African Tech Roundup Podcast

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Tawanda Kembo of BitFinance & Vusi Ndebele of PayNow on Zimbabwe's emerging tech scene Apr 11, 2016

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At Afrikoin Joburg 2015, hosted at Alpha Code in December 2015, Andile Masuku spoke to two leading Zimbabwean startup founders with businesses in the fintech space, and asked them to unpack why Zimbabwe might be the perfect use-case for disruptive fintech innovations.

Nigerian House of Representatives Calls For MTN Nigeria To Pay Over $10bn Apr 04, 2016

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MTN’s West African headache is now officially a chronic migraine. Just as the MTN Group thought the worst was over, lawmakers in Nigeria’s House of Representatives decided to shake things up. Some members have declared any concession (promised or granted by the Nigerian Communications Commission) in terms of the $5.2 billion fine that MTN Nigeria was charged some months ago, “unlawful”. Others have gone as far as saying that if Nigerian law is correctly applied, the fine ought to be doubled. We’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on this situation for you, so keep it locked. In place of this week’s discussion on the African Tech Round-up, we’ve published a clip from my recent chat with two well-regarded poster boys from South Africa’s tech startup scene: Lungisa Matshoba, of Cape Town-based fintech startup, Yoco, and Shafin Anwarsha, of the Johannesburg-based mobile recruitment startup, Giraffe. Listen in to hear Lungisa and Shafin share key growth metrics for their respective businesses, and explain why African startups are so secretive with their numbers. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Lungisa Matshoba Of Yoco & Shafin Anwarsha Of Giraffe on repping Africa's startup scene abroad Apr 03, 2016

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Lungisa Matshoba is a Co-founder & Director of the Cape Town-based fintech startup, Yoco, and Shafin Anwarsha is Founder & Head of Product at Giraffe— a Johannesburg-based mobile recruitment startup. The two are well-regarded poster boys for South Africa’s emerging startup scene. Both their firms are currently enjoying a season of relative success as their businesses continue to gain traction and land the backing of venture capitalist interests. Among other things, Lungisa and Shafin chat to Andile Masuku about some of the misconceptions about the realties of Africa’s startup scene that they have encountered when trotting out their businesses in foreign markets, and they get real about two of arguably the most important growth metrics— revenue and profit. They also share some of the mistakes they would avoid if they could start their entrepreneurial journeys afresh.

Geraldine Mitchley of Visa Sub-Saharan Africa on buying in innovation Apr 03, 2016

Show notes

Geraldine Mitchley is the Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships and Emerging Payments at Visa Sub-Saharan Africa. Andile Masuku caught up with her at Nest.vc's recent #WhatsNext #FinTech event in Johannesburg and asked her to describe Visa's approach to acquiring fintech startups that might be able to deliver the type of innovative solutions they might have difficulty developing in-house.

How Ridiculous Is This? South Africa Is Looking To Ban Netflix! Mar 28, 2016

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There are media reports doing the rounds regarding South Africa’s Film and Publication Board (FPB) Chief Operating Officer Sipho Risiba supposedly giving Netflix a two-week ultimatum to comply with its regulatory requirements (whatever those are), or risk facing tough sanctions. Word is, Risiba recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Kenya Film Commission in a show of support for Kenya's mission to regulate Netflix’s activities within that country. Despite details around this matter being sketchy, critics have already started accusing the FPB of functioning outside of its mandate, and senselessly seeking to regulate the internet. In Andile Masuku's conversation with Justin Spratt over a year ago, Justin alluded to the fact that the proliferation of internet usage in Africa would change the face of traditional broadcasting and media distribution— leaving various stakeholders within those industries scrambling to cope. He certainly called it! In this week’s discussion on the African Tech Round-up, our content editor, Peter Peele, joins Andile to mull over the implications of attempts, or indeed alleged attempts, by government agencies like the FPB to regulate OTT video-on-demand services like Netflix. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Dare Okoudjou of MFS Africa on the future of mobile money in Africa Mar 25, 2016

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Dare Okoudjou is the CEO of MFS Africa-- a firm which specialises in “making simple and relevant financial services accessible through mobile phones across Africa”. His international consulting background and current role as overseer of MFS Africa’s business across 22 African countries inform his perspectives on what might be next for the continent’s fintech scene. In this chat with Andile Masuku, Dare factors in on a broad range of topics, including what financial services incumbents might be doing that makes them ripe for disruption, and why he reckons Africa is poised to lead the world in terms of fintech innovation within the next decade.

