African Tech Roundup Podcast
Episodes
Uber Driver Partners Attacked In Johannesburg (feat. Brian Anderson)
23 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Late last week a violent attack on two Uber partner vehicles in the Sandton Central Business District led to the injury of three police officers who a...
Vodacom Admits That M-Pesa Roll-out In South Africa Flopped (feat. Dominique Collett)
16 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Vodacom is finally pulling the plug on their disastrous six-year attempt to roll out M-Pesa in South Africa. (The service will be shut down on June 30...
What's The Big Deal With WiFi? (feat. Riaan Graham)
09 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Following our coverage last week of the partnership between VAST Networks and Ruckus Wireless to deliver on Africa’s largest single deployment of Wi...
Vodacom Eats Humble Pie Over Please-Call-Me Idea
02 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There’s no doubt Kenneth Nkosana Makate is celebrating Workers’ Day in style following a South African Constitutional Court judge ruling that Voda...
Tax Free Mobile Devices vs. Drone Delivered HIV Testing Kits
25 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There is so much hype around the potential of technological innovation to lift Africa out of poverty and usher the continent into an era of peace and ...
A Year Of Great African Tech Conversations
18 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
And so our First Birthday Celebration continues… Over the past year, our sister podcast, African Tech Conversations, has featured relaxed in-depth ...
Celebrating The African Tech Round-Up's First Birthday!
11 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The African Tech Round-up turns one today, and it’s difficult not be sentimental. It’s been an incredibly rewarding year! We set out to provide ...
Mbwana Alliy of Savannah Fund on the advantages of being a homegrown venture capitalist
11 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Mbwana Alliy is the founder and managing partner at Savannah Fund, an Africa focused Technology Venture Capital fund that runs both an accelerator and...
Tawanda Kembo of BitFinance & Vusi Ndebele of PayNow on Zimbabwe's emerging tech scene
11 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
At Afrikoin Joburg 2015, hosted at Alpha Code in December 2015, Andile Masuku spoke to two leading Zimbabwean startup founders with businesses in the ...
Nigerian House of Representatives Calls For MTN Nigeria To Pay Over $10bn
04 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
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 o...
Lungisa Matshoba Of Yoco & Shafin Anwarsha Of Giraffe on repping Africa's startup scene abroad
03 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
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—...
Geraldine Mitchley of Visa Sub-Saharan Africa on buying in innovation
03 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Geraldine Mitchley is the Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships and Emerging Payments at Visa Sub-Saharan Africa. Andile Masuku caught up with her...
How Ridiculous Is This? South Africa Is Looking To Ban Netflix!
28 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There are media reports doing the rounds regarding South Africa’s Film and Publication Board (FPB) Chief Operating Officer Sipho Risiba supposedly g...
Dare Okoudjou of MFS Africa on the future of mobile money in Africa
25 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Dare Okoudjou is the CEO of MFS Africa-- a firm which specialises in “making simple and relevant financial services accessible through mobile phones...
Sechaba Ngwenya of Creditable on playing nice with financial services incumbents (for now)
25 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sechaba Ngwenya is the co-founder of fintech startup, Creditable, that is currently enjoying the support of VC’s like Nest.vc while “playing nicel...
Will These FinTech Startups Disrupt Incumbents?
21 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Vodacom Accused Of Stealing An Idea, Again!
13 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Vodacom is reportedly fielding a lawsuit filed by a South African company called Ndabenhle Business Enterprises CC. Word is, Ndabenhle is alleging tha...
Aaron Fu on Nest.vc's distinct approach to deploying venture capital in Africa
13 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Andile Masuku had a lively chat with Aaron Fu, Managing Partner (Africa) at NEST recorded during his first proper visit to Johannesburg in December ...
Craig Wilson on the the best from Mobile World Congress 2016
13 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Andile Masuku chats to Stuff Magazine South Africa Editor, Craig Wilson, about all the biggest news to come out of the Mobile World Congress 2016-- th...
Mobile World Congress 2016 (feat. Craig Wilson, Talib Graves-Manns & Brien Jordan-Jack)
07 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Aspirational mobile trends like virtual reality are all well and good, but as Africans we must still grapple with the practical implications of having...
Talib Graves-Manns And Brien Jordan-Jack on starting up while black in the US
06 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Andile Masuku got to hang with two interesting African-American entrepreneurs who were in South Africa on business, and gleaned insights on the start-...
Nigeria's Communications Comission Accepts MTN Nigeria's 'Chump Change' Settlement
29 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It would seem that MTN might be off the hook over the small matter of the several billion dollars it owes/owed the Nigerian Communications Commission ...
Museveni Won, But Did Uganda Decide?
22 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Uganda’s most closely contested election in decades pitted the victorious incumbent, Yoweri Museveni, against seven other candidates, including his ...
