African Tech Roundup Podcast

Latest Episodes:

ATRUC S2 EP3: Journey Into The Cryptoverse With Hope Ditlhakanyane & Nzwisisa Chidembo Jun 02, 2022

Show notes

Standing in for Musa Kalenga on this African Tech Conversations instalment is Andile Masuku, whose day job is serving as Head of Community at Founders Factory Africa (FFA). Andile extends a recent lunch break exchange he had with his FFA colleagues Hope Ditlhakanyane (Head of Venture Sourcing) and Nzwisisa Chidembo (Head of Engineering) at the office. This podcast offers a candid glimpse into the personal blockchain investment and venture building proclivities of two top-drawer African tech industry pros. It's a show not to miss. Editorial Disclaimer: While the Celo Community Fund supports this African Tech Conversations episode, African Tech Roundup maintains complete editorial oversight. Opinions expressed by the host, Musa Kalenga, and his guest do not necessarily reflect the views of the African Tech Roundup or the presenting sponsor, Celo Community Fund. SUPPORT US: Value our work? Then, join our Patreon Community (https://www.africantechroundup.com/patreon/) and help the African Tech Roundup platform remain single-mindedly focused on serving Africa's tech and innovation ecosystem with robust independent insight and learning content.

UNAJUA S11 EP3: How do you vet the investment worthiness of blockchain startups? May 03, 2022

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This is the final episode of a three-part UNAJUA Series focused on the Blockchain Africa investment opportunity, featuring venture capitalist Hope Ditlhakanyane and venture builder Nzwisisa Chidembo. In their respective roles at hybrid investor, venture builder and accelerator company, Founders Factory Africa (FFA), Hope and Nzwi have recently collaborated to vet the investment worthiness of two African blockchain tech startups, which eventually landed FFA's backing. In this episode, Hope and Nzwi share practical approaches to systematically assessing the commercial credentials of startups building in the blockchain space. OP-ED: Taking art onto a global stage through digital technology by Andile Masuku for Business Report - IOL News (www.iol.co.za/business-report/en…-a6b9-53e65c367a1c) EDITORIAL DISCLAIMER: While the Celo Community Fund supports this UNAJUA Series, African Tech Roundup maintains complete editorial oversight. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the African Tech Roundup or the presenting sponsor, Celo Community Fund. SUPPORT US: Value our work? Then, join our Patreon Community (www.africantechroundup.com/patreon/) and help the African Tech Roundup platform remain single-mindedly focused on serving Africa's tech and innovation ecosystem with robust independent insight and learning content.

UNAJUA S11 EP2: Crypto as a personal investment opportunity? ft. Hope Ditlhakanyane & Nzwi Chidembo Apr 24, 2022

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This is the second episode of a three-part UNAJUA Series focused on the Blockchain Africa investment opportunity, featuring the passionate South African venture capitalist Hope Ditlhakanyane and seasoned Zimbabwean venture builder Nzwisisa Chidembo. In their respective roles at hybrid investor, venture builder and accelerator company, Founders Factory Africa, Hope and Nzwi have recently collaborated to facilitate VC investment in two promising African blockchain tech startups. Nzwi was an early adopter of Bitcoin and other blockchain applications on the private investment side of things. He now has a growing personal portfolio of blockchain investments. Meanwhile, Hope is a confessed late-joiner to the space both as a private and corporate investor. But, she's keenly making up for the lost time by finessing smart blockchain investments in her personal capacity while refining her playbook for backing the space as an institutional VC. So, is there a helpful framework for thinking about crypto as a personal investment opportunity? Listen in to hear Nzwi and Hope offer some pointers. OP-ED: Taking art onto a global stage through digital technology by Andile Masuku for Business Report - IOL News (www.iol.co.za/business-report/en…-a6b9-53e65c367a1c) EDITORIAL DISCLAIMER: While the Celo Community Fund supports this UNAJUA Series, African Tech Roundup maintains complete editorial oversight. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the African Tech Roundup or the presenting sponsor, Celo Community Fund. SUPPORT US: Value our work? Then, join our Patreon Community (www.africantechroundup.com/patreon/) and help the African Tech Roundup platform remain single-mindedly focused on serving Africa's tech and innovation ecosystem with robust independent insight and learning content.

