The Barefoot Economist
Hugo PachecoGround-level intelligence on financial inclusion technology and emerging market fintech written by someone who's built agent networks across 9 African countries, not watched from a distance. Home of the Agent Network OS.
| Platform |  | Pricing | Freemium | Publishes | Weekly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issues | 119 | Founded | 3 years ago | Last Issue | 8 days ago |
| Active | |||||
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barefooteconomist.substack.comLatest Issues
🫥Africa Doesn’t Have a Payments Problem Anymore. It Has a Trust Problem.
A note for subscribers: this one names the thing most second-wave strategy decks dance around and why the formal system keeps choosing not to act on data it already holds. If your business runs an agent network, the closing question is the...
💧 Why your agents keep failing customers (and it's not their fault)
A mobile money network can recruit the agents, train them, activate them, and still fail at the exact moment the customer arrives.
Because the float was not there.
When float is not there, the non-consumer does not complain. They le...
📍 The Ghost POS Agent With Perfect GPS
On May 29, 2026, the CBN gave Nigeria’s POS industry a little more room to breathe. The permitted operating radius for terminals moved from 10 metres to 70 metres, and enforcement of the mandatory geofencing framework was pushed to August 1...
🪛 The Repair Layer
Device Survival Economics and the hidden infrastructure keeping Africa online
There is a man in Asaba Computer Village who has trained fifteen apprentices.
🧲 The business model has to match the gravity
What M-KOPA, Wave and Moniepoint reveal about business model maturity in African fintech
The Moniepoint question was never really about Moniepoint.
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| Subscribers | Engagement | 68 | Monthly Web Visits | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accepts Sponsors | Estimated Cost per Ad | ||||
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Authors
The writers behind this newsletter.
I help fintechs to reach last-mile customers using alternative channels
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