African Tech Roundup Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The Fake News Episode feat. Anim Van Wyk of Africa Check Feb 05, 2018

Show notes

We aren't even halfway through the first quarter of 2018 but already, we've seen a fair amount of questionable 'factual' content do the rounds on social media. In this episode of the African Tech Roundup, https://AfricaCheck.org Editor, Anim Van Wyk, joins Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga to examine the seriousness of Africa's fake news problem and chat through recent highlights from Africa's emerging tech and innovation scene. Listen in to hear Anim explain why you shouldn't trust anyone - not even fact-checking organisations - without verifying their claims. She also explains why debunking false information on platforms like WhatsApp and WeChat is especially tricky, and shares handy pro tips on spotting and preventing the dissemination of "alternative facts" and fake news. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Lidya's Tunde Kehinde on addressing Nigeria's $30 billion small business credit gap Jan 30, 2018

Show notes

Tunde Kehinde is the co-founder of Lidya, a branchless internet bank that aims to ease Nigeria's estimated $30 billion small business credit gap. Tunde holds a honours degree in finance from Howard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He previously co-founded the logistics startup, Africa Courier Express (ACE). Before that, he co-founded Jumia.com and served as the e-commerce giant's Managing Director. In this chat with Andile Masuku, Tunde reflects on his founder experience and explains why investors keen on helping Lidya deliver on their mission best be ready to put some serious skin into the game.

Kola Aina of Ventures Platform reckons African capital and local context are underrated Jan 22, 2018

Show notes

Kola Aina is the Founder and CEO of the Nigerian-based pan-African seed-stage fund and accelerator, Ventures Platform. The firm's portfolio includes well-publicised Nigerian rising startup stars like Paystack and Printivo, as well as promising, lesser-known ventures like the Cameroonian wifi entertainment platform, Viva. In this conversation with Andile Masuku, Kola unpacks his firm's investment thesis and their Y Combinator-esque approach to startup incubation and acceleration. He also shares his concern about what he considers to be a deep-seated tendency to underestimate the value of African capital and local context.

On Your Marks for 2018: Is the Lean Startup Approach Legit? Jan 15, 2018

Show notes

In the first full African Tech Roundup podcast of 2018, Andile Masuku mulls over Gefira Solutions Founder and CEO Bert Bruggeman's assertion that we can't just "app our way" to solving all of Africa's problems. Then, he ponders which hybrid investment approaches might prove successful in fueling African startups in 2018, and echoes the questions posed by Seyi Fabode’s blog post entitled: “Is It Time To Dump The ‘Lean Startup’ Approach?” Also, in this episode, Andile gives a quick update on the #NotOurManifesto dumpster fire that Co-Creation Hub Nigeria co-founder Femi Longe lit late last year and shares some encouraging news regarding the https://africamanifesto.com initiative that was subsequently launched. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Bert Bruggeman of Gefira Solutions on why hardware development is key for Africa Jan 12, 2018

Show notes

Bert Bruggeman is the Belgian Founder and CEO of the Silicon Valley-based technology advisory firm, Gefira Solutions. Bert has an impressive 25-year track record of successful technology product development and C-level leadership in a broad range of high-tech industries. Gefira Solutions is keen to act on their expansion agenda within Africa's hardware development and innovation space. In this conversation with Andile Masuku, Bert unpacks his organisation's vision and explains why Africa can't simply "app its way" to solving all its problems and achieving digital transformation goals.

mSurvey's Kenfield Griffith on why he's bullish on 2018 and why data analytics is a gamechanger Jan 04, 2018

Show notes

Montserrat native Kenfield Griffith is co-founder and CEO of mSurvey-- a data analytics SaaS startup based in Nairobi Kenya. In 2012, Kenfield partnered with Kenyan Louis Majanja to launch the business following an extended visit to Nairobi to conduct some research for his MIT PhD on the use of technology as a means to improving communication. In this conversation with Andile Masuku, Kenfield explains why he's bullish on 2018 and unpacks how mSurvey's data analytics platform is delivering solid business results for an impressive roster of big-name clients in East Africa, the US and the Caribbean.

