Podcast appearances and mentions of musa kalenga

I got to catch up with Musa Kalenga post his inspiring keynote from the Nebank IMC 2024 conference, marketing expert Musa Kalenga took the audience on a journey through the last 100 years of marketing innovation and reveals what the future holds for the next century. From traditional advertising to the digital age, Musa explored the rapid evolution of marketing and introduced FORGE by Brave—a cutting-edge AI marketing technology set to revolutionize how brands connect with their audiences. FORGE is the future. Discover how AI, automation, and creativity will shape the future of marketing, driving more personalized, data-driven, and impactful campaigns. This episode is brought to you by Nedbank IMC

If you missed the first part of our engaging discussion, search the podcast site to get up to speed. In our last session, we delved into a conversation with Musa Kalenga but couldn't cover it all, so we're excited for round two. Join us as we dive deeper into leadership, technology, and the qualities that spotlight our distinguished guest.

In this show Dr Mo's intention is to humanize leadership - through discussion of complex leadership concepts in human language, helping leaders human better! In this Episode he chats with an entrepreneur, investor, keynote speaker, technologist, marketer, brand communicator, and author: Musa Kalenga about his life, lessons in leadership and advice for leaders in the modern era! Watch!

In this show Dr Mo's intention is to humanize leadership - through discussion of complex leadership concepts in human language, helping leaders human better! In this Episode he chats with an entrepreneur, investor, keynote speaker, technologist, marketer, brand communicator, and author: Musa Kalenga about his life, lessons in leadership and advice for leaders in the modern era! Stream in!

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.

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.

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.

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.

In this instalment of African Tech Conversations, Michael Kimani talks Musa Kalenga through his somewhat unlikely personal blockchain journey—a story that begins with a laptop, $600 and repurposed writing skills and leads to the birth of the Blockchain Association of Kenya. Michael is a Kenyan blockchain enthusiast, data wrangler and entrepreneur based in Nairobi. Michael has advised numerous Africa-focused blockchain projects and is currently co-founder at airtime digital money marketplace, Fonbnk, where he spearheads growth for African 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.

Marketers face a landscape disrupted by a pandemic, new business models, new applications of tech, and the fallout of regulatory changes. As we prepare for 2022, we need to lead with insights and have a proper plan of action to drive growth and enhanced customer experience which is the ultimate end goal. Today we will talking to Musa Kalenga, Chief Future Officer of the House of Brave. Musa is an author of Ladders and Trampolines, marketer, brand communication specialist, writer and entrepreneur. He is the former Head of Digital Marketing for Nedbank and Client Partner for Facebook Africa. His passion is changing the communities we live in, African emerging markets and inspiring the youth through technology. Webpage · Instagram Page

Marketers face a landscape disrupted by a pandemic, new business models, new applications of tech, and the fallout of regulatory changes. As we prepare for 2022, we need to lead with insights and have a proper plan of action to drive growth and enhanced customer experience which is the ultimate end goal. Today we will talking to Musa Kalenga, Chief Future Officer of the House of Brave. Musa is an author of Ladders and Trampolines, marketer, brand communication specialist, writer and entrepreneur. He is the former Head of Digital Marketing for Nedbank and Client Partner for Facebook Africa. His passion is changing the communities we live in, African emerging markets and inspiring the youth through technology.

I wanted to chat about the future of marketing, and there is no better way than to chat to Musa Kalenga, Chief Future Officer at the Brave Group and the CEO of BridgeLabs. We touched on his entrepreneurial journey, the switch to being corporate head, ditching all of it to go back into entrepreneurship, the future of marketing with all the shifts we see and how brands and marketers can start showing value through the humanization of brands. Have a listen

If you have a small business and don't have much to spend on marketing, how do you build a brand in an impactful way? Market research maestro and experienced entrepreneur, Musa Kalenga, started his first business at the age of 19. Hear what inspired him as he talks to Fred Roed about building a business and personal brand. A seasoned researcher, Musa believes your sales and research need to happen simultaneously. He shares how to do that and how to change your focus in marketing for services and marketing for goods. Listen as Fred and Musa share a laugh in between contemplating the future of marketing for a new generation living in a technology-age.