UNAJUA S11 EP1: Is African VC into blockchain tech? ft. Hope Ditlhakanyane & Nzwisisa Chidembo Apr 10, 2022

Show notes

This is the first episode of a three-part UNAJUA Series dealing with investing in African blockchain tech. And we're stoked because it's the first to feature two voices. The first voice you'll hear is that of Hope Ditlhakanyane. Hope is a venture capital pro helping African tech founders land the resources and support they need to build and scale their startups. Hope is particularly committed to backing woman founders, and to that end, she's an active woman-focussed angel investor. She currently serves as Head of Venture Sourcing at the Pan-African investor, venture builder and accelerator company, Founders Factory Africa. Joining Hope on the mic is her work colleague and friend, Nzwisisa Chidembo. Nzwi is the Head of Engineering at Founders Factory Africa, and over the last few years, he's helped build and scale numerous tech-enabled ventures across the continent. He's also an entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience across various industries such as telecoms, e-commerce, biotechnology, retail and, more recently, blockchain tech. In their respective roles at Founders Factory Africa, Hope and Nzwi have recently collaborated to facilitate VC investment in two promising African blockchain tech startups. Nzwi was an early adopter of Bitcoin and other blockchain applications on the private investment side of things. He now has a growing personal portfolio of blockchain investments. Meanwhile, Hope is a confessed late-joiner to the space both as a private and corporate investor. But, she's keenly making up for the lost time by finessing smart blockchain investments in her personal capacity while refining her playbook for backing the space as an institutional VC. In this episode, Hope and Nzwi reflect on how Africa's VC industry currently frames blockchain tech as a viable investment opportunity. OP-ED: Taking art onto a global stage through digital technology by Andile Masuku for Business Report - IOL News (https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/entrepreneurs/taking-art-onto-a-global-stage-through-digital-technology-41dcb280-a61a-4b77-a6b9-53e65c367a1c) EDITORIAL DISCLAIMER: While the Celo Community Fund supports this UNAJUA Series, African Tech Roundup maintains complete editorial oversight. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the African Tech Roundup or the presenting sponsor, Celo Community Fund. SUPPORT US: Value our work? Then, join our Patreon Community (www.africantechroundup.com/patreon/) and help the African Tech Roundup platform remain single-mindedly focused on serving Africa's tech and innovation ecosystem with robust independent insight and learning content.

BONUS: Can PAXFUL deliver on being Africa's 'Uber for money'? feat. Ray Youssef Mar 17, 2022

Show notes

This throwback bonus episode features a chat with Ray Youssef taped in 2019. Ray is Co-founder and CEO of Paxful, a US-headquartered peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace he dubbed at the time the "Uber for money" with a mission to “make the poor rich”. (A rambunctious ambition, to be sure.) That year, Ray was one of the speakers at the Blockchain Africa Conference, and we thought it might be handy to reshare this podcast as a reflection cue for deliberations at this year’s virtual instalment of the event. Enjoy! Editorial Disclaimer: Bitcoin Events is the presenting sponsor of this podcast conversation. Bitcoin Events are the convenors of the Blockchain Africa Conference (http://blockchainafrica.co) happening online on 17-18 March 2022. African Tech Roundup is pleased to be a media partner to the event. Register for FREE: https://blockchainafric.floor.bz African Tech Roundup is pleased to be a media partner to the event. The African Tech Roundup team maintains complete editorial oversight, and opinions expressed by the podcast host, Musa Kalenga, do not necessarily reflect the views of the presenting sponsor, Bitcoin Events. OP-ED: How African Digital Currency Innovation Found Roots in a Village by Michael Kimani for Kenyan Wallstreet (khttps://kenyanwallstreet.com/sarafu-communi…al-currencies/) SUPPORT US: Value our work? Then, join our Patreon Community (www.africantechroundup.com/patreon/) and help the African Tech Roundup platform remain single-mindedly focused on serving Africa's tech and innovation ecosystem with robust independent insight and learning content.

ATRUC S2 EP2: Convening 'Blockchain Africa' proponents with Sonya Kuhnel Mar 16, 2022

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This African Tech Conversations episode features Sonya Kuhnel. In 2014, Sonya co-founded Bitcoin Events, a company that hosts some of South Africa's leading cryptocurrency and blockchain events - not least, the annual Blockchain Africa Conference. Sonya is also the Co-founder at Xago, a startup offering an XRP cryptocurrency exchange, gateway and payment platform built on the Ripple blockchain. In this conversation, Musa Kalenga invites Sonya to leverage her enviable ecosystem vantage point and live in-trench experience to reflect on how the continent's blockchain tech landscape is shaping up and her sense of how Web3 adoption is emerging in different markets. Editorial Disclaimer: While the Celo Community Fund supports this African Tech Conversations episode, African Tech Roundup maintains complete editorial oversight. Opinions expressed by the host, Musa Kalenga, and his guest do not necessarily reflect the views of the African Tech Roundup or the presenting sponsor, Celo Community Fund. SUPPORT US: Value our work? Then, join our Patreon Community (https://www.africantechroundup.com/patreon/) and help the African Tech Roundup platform remain single-mindedly focused on serving Africa's tech and innovation ecosystem with robust independent insight and learning content.

