Ep 15: Eugene Tawiah: Why Africa's Money Struggles to Cross Its Own Borders

Andrew Henderson sits down with Eugene Tawiah, founder and CEO of SecondSTAX, to explore why Africa has more than 30 stock exchanges but still lacks a genuinely continental capital market. A pension fund in Ghana can find it easier to invest in London than in Lagos or Nairobi. Eugene explains how fragmented currency markets, slow settlement systems, and regulatory barriers keep African capital from reaching opportunities across the continent—and why connecting exchanges requires more than technology alone.

Drawing on his experience in global capital markets and building investment infrastructure across Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria, Eugene examines how money actually moves between African markets. They discuss why cross-border transactions often require a detour through dollars or euros, how government borrowing can crowd out productive businesses, and what Ghana's debt crisis revealed about the risks of keeping portfolios concentrated at home. The conversation also explores why high nominal yields can disguise falling purchasing power, and whether easier access would unlock investment demand that already exists.

Andrew and Eugene also discuss how mobile money could bring investing into everyday life, turning familiar telecom wallets into gateways to regulated financial products. From retail investors drawn to sports betting to diaspora savers seeking opportunities back home, Eugene argues that the next stage of financial inclusion must go beyond payments and lending to ownership and investment.

Along the way, they examine African IPOs, financial literacy, currency sovereignty, the limits of Pan-African integration, and whether a shared African currency is a realistic destination—or a distraction from the practical work of connecting markets today.

In this episode, Andrew and Eugene discuss:

Why investing across African borders can be harder than sending capital outside the continent.

How currency conversions and settlement delays complicate cross-border stock trading.

Why connecting stock exchanges requires coordination between regulators, banks, brokers, and technology providers.

What Ghana's debt crisis revealed about concentrated portfolios and dependence on government securities.

How high government borrowing rates can make capital more expensive for productive businesses.

Why high nominal investment returns do not necessarily translate into greater purchasing power.

How limited investment access and financial education leave room for betting