Preston Ideh: Why Data is the Most Valuable Asset in Africa

Preston Ideh is the co-founder and CEO of Stears, the company building the data infrastructure for African markets (think Crunchbase meets the Bloomberg Terminal, built for Africa). A UK-qualified lawyer who walked away from big law, moved back to Nigeria, and bet everything on one idea: information is power, and Africa is dangerously under-documented. In this episode we get into why data is "structured history," how investors quietly hold the edge over founders, the real difference between PE and VC money, why the next wave of African wealth is hiding in boring businesses, what the AI shift means for builders, and a rare, personal story about learning grief far too young. One of our sharpest conversations yet on money, power, and what it actually takes to build. Become a Member of The Room (Afropolitan Private Membership) Join our private community for deeper insights and exclusive content: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast EPISODE SPONSORS Zobo Money — Zobo is a money transfer app built for Africans in the diaspora. It lets you send money from the US, UK, and Europe to countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and more. https://www.zobo.money/afropolitan BONUS OFFER: Use code AFROPOLITAN and get a $10 bonus when you sign up, complete your KYC, and send $50 or more to Africa. CONVO BY AFROPOLITAN Book 1:1 calls with Africa's boldest thinkers: https://convo.vip/ WHERE TO FIND PRESTON IDEH LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/preston-timeyin-ideh-06484775 X/Twitter: https://x.com/TimeyinPI Stears (website): https://www.stears.co Stears on X/Twitter: https://x.com/StearsInsights Stears on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stearsco Stears on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stears AFROPOLITAN Twitter/X: https://x.com/afropolitan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afropolitanpodcast Newsletter: https://www.afropolitan.io/newsletter Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/Afropolitanpodcast ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 – Cold open 0:41 – The #1 thing you need to build in Nigeria 1:42 – Building a network from scratch (Twitter DMs & Saturday breakfasts) 3:58 – From UK lawyer to founder: the pivot home 6:01 – Nigerian law school, wig and tie 6:50 – "Data is a form of power" 8:03 – Why data is structured history 9:02 – The investor's edge founders don't have 10:17 – Why Nigeria didn't rebase its GDP for 20 years 14:41 – What Opay & Moneypoint reveal about the informal economy 16:36 – Inside The Room (Patreon) 17:29 – A word from Zobo Money 18:12 – The cultural reasons Africans won't share data 23:21 – What Stears actually is 25:02 – PE vs VC: how the money really works 28:51 – Boring businesses that make money 30:40 – Growth vs profitability: what investors want now 33:24 – The unsexy businesses that will build wealth 35:02 – Logistics, cold storage & agriculture 40:04 – Creative industries as a dollar export 42:25 – The $10 trillion succession problem 44:10 – Why Nigerian family businesses don't sell 49:09 – Franchises: iFitness, Chicken Republic & the PE playbook 55:07 – AI, data, and the future of Stears 56:29 – Why people are the real friction with AI 1:00:34 – Advice to founders who just raised: slow down 1:01:34 – The Loyola plane crash & learning grief young 1:05:27 – What legacy means in the age of AI 1:08:29 – Rapid fire 1:09:45 – Due diligence, culture & "remote intelligence" 1:12:22 – Who needs to be on this couch next?