CliffCentral.com — If you have a small business and don’t have much to spend on marketing, how do you build a brand in an impactful way? Market research maestro and experienced entrepreneur, Musa Kalenga, started his first business at the age of 19. Hear what inspired him as he talks to Fred Roed about building a business and personal brand. A seasoned researcher, Musa believes your sales and research need to happen simultaneously. He shares how to do that and how to change your focus in marketing for services and marketing for goods. Listen as Fred and Musa share a laugh in between contemplating the future of marketing for a new generation living in a technology-age.

Musa Kalenga is a prime example of a new wave of digital entrepreneurs in Africa. In his concentrated and highly successful career, he managed to distinguish himself not only as a free-thinking entrepreneur but he also fitted in stints at some of the leading digital corporates as a trailblazing and transformative digital leader. These included positions at Nedbank & Facebook Africa. He has started businesses in research, adverting and marketing and now, recently, education. He is a thought leader, an author, a father and a tv personality. His insights into digital transformation resonated deeply with me, and I do believe with all listeners who want to understand the digital landscape in Africa.

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

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

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

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)

A show for Africa's opportunity seekers, problem solvers, future shapers, world builders and entrepreneurs hosted by Mashudu Modau. Mashudu is a Youth Entrepreneurship Evangelist. African Startups Lover. Small Business Supporter. Community Builder. Podcast Maker. A student for and soldier for Entrepreneurship in AFRICA. I started this channel to share some of the conversations, lessons and experiences that i have had as an entrepreneur in South Africa. I hope this will be a platform that will encourage, empower and educate young people on entrepreneurship & business Visit

A show for Africa's opportunity seekers, problem solvers, future shapers, world builders and entrepreneurs hosted by Mashudu Modau. Mashudu is a Youth Entrepreneurship Evangelist. African Startups Lover. Small Business Supporter. Community Builder. Podcast Maker. A student for and soldier for Entrepreneurship in AFRICA. I started this channel to share some of the conversations, lessons and experiences that i have had as an entrepreneur in South Africa. I hope this will be a platform that will encourage, empower and educate young people on entrepreneurship & business

Congolese Jean-Claude Tshipama is the CEO of Eutelsat's Konnect Africa subsidiary which delivers satellite broadband connectivity services in Africa. Jean-Claude has over 16 years’ experience in telecommunications, computer and Pay TV industries’. He holds an MBA from HEC-Montreal in Canada and a Master’s degree in Economics from the Protestant University in Congo. Jean-Claude was formerly the Commercial Director at Celtel in DR Congo, and also previously served as Director of Sales and Distribution at both the Digicel Group and at the Microsoft Corporation's Africa business. Prior to joining Eutelsat, he was notably CEO of Canal+ in DR Congo, and he currently serves on the board of Equity Bank in Kenya. In this conversation with Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga - taped at Afrobytes Tech Marketplace 2018 - Jean-Claude discusses his new role at Eutelsat and shares some of the values that inform his personal and professional mission. Listen in to hear him respond to questions about his organisation's ability to remain competitive in the world's increasingly crowded satellite and broadband marketplace.

On Tuesday, June 5th, 2018 the international African Tech Roundup LIVE Tour launched with a live podcast event in The Netherlands dubbed #VillageDiariesAmsterdam. For the second (and final part) of the evening's programme, hosts Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga were joined by a stellar lineup of African tech and innovation ecosystem insiders who have past and present links to Amsterdam. Namely, Tania Habimana (Co-founder and Head of Digital and Strategy: Nonzēro Africa), Babusi Nyoni (UX Designer: Booking.com), Danai Musandu (Investment Associate: Goodwell Investments) and Augustina "MS.ABA" Austin (Artist, Entrepreneur and Host of HiRadio Netherlands' "Africa on Focus"). This meandering roundtable conversation features unvarnished views on what it's like to navigate Amsterdam's increasingly Africa-focussed impact and innovation scene while African and confronts several awkward truths that are too frequently swept under the rug.