#FreeBasicsMustFall
15 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Facebook is still smarting from having Free Basics kicked out of India. Clearly no one was more upset by India’s emphatic rejection of Mark Zuckerbe...
Siya Xuza And Dr Jerry Gule factor in on promoting homegrown tech innovation
14 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Siyabulela Xuza is a young engineering graduate from Harvard, who got his start in science very young, experimenting with rocket fuel in his mother’...
Should Uber Leave Kenya?
08 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
No doubt about it— it’s an unsettling time to be an Uber driver in Kenya. This past week, more reports of intimidation and violence against Uber d...
SEACOM Experiences Second Major Outage In As Many Weeks
01 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The soul-destroying Twitter outages and more recent SEACOM broadband disruptions notwithstanding, the team at the AfricanTechRoundup.com has been extr...
Apple, Sony And Samsung Face Child Labour Allegations In The DRC
25 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We had to face a tough truth this week. The fact is that we are complicit in the perpetuation of horrible crimes against humanity. And if you’re rea...
Why Is South Africa Looking To Regulate Services Like WhatsApp?
18 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
African lawmakers are struggling to come to grips with the opportunities and threats presented by various important innovations being spurred by techn...
Netflix & Buffering (featuring Emeka Okoye and Aaron Fu)
10 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We’re just loving this trend of brilliant Africans crashing our podcast recordings. The last time that happened we had a total blast with Rebecca En...
Musa Kalenga & Kali Ilunga Get You, Digital Africans, Pumped Up For 2016
04 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Happy New Year! The African Tech Round-up team is only one week away from being back on strike to bring you the most important digital, tech and inno...
Craig Wilson, Kojo Baffoe and Jade Brennan Talk Gadgets & Apps Trends In Africa For 2015
28 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We let you in on a panel discussion from the Annual Round-up 2015 that covered some of the past year’s highlights from from a gadgets and apps persp...
Andrew Taylor & Mich Atagana Discuss 2015 Tech Startup Trends For Africa
20 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In the second instalment of our four-part Annual Round-up 2015 insights series, we bring you a panel discussion on African startups featuring Google S...
Dominique Collett-Antolik & Brandon Doyle Talk 2015 African Fintech & Telecoms Trends
13 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Over the next four weeks the we are taking a much-needed break. Cue peaceful ocean sounds But we’ve made sure that over the next four weeks, in pl...
Mbwana Alliy Talks About Startup Governance & Funding Tech Startups In Africa
07 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We attended Afrikoin Johannesburg on 3 December 2015. At the event, Andile Masuku posed a question that led to a very lively debate about whether imp...
Safaricom Becomes The Latest Mobile Service Provider To Be Sued
29 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We're still buzzing from the great time we had at the Annual Round-up 2015, that Tefo Mohapi and Andile Masuku hosted at The Wanderers Club in Johanne...
The Angani Saga Sets Silicon Savannah Ablaze
23 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Kenya’s tech scene aka Silicon Savannah is on fire! At least, that’s according to commentators like Brenda Wambui, who’s recent blog posted on M...
The Mark Kaigwa, Thebe Ikalafeng & Rebecca Enonchong Episode
16 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This week's instalment of the African Tech Round-up was recorded at the African Media Leaders Forum, which wrapped in Johannesburg on the weekend. And...
Dealdey Reportedly Sacks 60% Of Its Work Force
09 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
With so few high-flying start-up successes in Africa’s tech eco-system, one has to wonder just how alarmed we should get when word of job cuts and o...
MTN Nigeria Stunned By Unprecedented $5.2 Billion Fine
02 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been a truly awful week for the MTN Group— what with a $5.2 billion fine imposed on MTN Nigeria (the group’s largest and most profitable su...
Massive Downsizing At iROKOtv And South Africa Considering Police Body Cameras
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s African Tech Round-up is chock-full of important digital, tech and innovation news from across the African continent— not least, the u...
Mobile Service Providers In Africa Call For Regulation Of OTT Services Such As WhatsApp
19 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Last week it was Strive Masiyiwa's Econet Zimbabwe alluding that OTT (over the top) services such as WhatsApp and BBM are the reason they are seeing a...
Everything Is Difficult & Other Nuggets Of Wisdom From Nic Harry's Tech4Africa Talk
12 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Tefo Mohapi was invited to speak at Tech4Africa 2015 last week. He shared on the important work that he and his team at iAfrikan are continuing to do ...
Volkswagen Up In Smoke As The South African Government Investigates
04 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In what is arguably the largest cybercrime scandal affecting cars to date, Volkswagen has admitted to installing software in some of their diesel-powe...
What's The Big Fuss About Apple Ad Blockers?
