African Tech Roundup
Africa-focused technology, digital and innovation ecosystem insight and commentary.
Episodes
Episode overview:
Bernard Laurendeau has a mission: to stop African business leaders from asking for "patient capital." The Ethiopian-French management consultant, now operating from Tokyo, believes this standard pitch fundamentally misunderstands how global investment works and fails African markets.
It's a contrarian stance from someone who's spent 15 years advising Fortune 50 clients and building institutions across three conti...
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June 17, 2025 • 54 mins
Episode overview:
Guidione Machava has a confession: he's tired of being called an "African designer." The Mozambican product designer, now based in France and fresh from stints at Shopify and Paris-based 23point5, reckons that geographic qualifiers automatically strip away a third of your professional value before you've even started.
It's a provocative stance from someone who's built his career bridging African markets and globa...
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May 30, 2025 • 69 mins
Episode overview:
In this conversation, South African strategist Wabo Majavu, executive strategy and business operations leader at Africa Data Centres, unpacks how technical expertise at organisations like MTN and Intelsat laid the foundation for her distinctive approach to strategic leadership and digital activism.
From building radar applications at the CSIR to optimising cellular networks through late-night, township-sourced s...
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May 14, 2025 • 38 mins
Episode overview:
In this conversation, Verto co-founder and CEO Ola Oyetayo shares the journey of building a cross-border payments platform that tackles the unique challenges African businesses face when making international transactions.
Since graduating from Y Combinator in 2019, Verto has established itself as what Oyetayo describes as a profitable and cashflow positive fintech serving multiple African markets. Incidentally, ...
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Episode overview:
In this conversation, David Ogundeko shares the journey of Funema, an impact-focused alternative investment firm operating for nine years across Nigeria, South Africa, and the US. He discusses his approach to venture building for early-stage founders, why Africa needs a unique investment approach, and how his firm addresses the "chicken and egg" challenge that idea-stage founders face: needing traction to raise fu...
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April 5, 2025 • 29 mins
Meet Marie Lora-Mungai, expert advisor in African creative industries and sports business and founder of Restless Global - whose 20-year journey from CNN journalist to production company founder to industry advisor gives her a unique vantage point on Africa's creative economy.
In thought-provoking conversation with Andile Masuku, Lora-Mungai makes a compelling case for African filmmakers to stop seeking funding for traditional pro...
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March 20, 2025 • 42 mins
Episode overview:
In this conversation, Fatu Ogwuche shares insights into her transition from working at Meta and consulting for Nigeria's Electoral Commission to launching her own media platform, Big Tech This Week. She discusses her entrepreneurial spirit, creative approach to storytelling, and the unique position independent creators hold in today's media landscape.
Andile Masuku describes Ogwuche as "low-key the industry's he...
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February 20, 2025 • 26 mins
This episode features an engaging conversation with Rob Bergman, Chief Investment Officer at Unicorn Factory, exploring the nuanced intersection of digital infrastructure investment and internet connectivity ecosystem development across Africa.
Episode overview:
Andile Masuku engages with Bergman to unpack his 12-year journey in African investment, examining how Unicorn Factory's distinctive two-pillar approach combines operationa...
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February 7, 2025 • 57 mins
Episode Overview:
This episode features a relaxed, peer-to-peer conversation between two media entrepreneurs—African Tech Roundup co-founder and executive producer Andile Masuku, and Money & Moves founder and writer Tinashe Mukogo.
They explore how Mukogo draws on his background in consulting (Deloitte), corporate venture capital (Next47), and organisational finance (Siemens), along with his CA and INSEAD MBA credentials, to del...
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January 25, 2025 • 41 mins
Episode Overview:
This episode features a deep conversation with Joshua Bicknell, co-founder of Balloon Ventures, exploring how the organisation evolved from a non-profit connecting young people with informal entrepreneurs to becoming a financial institution that's deployed over $14 million in loans to SMEs across Kenya and Uganda, while openly sharing portfolio data to prove the viability of SME lending as an asset class.
Key to...