On Tuesday, June 5th, 2018 the international African Tech Roundup LIVE Tour launched with a live event in The Netherlands dubbed #VillageDiariesAmsterdam. For the first part of the evening's programme, hosts Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga were joined by headline guest, Nigerian Partner and CEO of HYBR, Charles Ojei. Prior to founding HYBR, Charles was Director of Enterprise Business at Samsung Electronics West Africa and earned nearly two decades of sales, business development, strategy and technology professional experience while embedded at Procter & Gamble, General Electric, Samsung, and DuPont. He implemented projects in Africa, Americas, Asia and Europe across multiple industries such as retail, healthcare, food, agriculture, technology, education, hospitality and financial services. Charles has completed the Executive Leadership Program at THNK School of Creative Leadership in Amsterdam and holds a B.Sc in Industrial Relations & Personnel Management from the University of Lagos, as well as a Masters in Social Entrepreneurship (with Distinction) from Hult International Business School in San Francisco and Boston. He currently serves as a faculty member at the Enterprise Development Centre at the Pan-African University in Lagos, Nigeria. In this candid chat with Andile, Musa and the #VillageDiariesAmsterdam live audience (which has been edited for listenability), Charles shares practical insights into the necessary mindset and relevant approaches required to do business in Africa.

In this episode of the African Tech Roundup podcast, Oliver Sauter— Co-founder and Head of Strategy, Product & Operations at https://WorldBrain.io, joins Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga for a meandering conversation that explores the link between the trend towards interoperability and idealised notions of individual data ownership. As Africa grapples with the reality of large swathes of its population being either digitally "invisible" or completely oblivious to the commercial value of the personal data they are palming off so freely, Oliver, Musa and Andile discuss how interoperability might contribute towards private citizens wielding control and commercial agency over their personal data. Also, listen in to hear why Oliver and the rest of the team at WorldBrain have chosen to embrace the non-mainstream "stewardship-ownership" model of corporate guardianship - as unpacked in Armin Steuernagel's recent TEDxZurich talk(http://bit.ly/stewardownership) - as they attempt to solve the global fake news problem. And heads up— look out for an unexpected conversation rabbit hole regarding "genetically modified organics".

It's fair to say that Facebook is the elephant in pretty much every room at the moment. In this month's instalment of the African Tech Roundup podcast, Marvin Coleby joins Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga to factor in on some of the biggest tech and innovation headlines that have trended over the last month or so— not least, Facebook's diabolical data privacy gaffes. Marvin is a venture lawyer who hails from The Bahamas and his startup, Raise Impact (http://raiseimpact.io/), is harnessing blockchain technology to build a tokenized impact exchange to democratise private investments made in companies based in emerging markets. Listen in as Andile, Musa and Marvin wade through some of the more promising Africa-relevant blockchain and crypto developments happening around the world and grapple with the potentially problematic concept of “impact investment” concept. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Image Credit: Thought Catalog

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

Karabo Songo and Musa Kalenga are the savvy business minds behind FastGro-- the 100% black-owned investment firm which just acquired a 25.1% share of the independent agency, House of Brave (HOB). As part of the deal, Karabo has been appointed the business' Group CEO, while Musa has assumed the position of Chief Future Officer. In this conversation with Andile Masuku, Karabo and Musa share how they plan to go about applying platform thinking and leveraging technological innovation to thrive within an industry that's currently taking serious strain.

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

Lee Kasumba talks to author, marketer and entrepreneur Musa Kalenga about the audacity of ambition by African youth before catching up with Omnia Shawkat co-founder of Andariya, a Sudanese Youth online magazine. She discusses the new fate of Sudan and being Top 9 women tech innovators in Africa in 2017.

