In this episode of CoinAfrica Conversations, Louis Dike sits down with Lota Anidi, product designer, fintech builder, and former design lead behind Onboard, one of Africa’s leading crypto-powered financial platforms.
Lota shares his journey from studying Electrical Engineering to building products at the intersection of traditional finance and crypto. He discusses product design, trust, user psychology, crypto adoption in Africa, stablecoins, global payments, and what founders often get wrong when building financial products.
Whether you’re a designer, founder, fintech operator, or crypto enthusiast, this conversation offers practical insights into building products that African users actually trust and use.
Let us know your biggest takeaway in the comments.
Read the Q/A here: Crypto in Africa: What’s Actually Working — Insights from Lotachi Anidi
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 Introduction & Audio Check
01:38 Who Is Lota Anidi?
04:11 Life Outside Work: Family, Enugu & Hobbies
06:22 From Electrical Engineering to Product Design
07:40 Why Lota Left Onboard
10:28 The Hardest Problem He Tried to Solve at Onboard
15:38 Does Design Really Build Trust?
22:32 How to Know If a Crypto App Understands African Users
25:10 Where Crypto Is Actually Useful in Africa Today
33:03 The Biggest Misconception About Crypto in Africa
36:23 Trust, Branding & Startup Culture
39:06 Being a Self-Taught Designer
41:27 What Designers Get Wrong in Financial Products
45:30 Are African Designers Underutilized Globally?
47:18 What’s Next for Lota?
52:13 Who Wins Africa’s Future: Banks, Fintechs or Crypto?
54:43 Why “Everybody Wins When Everybody Wins.”
55:29 Final Thoughts & Closing Remarks
Key Topics Covered
- Product design in fintech and crypto
- Onboard’s evolution from crypto wallet to financial platform
- Crypto adoption in Africa
- Global payments and stablecoins
- User trust and financial products
- African fintech innovation
- Building for African users
- Founder mindset and startup culture
- The future of crypto-native companies in Africa
- African product design and technology careers
Featured Guest
Lota Anidi — Product Designer, fintech builder, and former design lead at Onboard. Lota has spent over six years designing products across fintech, crypto, and emerging technologies, helping simplify complex financial experiences for African users.
