The African Tech Round-up Podcast delivers all the week's technology, digital and innovation highlights from across the African continent and beyond.

The show is hosted by Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga.

African Tech Round-up Podcast

There Is A Way

John O’Nolan is the founder and head designer at Ghost, an open source, hackable platform for building and running online publications. Ghost is used to power blogs at NASA, Sky News, Elon Musk’s new Open AI initiative, and literally a million other online publications. The interesting thing about Ghost is that it’s run as a non-profit organization with only 10 full-time employees. All of Ghost’s code is open source and the company publishes its financials, including run rates and salaries, on its website.

In this conversation we discuss life on the road, tips and tricks for digital nomads, and how to keep a team in sync across time zones. We also discuss the founding of Ghost, and John’s ideas about the role of the designer CEO, and touch on women in tech, the best tools for virtual teams and a lot more.

Awesome with Simon Dingle

Why do you do? with John O'Nolan

A couple of weeks ago, a think piece by Andile Masuku entitled "We simply must not allow investor bias to persist" - featured in African Independent and Business Report - caused a bit of a stir on Twitter. The hubbub surrounded the article's tackling of the sensitive issue of investor bias that appears to be prevalent in Africa's startup finance scene.

Cited in Andile's piece are research findings published in a recent Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded report by the American VC outfit, Village Capital. According to the report, more than 90% of the funding that's gone into East African fintech startups over the past year or two has benefitted firms with expatriate founders. This has lead to some local founders complaining that their ventures aren't being fairly appraised for investibility in terms of their potential and financial viability. 

In this episode of the African Tech Round-up, Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga are joined by Tapsnapp founder and CEO, Vije Vijendranath, to unpack some of the impassioned response to the investor bias debate that's recently surfaced from certain quarters within our tech community and to chat about some possible solutions to the situation.

Then, being that Tapsnapp is surfing the "Uberisation of everything" trend, and given the current push-back Uber is experiencing in South Africa from various stakeholders, Andile, Musa and Vije decided to try and answer the question: how enthusiastically should Africans embrace on-demand marketplace platforms?

Music Credits:
Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

African Tech Round-up

Investor Bias Debate 2.0 + Should Africa Embrace Uberisation? feat. Vije Vijendranath

In this conversation, Andile Masuku asks PesaCheck.org Managing Editor, Eric Mugendi, to reflect on the unprecedented leveraging of digital technologies by leading actors in Kenya's controversial elections, and to factor in on how the country's emerging tech ecosystem is doing in the aftermath.

Quick (Tech) Chats

Kenyan post election reflections with PesaCheck.org Managing Editor Eric Mugendi

Back on the show for the first time since contributing his fair share of involuntary hot takes on Episode 109 entitled "Investor Bias Debate 2.0 + Should Africa Embrace Uberisation?" (http://bit.ly/investorbias) Tapsnapp Founder, Vije Vijendrenath assumes co-hosting duties in Musa Kalenga’s absence. Andile Masuku chats to him about the workarounds he's deployed to secure funding for two startups that he previously struggled to get investors to take seriously-- namely, www.tapsnapp.co and www.youbabyandi.com.

Then, joining Andile and Vije on the show for a deep dive into South Africa's mobility scene is Obakeng Morapeli Matlhoko, the Founder of AftaRobot-- South Africa's ambitious "Uber for minibus taxis". Obakeng shares trench insights into his company’s audacious attempt usher in a new paradigm for the country’s notoriously fragmented minibus taxi industry.

Music Credits:
Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

African Tech Roundup

A Peek Under the Hood Of South Africa's Mobility Scene feat. Obakeng Morapeli Matlhoko

In this relaxed chat - taped on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2018 - Business Report (South Africa) Content Editor, Philippa Larkin and African Tech Roundup Executive Producer, Andile Masuku, chat about topical global issues impacting Africa's tech and innovation industry.

Listen in to hear how the conversation takes some unexpected twists and turns as Philippa and Andile discuss the continent's unfolding digital transformation journey.

Philippa Larkin and Andile Masuku's tech and innovation catch-up

Joining Andile Masuku and guest co-host Rushil Vallabh of Secha Capital on this African Tech Roundup podcast is Grant Phillips. Grant is the Founder and CEO of PhilTech Consulting and has partnered with both Convergence Partners and Stockdale Street (the Oppenheimer Family’s South African private equity outfit) to "build out technology ecosystems across Africa". He was previously the CEO and Chairman of the Nairobi-based credit reference bureau and debt management outsource organisation CRB Africa as well as CEO of TransUnion’s Pan-African business.