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

Last week, Africa’s early stage investor community came together for the 4th annual African Early Stage Investor Summit (#AAIS2017). At this exclusive investor-only event, hosted at Workshop17 in Cape Town, South Africa, key stakeholders in the ecosystem exchanged insights on best practice, shared lessons learnt, and debated what the roadmap for the future ought to look like. In this African Tech Roundup episode, Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga discuss some of the more contentious issues unpacked at the conference-- including whether or not the hunt for the "African Unicorn" is constructive and how Africa-focused investors might best go about investing with exits in mind. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

The Facebook-sponsored TechCrunch Startup Battlefield competition which took place in Nairobi recently brought together fifteen African startups for a glitzy pitch session that offered entrants the chance to win $25,000, as well as the opportunity to go on and compete for $50,000 at the Disrupt Cup, which will be held in Silicon Valley next year. After the Kenyan logistics startup, Lori Systems, won the Nairobi event murmurings of alleged tournament rigging started doing the rounds and eventually surfaced in media reports. This palava has got Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga wondering what, if any, value startup competitions are adding to Africa's emerging tech ecosystem, and has inspired them to interrogate the motives and modus operandi of various commercial interests who are looking to position themselves as enablers of Africa's tech industry. Also in this African Tech Round-up podcast, Musa and Andile discuss South Africa’s recent data breach-- the largest in the country’s history, ponder the merits of Kwese's partnership with VICE, and chat about SAP's diabolical admission of guilt made to U.S. authorities-- over a $6.7 million corporate bribe paid to secure a sizeable Transnet contract in South Africa. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

South Korea has reportedly become the latest notable nation to follow the likes of Nigeria and China by outlawing the use of cryptocurrency. Given these developments, policymakers all across the continent are no doubt mulling over the merits of banning Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). They are probably concerned that by shunning cryptocurrencies, they might end up being on the outside looking in on a lucrative financial trend that may well prove impossible to rein in regardless. In this episode of the African Tech Round-up podcast, cryptocurrency enthusiast, Simon Dingle, joins Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga to discuss the great Bitcoin surge that is fueling the world's current obsession with virtual money. Simon explains why some people are displeased with the likes of PR journalism outfit, Memeburn, and CBS's cable channel, Showtime, for allegedly taking advantage of their audiences to mine crypocurrency. And in the wake of all the recent moving and shaking by some African virtual currency exchanges such as Luno, BitPesa and BitMari, Simon also factors in on what separates mediocre platforms from great ones. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

A few weeks ago, Africa's richest man, Nigeria's Aliko Dangote, baffled many pro-African investment proponents by telling Bloomberg that if things go the way he plans, come 2020, a significant chunk of his wealth will be deployed abroad. In this African Tech Round-up episode Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga are joined by Bitmari co-founder and self-proclaimed "pre-racial thought leader", Sinclair Skinner, for an unfettered family-style straight-talk session which literally went all over the place-- including reacting to Mr Dangote's recent revelation. Beware the scorching candid views and unintentional hot takes on everything from Naspers' problematic links to South Africa's apartheid past and Tanzania's new drone delivery program, to the big ticket maneuverings happening in South Africa's fintech scene courtesy of South Africa's wealthiest black man, Patrice Mostepe. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

The last few weeks have seen three promising African tech startups land significant investments-- namely, the Nigerian digital payments firm, Flutterwave ($10 million), the Kenyan mobile-driven food supply platform, Twiga Foods ($10.3 million), and the South African fractional investments service, EasyEquities ($7.5 million). In this installment of the African Tech Round-up, Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga discuss the merits of the Flutterwave and Twiga deals, but somehow, we forgot to chat about the EasyEquities transaction on this episode (our bad). That particular transaction stands out somewhat, owing to the fact that 30% of the company was acquired by the South African financial services giant, Sanlam. Here's to hoping that the Sanlam-EasyEquities deal signals a trend towards African institutional investors becoming savvier at identifying and financing home-grown start-ups before their overseas counterparts swoop in to snap up promising businesses from right under their noses. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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

According to a ruling made by South Africa's Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), an employer-employee relationship does, in fact, exist between Uber and driver-partners. This follows Uber being dragged to the CCMA several months ago by seven driver-partners who alleged that they were unfairly deactivated by the service. The ride-hailing service has long contended that it is simply a virtual marketplace that connects drivers and passengers and not an employer-- citing the fact that Uber doesn't own cars or have drivers on their payroll. In this African Tech Round-up episode, Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga discuss some of the legal implications of this ruling, and how they might compromise Uber's business model. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

