First Principles

5 things the Global South is building beyond fintech

Beyond fintech, a different stack is going up across the Global South.

By capsrow · Updated July 2026

• PAYG beats capex.40 shillings a day works. 20,000 up front doesn't.
• The agent is the last mile.Tech routes the order. A person completes it. Lagos, Nairobi, Dhaka, Bogota.
• Harvest loss is a chain problem.Route farm to kiosk direct and the waste collapses. The chain breaks, not the crop.
• The founding moment is an institutional exit.India's space founders, Nigeria's rails, Zimbabwe's telecoms all left the state.
• Energy is the prerequisite, not the outcome.No school, no phone, no build without power. Everything sits behind it.