Rich Tanksley of NeuBridges on the massive growth potential of commercial digital media in Nigeria Jan 01, 2018

Show notes

Rich Tanksley is the Senior Vice President of Special Projects at the Nigerian-American consultancy, NeuBridges. Formerly the CEO of Pulse.ng, Rich continues to be the Ringier-owned online media platform's brand ambassador. Prior to that, he spent three years working at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) in Ghana as a senior faculty member and headed up Africa operations for Seedstars. In this conversation with Andile Masuku - taped at Afrobytes Tech Conference 2017 - Rich speaks on some of the gaps he perceives within Africa's innovation culture and factors in on issues that he reckons make doing business in Africa a tricky proposition for naive outsiders. He also comments on the massive growth potential of Nigeria's commercial digital media scene.

Alec Fokapu of FiftyFor on bridging the cultural divide between big business and African SMEs Dec 22, 2017

Show notes

French-born Cameroonian Alec Fokapu is the founder and CEO of FiftyFor, a B2B rating platform for African companies. FiftyFor uses an algorithm to compute ratings on governance structure, financial strength, operational capability, and the social and environmental impact of African companies. Alec has 10 years of experience working as a financial analyst in international infrastructure projects at Total and Crédit Agricole CIB. Prior to launching FiftyFor in 2014, he founded an investment firm dedicated to financing promising African SMEs and entrepreneurs. In this conversation with Andile Masuku - taped at Afrobytes Tech Conference 2017 - Alec explains why business rating not only helps big business interests vet prospective African investees and suppliers but can also assist local SME’s in improving their investibility and bridge the entrepreneurial culture gap between them and the developed world.

The 2017 Year-end Rundown + African Venture Capital Done Right feat. Rushil Vallabh Dec 13, 2017

Show notes

By this time last year, Africa's tech and innovation media community had started to go into hibernation for the Festive Season. But this year’s different… Bitcoin is doing the thing, America’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is poised to put net neutrality out of its misery, Uber is bracing for a severe regulatory backlash after trying to conceal a 2016 data breach affecting 57 million users, and complex corruption allegations continue to dog the JSE-listed IT service management giant, EOH, as well as Naspers (who now indirectly own a piece of Spotify thanks to the streaming service’s recent mini-merger with Tencent Music). The tail-end of Q4 2018 has also featured some encouraging local tech ecosystem developments— like several promising African startups landing much needed early-stage funding and key ecosystem stakeholders (founders, investors, policy makers and innovation hub runners) participating in vigorous public debates about maximising the creation and exchange of solid business value within Africa’s emerging tech industry. Joining Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga on this African Tech Roundup podcast (the last full show of 2017) to chat through some of the more interesting digital, tech and innovation highlights to emerge during the past couple of weeks is Bain consultant-turned-venture capitalist, Rushil Vallabh of Secha Capital. Rushil also explains how the founding team at Secha Capital arrived at their investment thesis, why he believes their “hybrid” model gives them the edge, and factors in on the pros and cons of some of the angel investment and VC approaches we’ve discussed on the show recently. We would just like to thank you - the listener - for your part in making the African Tech Roundup community rock in 2017. Our next full episode drops in mid-Jan 2018, but don’t worry, we’ve got your back this Festive Season because every week this holiday, we’ll be publishing previously unreleased Quick (Tech) Chats podcast episodes taped at Afrobytes Tech Conference 2017 and the African Angel Investor Summit 2017. So, go ahead and turn on your notification settings wherever you listen to us, or simply check back into AfricanTechRoundup.com for all the freshest content drops. Happy Holidays! Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Maya Horgan Famodu of Ingressive Capital on becoming a venture capitalist in 2017 Dec 11, 2017

Show notes

2017 has seen Maya Horgan Famodu transition from overseeing efforts to assist corporations and investors integrate into the African tech ecosystem via Ingressive's market entry and operations services, to becoming an early stage tech venture capitalist at Ingressive Capital. In this conversation with Andile Masuku, Maya explains how she's leveraging her Nigerian-Swedish-American heritage, her bullet-proof professional reputation and the insights she's continuing to glean via Ingressive's legacy activities to take on the challenge of participating in the continent's emerging early stage investment scene.

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