Amandine’s own path has been similarly non-linear. She moved from investment banking to development finance, fintech investing and eventually operations. That helped her pick opportunities based on what she could learn and the people she wanted to work with.
That journey eventually brought her to Paystack. There she was Head of Business Operations when Stripe acquired the company. Amandine takes us inside that process, which a small Paystack team ran during COVID without an investment bank or external diligence consultants. She also explains why Paystack retained significant autonomy after the deal.
Besides, our conversation looks at what outsiders still misunderstand about African fintech. Amandine points to Kenya’s pioneering role in mobile money and the dominance of instant bank transfers in Nigeria as examples of markets developing around local needs rather than recreating Western payment infrastructure.
This becomes particularly relevant as payments enter their next stage. We discussed AI, agentic commerce and why Africa’s path towards AI-driven transactions may develop around mobile money instead of cards. Amandine also shares what Paystack is already experimenting with through products such as Paystack Index.
Finally, for women in finance and technology, she shares how representation has changed across the environments she has worked in. Her investment banking analyst class was roughly 10% female. Today, meanwhile, women represent more than half of Paystack’s leadership team and around 40% of the entire company.
As Amandine puts it, “There is definitely progress, although there is always space to grow.”
Read the full interview with Amandine Lobelle of Paystack on Women Leading the Way.
