African Tech Roundup
Africa-focused technology, digital and innovation ecosystem insight and commentary.
Episodes
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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October 17, 2024 • 18 mins
In October 2022, Safaricom launched its telecommunications services in Ethiopia, marking a major milestone as the first private operator to enter the Ethiopian telecom market. This move broke the long-standing monopoly of state-owned Ethio Telecom and was seen by many as a significant step towards liberalising the country’s telecom sector.
The company had officially been licensed in July 2021, with a record $850 million licensing...
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September 25, 2024 • 25 mins
In the third and final episode of the Future in the Humanities podcast mini-series, titled "The Gig Economy's Hidden Costs", Wits social scientist and researcher Fikile Masikane guides an exploration of the complex realities facing gig workers in the Global South, particularly food courier riders in Africa.
Featuring insights from a study conducted with Edward Webster, Andile Masuku delves into the challenges and contradictions of...
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September 25, 2024 • 17 mins
In this episode, Wits University media researchers Samuel Olaniran and Iginio Gagliardone guide an audio tour into the complex world of conspiracy theories in the era of social media and global crises.
Drawing from multiple research findings and expert dialogues, Andile Masuku (host) grapples with the complex function of conspiracy theories in our society. Rather than dismissing them solely as social ills, he investigates their po...
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September 25, 2024 • 26 mins
In the opening episode of the Future in the Humanities podcast mini-series, titled "Touching Brains", Wits University research collaborators Sahba Besharati and Victoria Williams let us in on their multidisciplinary exploration of the complex impact of COVID-19 on human interaction and touch.
Featuring insights from various studies and discussions around the experiences of parents and caregivers during the pandemic, Andile Masuku...
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October 2, 2023 • 37 mins
In this special edition of the African Tech Roundup podcast, taped at the fringes of the inaugural Africa Digital Transformation Strategy Summit (convened by NOVACOM Summits), Refiloe Mpakanyane investigates the state of digital transformation in Africa through conversation with four seasoned corporate C-suite executives spearheading corporate innovation in Africa.
Dr Juliet Ehimuan is formerly Director of Google West Africa. Juli...
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October 3, 2022 • 54 mins
In this African Tech Conversations episode, guest host Kate Bryne chats with avid AI proponents Jania Okwechime (Partner at Deloitte - West Africa Data Analytics Leader) and Wessel Oosthuizen (AI Lead - Deloitte Analytics). Listen in for deep insights about the pros and pitfalls of AI and to grasp the profound potential impact AI might have on the Web3 universe as we build it out.
EDITORIAL DISCLAIMER: While the Celo Community Fun...
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September 12, 2022 • 10 mins
In this UNAJUA episode, Kate Byrne parses through majorly-hyped trends like "play-to-earn" to pinpoint the true potential of the extraordinary new level of connectivity and engagement enabled by applied Web3 technologies.
This podcast is the third and final instalment of the three-part UNAJUA Series focused on distilling a handful of global Web3 buzz trends like crypto, NFTs, the metaverse and even AI— reflecting how they are unfo...
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August 29, 2022 • 18 mins
In this UNAJUA episode, Kate Byrne gauges the ongoing fallout of the current global meltdown in crypto markets and speaks on the current international tenor in crypto adoption.
This is the second instalment of a three-part UNAJUA Series focused on distilling a handful of global Web3 buzz trends like crypto, NFTs, the metaverse and even AI— reflecting how they are unfolding within an African context.
Kate has served as a C-Suite ...
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August 18, 2022 • 15 mins
This is the first episode of a UNAJUA Series focused on distilling a handful of global Web3 buzz trends like crypto, NFTs, the metaverse and even AI— reflecting how they are unfolding within an African context. Offering minimum viable insight in this series is the inimitable Kate Byrne.
Kate has served as a C-Suite executive leader at blue chip brands such as Katapult X, SOCAP Global, Inc, Fast Company and the George Lucas Educati...
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August 2, 2022 • 9 mins
This is the final episode of the three-part UNAJUA Series focused on what sets blockchains apart. Seasoned Kenyan blockchain developer and Web3 enthusiast Jordan Muthemba is on strike for this series.
In this podcast, Jordan Muthemba explains how blockchain (network) users vote and elect delegates to validate the next block using a concept called Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS).
Jordan is a full-stack developer with over five yea...
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