UNAJUA S10 EP3: Should you set up a DAO? feat. Justin Irabor Mar 13, 2022

Show notes

Thinking about starting or joining a DAO? In the last of a three-part share focusing on how DAOs work, Nigerian creator, scientist and knowledge worker Justin Irabor offers a handy take about whether or not you should. OP-ED: How African Digital Currency Innovation Found Roots in a Village by Michael Kimani for Kenyan Wallstreet (kenyanwallstreet.com/sarafu-communi…al-currencies/) EDITORIAL DISCLAIMER: While the Celo Community Fund supports this UNAJUA Series, African Tech Roundup maintains complete editorial oversight. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the African Tech Roundup or the presenting sponsor, Celo Community Fund. SUPPORT US: Value our work? Then, join our Patreon Community (www.africantechroundup.com/patreon/) and help the African Tech Roundup platform remain single-mindedly focused on serving Africa's tech and innovation ecosystem with robust independent insight and learning content.

BONUS: Binance is bullish on the 'Blockchain Africa' opportunity feat. Emmanuel Babalola Mar 07, 2022

Show notes

Self-taught software developer and serial digital product creator Emmanuel Babalola is Director for Africa at the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance. Emmanuel is also the interim CEO of a social payments app for cash and crypto called Bundle. In this conversation with Musa Kalenga, Emmanuel shares a little bit about his personal Web3 journey to date and outlines Binance's 'Blockchain Africa' aspirations. Editorial Disclaimer: Bitcoin Events is the presenting sponsor of this podcast conversation. Bitcoin Events are the convenors of the Blockchain Africa Conference (http://blockchainafrica.co) happening online on 17-18 March 2022. African Tech Roundup is pleased to be a media partner to the event. Register for FREE: https://blockchainafric.floor.bz The African Tech Roundup team maintains complete editorial oversight, and opinions expressed by the podcast host, Musa Kalenga, do not necessarily reflect the views of the presenting sponsor, Bitcoin Events. OP-ED: How African Digital Currency Innovation Found Roots in a Village by Michael Kimani for Kenyan Wallstreet (khttps://kenyanwallstreet.com/sarafu-community-governed-digital-currencies/) SUPPORT US: Value our work? Then, join our Patreon Community (www.africantechroundup.com/patreon/) and help the African Tech Roundup platform remain single-mindedly focused on serving Africa's tech and innovation ecosystem with robust independent insight and learning content.

UNAJUA S10 EP2: How do you set up a DAO? feat. Justin Irabor Mar 01, 2022

Show notes

This is the second of a three-part share explaining how DAOs work. In this episode, Nigerian creator, scientist and knowledge worker Justin Irabor offers pointers on setting up a DAO. OP-ED: How African Digital Currency Innovation Found Roots in a Village by Michael Kimani for Kenyan Wallstreet (kenyanwallstreet.com/sarafu-communi…al-currencies/) EDITORIAL DISCLAIMER: While the Celo Community Fund supports this UNAJUA Series, African Tech Roundup maintains complete editorial oversight. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the African Tech Roundup or the presenting sponsor, Celo Community Fund. SUPPORT US: Value our work? Then, join our Patreon Community (www.africantechroundup.com/patreon/) and help the African Tech Roundup platform remain single-mindedly focused on serving Africa's tech and innovation ecosystem with robust independent insight and learning content.

UNAJUA S10 EP1: Why DAO? feat. Justin Irabor Feb 20, 2022

Show notes

This is the first episode of a three-part UNAJUA series that explains how Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) work. Nigerian creator, scientist, and knowledge worker Justin Irabor presents the series. ‌‌On this podcast, Justin tackles the question, Why DAO? by offering reasons why anyone intent on building valuable things on the Web would do well to lean into the decentralised autonomous organisation trend. Now, the last five years have seen Justin go from being a content writer to working as a performance marketer, then on to becoming a director of growth at Eden Life, and eventually morphing into a full-stack web developer. When Justin isn't posting viral hot-takes on Twitter and writing widely-read think pieces, he works as a dev at the Serbian platform-as-a-service provider, TradeCore—where he's helping build next-generation banking and investment products. OP-ED: How African Digital Currency Innovation Found Roots in a Village by Michael Kimani for Kenyan Wallstreet (https://kenyanwallstreet.com/sarafu-community-governed-digital-currencies/) EDITORIAL DISCLAIMER: While the Celo Community Fund supports this UNAJUA Series, African Tech Roundup maintains complete editorial oversight. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the African Tech Roundup or the presenting sponsor, Celo Community Fund. SUPPORT US: Value our work? Then, join our Patreon Community (https://www.africantechroundup.com/patreon/) and help the African Tech Roundup platform remain single-mindedly focused on serving Africa's tech and innovation ecosystem with robust independent insight and learning content.

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