27 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
As avid consumers of new media, it’s hard not to love the ad blocking features Apple has worked into iOS9, and the clever ad blocking apps that are ...
How To Build Products For Africa And Avoid Failing Like The Altech Node
21 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Citing “increased competition” and “unfavourable market conditions” Altron is puling the plug on the Altech Node console and will discontinue ...
Cashflow Rules Everything Around Me Alludes iROKOtv's Jason Njoku
13 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Launching a start-up in Africa is not for the faint-hearted. Very few promising ventures-- even those that achieve solid traction, can expect to land ...
Evolution Of Mobile Phones, What's Next?
07 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
You probably remember how popular Nokia's 3310 device was when it launched back in 2000. Affectionately known as “Die Hard” by ardent fans, it was...
What Defines An African Startup? + The Week's Biggest News
31 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Back in Episode 3 of the African Tech Round-up we asked the question: “What is a startup?” A lively discussion ensued— inspired by an eloquent p...
Does Africa Need More Cheap Smartphones? + The Week's Biggest News
23 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
For many recently married couples, the diamond engagement ring is one of their biggest assets— albeit an emotional asset, symbolising love and lifel...
Scary Software Upgrades + The Week's Biggest News
17 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Microsoft certainly got millions of people excited a while ago when they announced that their latest version of Windows would be free. However, Window...
Importance Of Accurate Data For Africa + The Week's Biggest News
10 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
There is no doubt that "wherever there is chaos, there is opportunity". A popular conspiracy theory suggests that the lack of quality data on the Afri...
Hackathon Hype Or Help? + The Week's Biggest News
03 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
You know it’s a slow news week when the week’s biggest news involves the CEO and the CFO of South African telecoms firm, Neotel, going on leave. G...
What Are You Going To Do When They Come For You? + The Week's Biggest News
26 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Think back to high school. Remember how the new dude always got all the girls whispering, or how the new girl got all the boys trying to walk her home...
Are Kenya And Ethiopia Violating Citizens' Privacy? + The Week's Biggest News
19 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Many people are conflicted about the need for “cyber mercenaries” like Hacking Team to exist. Blind idealism might contend that it is simply not r...
Nest.vc Launches In Africa + The Week's Biggest News
12 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone loves a good love story. Especially when things go according to plan: start-up founder meets venture capitalist with deep pockets, tons of re...
Net Neutrality Conundrum + The Week's Biggest News
05 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
As concerns continue to be raised over the potetial threat to internet neutrality posed by Facebook's aggressive roll-out of its Internet.org platform...
Video Streaming Stuttering In Africa? + The Week's Biggest News
28 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The race is still on to discover the formula for successfully distributing digital content in Africa. In a recent blogpost, Jason Njoku, the outspoken...
Game Over For Startup Seed Funds? + The Week's Biggest News
21 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Nigeria's "company that builds companies", Spark, announced last week its plans to drop some startups it invested in. This announcement comes just a w...
Everyone's Not So Favourite Driver + The Week's Biggest News
14 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Uber's Roman-style campaign to achieve utter and complete worldwide domination has encountered a teeny tiny setback in Kenya. Much to the surprise of ...
Is This The Worst Internet Censorship Law Ever? + The Week's Biggest News
07 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The internet is undoubtedly the untamed "wild west" of the modern technological age. To counteract the malicious threats that lie in wait for innocent...
Mark Vs. Marek + The Week's Biggest News
31 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Nigeria's tech scene was abuzz last week following Mark Essien's hotel booking platform Hotel.ng securing international investment co-led by Omidyar N...
Bitcoin and the Blockchain: Worth Embracing? + The Week's Biggest News
24 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
There are three prevailing views on bitcoin and the blockchain: 1) that it's a scam, 2) it's one of the most fascinating technological developments of...
Open Source vs. Proprietary Software + The Week's Biggest News
17 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
As long as "Microsoft" remains synonymous with "Proprietary Software" the jury will be out on whether proprietary software is superior to open source ...
Are Tech Hubs in Africa Effective? + The Week's Biggest News
10 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Tech and innovation hubs are all the rage in Africa at the moment. With reportedly as many as 150 in existence from Cape to Cairo, these organisations...
What Is A Startup? + The Week's Biggest News
03 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The word "startup" is often used loosely in the world of tech, and frequently worn as a badge of honour by individuals and organisations who aspire to...
Does Diversity Matter? + The Week's Biggest News
27 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
On the second episode of the African Tech Round-up we get an update on progress being made by iAfrikan and Ushahidi’s Report Xenophobia Initiative (...
Introducing The Report Xenophobia Initiative + The Week's Biggest News
20 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In the very first episode of the African Tech Round-up Podcast, hosts Tefo Mohapi and Andile Masuku share a little bit about themselves before diving ...