Listen in to hear Andile, Rushil and Grant unpack the provocative assertion that venture capital is a Ponzi scheme, recently made by the American-Sri Lankan Founder and CEO of Social Capital Chamath Palihapitiya. Head to [1:18:12] if you'd like to skip straight to that conversation.

Chamath - a bona fide billionaire - was an early senior executive at Facebook. Following that, Chamath founded Social Capital which he claims, its first 8 years, made double what Berkshire Hathaway made in its first 8 years of business. But now, apparently, he's done with the limited partnership VC model and with running a successful hedge fund. Hence, he's decided to reorganise Social Capital into a holding company that will pick investments on the basis of both solid business fundamentals and "value to humanity"— and offer investees all the finance and growth support they need to thrive.

Given media reports regarding Rocket Internet's puzzling plans to exit their investment in the struggling online shopping platform Jumia via a stock exchange listing in the US, Africa's early-stage investment ecosystem might do well to soberly reflect on Chamath's controversial aversion to the VC model largely popularised by Silicon Valley.

Topics discussed in this episode:
Somalia’s Premier Bank announces a USD1 million fund to invest in Somali startups [14:45]
Kenya earmarks just under USD10 million for local phone manufacturing [15:55]
Airtel Africa raises USD1.25 billion [18:14]
Update on MTN Nigeria's regulatory woes [21:36]
Rocket Internet set to list Jumia in the US [24.09] 
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) could invest USD3 million in Kobo360 [30:26]
South Africa is getting Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centres [43:42]
Naspers is agressively reorganising its portfolio [48:03]
Angola Cables' South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) is live [52:06]
Zambia's Central Bank warns against trading cryptocurrencies [54:05]
Liquid Telecom completes acquisition of CEC Liquid Telecom (Zambia) [59:04]
Nexxus Ventures backs South African equity crowdfunding startup Uprise.Africa [1:00:57] 
Education fintech Prodigy lands a billion dollar line of credit [1:03:32]
Standard Bank South Africa set to launch a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) [1:07:28]
Malawi plans to force businesses to accept digital payments [1:09:02]
Andela pays coders at least 50% less than Silicon Valley coders earn [1:09:40]
Facebook continues to lose top executives + Facebook data breach [1:10:55]
Apple & Amazon accused of having servers compromised by spyware-laden chips [1:12:32]
Apple and Samsung fined by Italy for planned obsolescence [1:13:17]
Uber keen to buy Careem [1:14:36]
Airbnb wants to share equity with home sharing listees [1:15:00]
Discussion: Is VC a Ponzi Scheme? [1:18:12]

Resources referenced in this episode:
The Africa Innovation Paradigm Whitepaper: http://bit.ly/AfricanInnovationParadigmReport
Chamath Palihapitiya This Week In Startups Interview: http://bit.ly/ChamathInterview
Social Capital 2018 Annual Letter: http://bit.ly/SocialCapital2018AnnualLetter

Is Venture Capital a Ponzi Scheme? feat. Grant Phillips of PhilTech Consulting

2018's last in-studio taping of the African Tech Roundup podcast is a two-part affair which guest features the force of nature that is Viola Llewellyn. Viola is the UK-born, Cameroonian Co-founder and President of an award-winning fintech platform called Ovamba. Ovamba relies on proprietary technologies to connect African SMEs to sources of short‐term capital to fund their growth.

Viola has spent over 15 years working in the management consulting, technology and alternative finance sectors at firms like of IBM, Unisys, KPMG and Preston Gates Ellis. She currently serves on the Boards of Directors of ActivSpaces, AH Partners, the European Women in Payment Network and the International Women’s Think Tank.

In this, the first part of Episode 125, Viola joins Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga as they start to factor in on a “hype vs. reality” themed conversation about the development of Africa’s fintech landscape in 2018. Listen in to hear Viola's candid take on the unfortunate current state-of-play in Cameroon’s Anglophone region.

