Olaide Alim Advocates Technical Skills for Startups

Olaide Alim, the founder of SnappyExchang, stresses that building better startups in Africa requires a solid technical understanding, particularly in the digital finance and commerce sectors. He notes that founders do not need to become software engineers but should possess technical knowledge to inform product decisions and effectively develop their teams.

Alim's journey included completing a year-long full stack software engineering program, which he enrolled in during the COVID-19 pandemic to better understand the technology behind his company’s products. SnappyExchang, launched in 2020, has served over 100,000 users across several African markets and processed millions of transactions.

In November 2025, the company plans to introduce SnappyPai, a digital payment lifestyle platform aimed at addressing challenges in Nigeria's fintech ecosystem, particularly transaction delays and failures.