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January 17, 2025 • 10 mins
This episode features a brief check-in with Ochuko Ogra, Chief Transformation and Strategy Officer at Backbone Connectivity Network (BCN), sketching Nigeria's digital infrastructure landscape.
Episode overview:
BCN has over 1,000 km of wholly-owned fibre infrastructure, primarily in the North-Central and North Eastern parts of Nigeria. Citing its stronghold in Northern Nigeria to its expanding national footprint, Ogra shares how ...
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January 9, 2025 • 51 mins
Listen in as Alan Knott-Craig Jr, son of Alan Sr, the pioneering co-founder and first CEO of Vodacom, one of South Africa's leading mobile network operators, and later the feisty CEO of challenger telco Cell C—takes us through a transformative career moment that set the stage for his future ventures.
Episode overview
This early 2016 conversation finds Alan Knott-Craig Jr in a moment of trademark forthrightness. Fresh from his tenu...
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December 26, 2024 • 74 mins
Episode overview
This unfiltered 2017 archive dialogue captures Maya Horgan Famodu (Founder and Partner, Ingressive Capital) before she became known for straight-talking LinkedIn posts about founder insights and personal growth.
Fresh from investment banking, she was forging new pathways between Silicon Valley capital and African startup innovation via carefully-curated investor tours—laying the groundwork for the launch of Ingre...
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December 12, 2024 • 27 mins
As we wind down 2024, we're diving into our archives to serve up some memorable throwback conversations.
Whether you're a long-time listener revisiting these gems or discovering them for the first time, these conversations capture pivotal moments in Africa's tech journey. In today's episode, we're rewinding to 2018...
Episode overview:
Join us as we eavesdrop on a fascinating corridor conversation from Afrobytes Tech Marketplace ...
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December 5, 2024 • 19 mins
Meet Chijioke Dozie, the co-founder steering Carbon through Nigeria's increasingly noisy neobank scene. In this candid chat with Andile Masuku, Dozie makes a case for zigging while others zag—specifically, charging for value while competitors burn cash on free services.
It's a stance that might raise eyebrows in Nigeria's price-sensitive market, but as you'll hear, it's backed by 12 years of hard knocks and savvy iteration.
Epis...
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November 28, 2024 • 15 mins
Ambar van der Wath—who leads investor relations at one of Africa's leading accelerator slash VC firms, Baobab Network—discusses with Andile Masuku how the firm is creating accessible entry points for cautious investors interested in early-stage African tech startups.
Episode Overview:
Picture this: You're an international investor curious about African tech, but you're not quite ready to write million-dollar checks or commit to a...
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November 21, 2024 • 19 mins
This episode features an illuminating dialogue with Lanre Kolade, Chairman of ConnectedCompute, CEO of Koltronics Nigeria and former CEO of CSquared, exploring the intricate dynamics of infrastructure development and digital transformation across Africa.
Episode overview:
Andile Masuku engages with Kolade to unpack his 26-year journey in African broadband connectivity, examining the delicate balance between commercial viability an...
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November 14, 2024 • 33 mins
This episode features a candid conversation with Jasiel Martin-Odoom, Africa Investment Officer at Accion Venture Lab, exploring the intersection of venture capital and connectivity-focused content creation and ecosystem building in African tech.
Episode overview:
Andile Masuku sits down with Jasiel Martin-Odoom to unpack his unique approach to ecosystem engagement, scaling personal impact through content creation and driving valu...
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November 7, 2024 • 60 mins
In a landscape where African tech startups often chase buzzwords and quick wins, some founders are taking a more fundamental approach to innovation. This episode explores how one Zimbabwean entrepreneur is building sustainable tech ventures by focusing on first principles.
Episode overview:
In this deeply candid conversation, Andile Masuku sits down with Victor Mapunga, the widely-covered founder of blockchain-based identity start...
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October 31, 2024 • 30 mins
In a rapidly evolving financial services landscape, traditional African insurers are racing to modernise their operations and product offerings to meet changing consumer needs. This episode explores how one of East Africa's largest insurance providers is navigating this transformation.
Episode overview:
In this first instalment of a special two-part miniseries on digital transformation across Africa's insurance and healthcare sect...
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