Topics discussed in this episode:
Nigeria plans to build an additional 18,000km of fibre infrastructure [41:33]
Ashish Thakkar of Mara Group  announces plans to launch a smartphone brand called Maraphone [46:50]
Tanzania vs. journalists [51:29]
Anglophone Cameroon crisis update [53:29]

Resources referenced in this episode:
Nigeria's National Broadband Plan 2013-2018 | Nigerian Presidential Committee on Broadband (http://bit.ly/NigeriaBroadbandPlan2013)
A new model of microfinance for Africa, and beyond | TED Institute (http://bit.ly/ViolaLlewellynTEDTalk)
The Democratisation of Financial Services | SLUSH (http://bit.ly/ViolaLlewellynSLUSH)
26 Women of Colour Diversifying Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley, Media and Beyond | Vanity Fair (http://bit.ly/BlackWomenVanityFair)

The African Fintech 2018 Retrospective with Viola Llewellyn of Ovamba Part 1

2018's last in-studio taping of the African Tech Roundup podcast is a two-part affair which guest features the force of nature that is Viola Llewellyn. Viola is the UK-born, Cameroonian Co-founder and President of an award-winning fintech platform called Ovamba. Ovamba relies on proprietary technologies to connect African SMEs to sources of short‐term capital to fund their growth.

Viola has spent over 15 years working in the management consulting, technology and alternative finance sectors at firms like of IBM, Unisys, KPMG and Preston Gates Ellis. She currently serves on the Boards of Directors of ActivSpaces, AH Partners, the European Women in Payment Network and the International Women’s Think Tank.

In this, the second part of Episode 125, Viola joins Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga to factor in on a “hype vs. reality” themed conversation about the development of Africa’s fintech landscape in 2018. To skip straight to that discussion, head to [40:09] and listen in to hear why Viola is sick and tired with the on-going continent-wide obsession of fintech startups looking to build "last-mile" solutions.

Topics discussed in this episode:
France's EDF signs deal for USD1.37 billion hydro project in Cameroon [1:26]
Cameroonian health-tech entrepreneur Melissa Bime wins the Anzisha Prize [5:04]
Benin repeals social media tax [10:57]
Novastar Ventures closes USD72.5 million fund for West African Investments [13:17]
Ethos announces USD69.8 million AI Fund [14:24}
The African Digital Asset Framework (ADAF) is launched [19:35]
Econet Group posts great results despite Kwese's poor performance [28:44]
Econet and Safaricom not content to stay in their lanes [33:38]
African Fintech 2018 Retrospective Discussion [40:09]

Resources referenced in this episode:
Breaking New Ground In Fintech: A Primer On Revenue Models That Create Value and Build Trust | Omidyar Network and Oliver Wyman (http://bit.ly/OmidyarNetworkFintechReport)

Image credit: Tito Pixel

The African Fintech 2018 Retrospective with Viola Llewellyn of Ovamba Part 2

Co-founder and Co-MD of Secha Capital Rushil Vallabh joins Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga for the very first in-studio taping of 2019. Andile, Musa and Rushil chat through some notable signals and trends they've observed in Africa’s digital, tech and innovation ecosystem over the last month or so, then unpack issues raised by a New York Times (NYT) article entitled, More Start-Ups Have an Unfamiliar Message for Venture Capitalists: Get Lost - penned by Erin Griffith - which caused quite a stir on social media.

The NYT piece raises some contentious issues currently being debated within Africa's early-stage startup investment scene— some of which were tackled on episode 124 entitled, Is Venture Capital a Ponzi Scheme? feat. Grant Phillips of PhilTech Consulting, which, incidentally, featured Rushil as guest host.

Listen to hear why African startup founders might do well to embrace the "joy of missing out" aka JOMO by rejecting investment doctrine that prioritises raising ever increasing rounds of capital and pursuing growth at all costs over building sustainable/profitable ventures. To skip straight to that discussion, head to [55:12].

Topics discussed in this episode:
AMA.ZING, part of the Zing Group, withdraws from Zimbabwe [4:52]
The Econet Group is beasting right now [12:46]
Econet Group Chairman Strive Masiyiwa vs Minority Shareholders [16:25]
Vodacom's #PleaseCallMe PR Nightmare [20:51]
Naspers now controls Russia’s largest classified advertising platform [30:50]
Andela closes $100 million funding round [34:52]
Cairo Angels claims to have invested $2.3 million in 24 startups [36:36]
Egyptian bus-sharing startup Swvl is expanding to Kenya [38:37]
Xiaomi plans to establish a formal presence in Africa [48:27]
Facebook and Google compromise Apple's privacy regime [49:47]

Image credit: Erwan Hesry

The Joy of Missing Out - Should African Founders Reject Hypergrowth VC Doctrine?

