucks up all the free capital.
I wasn't joking when I said African fintechs should do an AI pivot. Take the data and build new products. Forget transaction revenue.
Healthcare is my next focus. It is the holy grail of African AI. So much to be done and so little already done. My recent surgery experience was an eye-opener. Literally and figuratively. That is my next pivot. All what we think we know and are doing in fintech and other areas will be rubbished soon. Healthcare is the African tech growth sector. I have seen the future.
Pewbeam is live 🎉
This was just a dream, a dream I didn’t even know was possible—but I decided to pursue it anyway. Today, that dream is now a reality. We have a desktop app (Windows and macOS—this weekend) that can do all of this and even more. Over the last six months, I’ve pushed myself and my team hard, and I’ve seen people become hopeful and genuinely blessed by this product. I’ve received strong support from pastors, church members, techies, and several media houses and reporters. It has been a great honor to spend myself on something worthwhile.
We’ve built an AI-native presentation app that displays relevant scriptures on screen in under 80 ms, without needing a volunteer. We’re starting with scriptures, but we’re growing into a comprehensive presentation software, with slides launching next month.
From testing @pewbeam_ai in churches over the last four weeks, pastors have been able to focus on what matters instead of juggling or micromanaging the media team while preaching. Church members have been able to follow their pastor’s references in real time and take better notes. In the words of a member from one of the test churches: “Pewbeam changed the way I follow sermons in church completely.” This is the kind of impact I see Pewbeam having on people’s faith and on how church and worship are done.
Pewbeam’s mission is to ensure the Church is not left behind in the AI era. We’re starting with this application, with many more to come in the next few months. We’ll keep working with stakeholders in the Christian faith, collect feedback, and build tools that better support discipleship. And unlike previous waves of technology, I believe we can be among the first movers in this AI revolution.
With all that said, the final build of the app is ready, and we’re launching for public download on February 25, 2026. The app has a generous free tier for small churches and fellowships, and a paid plan (location-based pricing) that unlocks unlimited access to all features.
If you’ve been following this journey, I appreciate you, and I assure you it will be worth it.
Please download, subscribe, and use in your church.
It was an empty street, but yet his message has(through you) reached over 8000 people that viewed this tweet. They now have the message that “Jesus is the way”.
What a wonderful God
My son just asked me if I wanted a bite of his apple. I said, "no thanks, I'm not really in the mood for an apple" He looked me dead in the eyes and goes, "I didn't want a freaking apple either, I wanted chocolate and you said apples are delicious so I think you should take a bite of the delicious apple".