Sechaba Ngwenya of Creditable on playing nice with financial services incumbents (for now) Mar 25, 2016

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Sechaba Ngwenya is the co-founder of fintech startup, Creditable, that is currently enjoying the support of VC’s like Nest.vc while “playing nicely” with financial incumbents like DBS Hong Kong to establish the commercial viability to their innovative banking solutions. Sechaba lets Andile Masuku in on what it’s taken to get his company to the relatively peachy phase they are now operating in, and dishes on the tricky business of securing the trust of existing financial institutions that have historically done well at servicing business, but not nearly as well at meeting the needs of individuals.

Will These FinTech Startups Disrupt Incumbents? Mar 21, 2016

Show notes

Last week, the Standard Bank Incubator in Johannesburg played host to Nest.vc’s forum on finance and technology. The gathering formed part Nest’s monthly entrepreneurship speaker series and showcase dubbed #WhatsNext. It is the very first #WhatsNext event that Nest has hosted in Southern Africa— doing so in partnership with Standard Bank South Africa, and with support provided by iAfrikan and the African Tech Round Up. In this week’s discussion, Zimbabwean tech entrepreneur and Business Analyst Team Leader at Digital Planet, Nzwisisa Chidembo joins Andile Masuku to unpack some of the weightier insights shared by the panelists who spoke at #WhatsNext #FinTech— namely, Dare Okoudjou of MFS Africa, Gerry Mitchley of Visa, Sechaba Ngwenya of Creditable and Lungisa Matshoba of Yoco. Africa is seeing the unprecedented adoption of cutting edge financial technologies that some are hoping will accelerate financial inclusion on the continent. Incumbents within the financial services sector are being forced to rethink their business models in order to remain relevant and profitable in a rapidly-changing landscape. Meanwhile, innovative fintech disruptors are keenly carving out niches for themselves, and would only be too happy to render large institutions relics of the past. Only one thing is certain for Africa’s financial industry— the future will happen. The question is, will legacy players gear up for continued domination, or will disruptive upstarts end up hosting the party? Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Vodacom Accused Of Stealing An Idea, Again! Mar 13, 2016

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Vodacom is reportedly fielding a lawsuit filed by a South African company called Ndabenhle Business Enterprises CC. Word is, Ndabenhle is alleging that Vodacom stole the “Airtime Advance” idea from them and ran with it, leaving them in the cold. Vodacom’s Airtime Advance innovation allows prepaid subscribers who run out of airtime to get R5 or R10 in prepaid minutes on credit and only pay it back when they recharge, with a little interest of course. In this episode of the African Tech Round-up, Tefo Mohapi and Andile Masuku debate what constitutes a protectable idea and whether the plaintiff in this particular matter may have approached their interaction with Vodacom with naiveté. It’s worth remembering that former Vodacom employee Kenneth Nkosana Makate’s court case against Vodacom, in which he alleges that Vodacom stole his ‘Please Call Me' idea, is still pending. The one thing these two cases have in common aside from alleging that the folks at Vodacom are a bunch thieving rascals, is the busload of cash the plaintiffs stand to rake in if they win their respective legal bids. It’s the type of money that no doubt makes the incredibly difficult legal confrontation with a well-heeled corporate giant seem worth the slog.

Aaron Fu on Nest.vc's distinct approach to deploying venture capital in Africa Mar 13, 2016

Show notes

Andile Masuku had a lively chat with Aaron Fu, Managing Partner (Africa) at NEST recorded during his first proper visit to Johannesburg in December 2015. They talked about everything from what he’s personally looking forward to in 2016 to what strikes his fancy in his professional capacity as the head of a leading VC firm on the continent.

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