This podcast is the first instalment of a two-part conversation Andile Masuku had with one of Zimbabwe’s most well-known and widely-respected business people, the economist turned banker, entrepreneur and investor, Dr Nigel Chanakira. 

Dr Chanakira is probably most famous for founding Kingdom Financial Holdings Limited in 1997, and for orchestrating that company’s much-publicized merger and demerger with the Meikles Africa group before eventually selling out to the Mauritius-based AfrAsia Holdings in 2013.

Prior to founding Kingdom Financial Holdings, Dr Chanakira spent long stints working for the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and Bard Discount House. Over the years, he has sat on the boards of numerous leading companies and institutions, including Econet Wireless Holdings, Success Motivation Institute (Africa), the Christian Community Trust and Kingdom Meikles Africa.

Listen in to hear Dr Chanakira's fascinating personal and professional origin story. And heads up, this episode features an intriguing anecdote about role Dr Chanakira played in setting up Econet founder Strive Masiyiwa to become one of Zimbabwe’s most prolific entrepreneurial successes to date, and how he may have simultaneously made the poorest investment decision of his career.

Image credit: Pepi Stojanovski

Investment Diaries With Dr Nigel Chanakira Part 1 - Worst investment decision in Zimbabwean history?

Good friend of the show, entrepreneur, investor and incurable blockchain technology fanatic, Simon Dingle, joins Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga to chat through three big questions:

1) What are we to make of Jumia’s much-publicised New York Stock Exchange listing?
2) Is blockchain technology as full-safe as we are often led to believe?
3) How excited should we be about PopCom founder, Dawn Dickson, becoming the first black woman to raise over $1 million for her company via a security token offering?

Regular listeners of this podcast will know that during our in-studio episodes Andile, Musa and a guest normally highlight and briefly unpack as many as ten important ecosystem developments before tackling a discussion topic. But, in response to feedback we've been receiving from our audience, we’re changing things up a little.

Going forward, our in-studio flagship recordings will only cover three big questions, giving us to us a chance to discuss issues more thoroughly. Do enjoy the show and be sure to let us know what you make of the changes to the format.

Image credit: Aditya Vyas

Jumia's NYSE Listing + Are Blockchains Safe? + Security Token Offerings, Yay or Nah?

In this episode of the African Tech Roundup podcast, Andile Masuku and The Subtext’s Osarumen Osamuyi are joined by Iginio Gagliardone for a candid introductory chat about the budding Africa-China/China-Africa tech collaboration dynamic.

Iginio is an Associate Professor in Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand and an Associate Research Fellow in New Media and Human Rights in the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP) at the University of Oxford. He is also the author of a new book called China, Africa and the Future of the Internet, which has taken him the better part of ten years to write.

This context-setting conversation covers a lot of ground. Some of the questions discussed include: 

1) Where big-money moves in tech and innovation sector are concerned, is there an Africa-China or China-Africa dynamic at play? [12:17]
2) How committed is China to promoting mutual commercial beneficiation in Africa? [15:51]
3) Is there substance to stereotype of “Everyone has a plan for Africa, except Africa”? [20:13]
4) Are there any “good guys” left, and if so, is China one of them? [25:02]
5) Is China’s influence in African “technopolitical” circles inducing a neo-Third World psyche? [30:23] 

The episode is chock-full of fascinating real-world anecdotes, provocative ideas for how things can and should be and even a lively lightning round near the end of the show which elicited reflex takes on Africa-China tech stories that have trended over the last short while.

To view resources referenced in this episode, visit https://www.africantechroundup.com/africa-china-tech-dynamics/

Image credit: Kayla Kozlowski

Is The Africa-China/China-Africa Tech & Innovation Dynamic Win-win? feat. Iginio Gagliardone

Africa-focused technology, digital and innovation ecosystem insight and commentary.

#AndilesTake is an ad hoc podcast by sense-maker, storyteller, (African) tech and innovation fan, interviewer, profiler and community-builder, Andile Masuku. Andile is Co-founder at African Tech Roundup and serves as Head of Community at Founders Factory Africa. Follow him on Twitter @MasukuAndile.

Investor Bias Debate 2.0 + Should Africa Embrace Uberisation? feat. Vije Vijendranath

African Tech Roundup

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