Technology Dispatch
The agent map is the product now
Nairobi's next fintech advantage will come from routing trust, float, and service across the same neighborhood networks.
At a kiosk off Ngong Road, the payment terminal is less interesting than the ledger taped below it. Every top-up, refund, and float request has a name beside it, because the real interface is still a person who remembers who paid school fees late last month.
Float is a design system problem
Teams keep polishing dashboards while agents juggle liquidity on WhatsApp groups before the morning rush. The better product choice is simpler: expose the route, show the delay, and make each handoff legible to the shopkeeper before the customer starts waiting.
Infrastructure earns trust when the street can audit it without opening a spreadsheet.