Financial education as top-of-funnel in African markets + pre-seed fundraising reality check

Two questions for anyone who's been through the early stage grind building fintech for African markets:

1. Financial education as acquisition

We're exploring using financial literacy content (short-form, mobile-first) as a way to build community and trust before launching our core product. The idea is that in markets where people aren't used to digital financial tools, you need to educate before you convert.

Has anyone actually done this? Curious what formats worked (video, quizzes, carousels), whether it translated into real product adoption, or if it just built an audience that never converted.

2. Pre-seed fundraising — how "ready" do you actually need to be?

For those who've raised pre-seed for Africa-focused fintech: how much traction did you actually have? Was it just an idea and a deck, or did investors expect live users, revenue, or partnerships locked in?

Trying to calibrate whether the move is to keep building and show progress, or pause and go raise now. Especially curious if anyone has raised for underserved corridors where the TAM story isn't as clean as Nigeria or Kenya.

Not looking for textbook advice — real experience helps.