It's no secret, Africa's largest tech company by market cap, Naspers, has been buckling under the pressure to perform for some years now. The fact is, the company hasn't scored any big wins in any of the legacy internet and pay-TV verticals it once used to dominate with ease. Naspers' most recent financial results seem to validate the notion that except for the firm's exceedingly lucrative 33 percent stake in the Chinese cash cow that is Tencent, there seems to be little else to write home about in terms of outstanding performance. In this episode of the African Tech Round-up, Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga discuss the merits of an open letter penned by a certain Albert Saporta - the managing director of the Geneva-based investment advisory firm and Naspers shareholder, AIM&R - accusing Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk of destroying approximately $25.6 billion of shareholder value since his appointment more than three years ago. Sniper! Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

The Sub-Saharan Africa heads of the likes of Huawei, Oracle, Cisco, IBM and perhaps even Amazon, Facebook and Google, have no doubt already booked first class tickets to Lilongwe to advise the Malawian government on what to do with the $72.4 million line of credit the country has secured from the World Bank to "help Malawi build the digital foundations needed to help the country connect to the global digital economy". This development comes in the wake of the World Bank resuming "budget support financing" for Malawi in May 2017 after a four-year hiatus. In this African Tech Round-up, Musa Kalenga and Andile Masuku discuss some of the things that Malawian policy-makers ought to prioritise as they engage with potential technology partners. News like this helps contextualise some of the sentiments expressed by David Meads, Cisco's Africa business head, in a recent IoT-focussed chat he had with Andile, in which he highlighted his organisation's commitment to assisting African governments with their digital transformation efforts. Heads up... This episode was taped before Uber announced that Travis Kalanick would be stepping down as the company's CEO, so Andile and Musa didn't take that more recent piece of news into account when discussing Uber's travails. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Kenya's finest digital-head, Mark Kaigwa, joins Musa Kalenga and Andile Masuku on this week's African Tech Round-up for two glorious hours of straight-talk. Using the biggest tech and innovation headlines from the past couple of weeks as a springboard, the trio chats candidly about everything from major broadband infrastructure developments to cyber security issues-- touching on the implications of M-PESA's imminent interoperability and even discussing the politics of Africa's startup funding scene. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Scientists have found a way to remove the HIV virus from the DNA in mouse cells using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. According to the journal, Molecular Therapy, use of the technique has led to the complete elimination of infection in mouse organs and tissue after just one treatment. Now, that's the kind of international tech news that really gets us excited around here! And, yes! The team at the African Tech Round-up is back from a much-needed break, and we're super-stoked to catch up on news like this CRISPR HIV breathrough, as well as dive into some of the other significant headlines that dropped while we were away. We're pleased to announce that Musa Kalenga will be joining Andile as a guest co-host on the show every fortnight starting this week to chat about the most important stories and to unpack major trends impacting Africa's tech ecosystem. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Back in 2012, Musa Kalenga was voted as one of the Top 200 Young South Africans by the Mail & Guardian, and for good reason. Musa is a talented digital specialist, marketing maven, author, former Group Head of Digital Marketing at Nedbank, former Africa Client Partner at Facebook, current Head of Brand at IAB South Africa, and Founder and CEO of a new adtech startup called Microtising. His professional business experience spans over twelve years and includes building his first company from zero to R6,5 million in turnover by the age of 26. Throughout his career, Musa has consistently done impressive work for foreign governments and multi-national companies-- assisting them to leverage digital innovation to advance their organisational objectives. In this chat with Andile Masuku, Musa shares loads of insights on starting up in Africa and talks about the challenges of navigating Africa's corporate digital scene.

We’re still in celebration mode for crossing 100 weekly podcasts in a row. And so as promised, this week, we’re sharing more awesomeness from that event. Enjoy this candid fireside chat with the talented digital specialist, marketing maven, author, former Africa Client Partner at Facebook, current Head of Brand at IAB South Africa, and Founder and CEO of a new adtech startup called Microtising, Musa Kalenga. In this conversation, Musa shares loads of insights on starting up in Africa, and talks about the challenges of navigating Africa's corporate digital scene. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution

CliffCentral.com — Mpumi chats to Brand Communication specialist, strategic and accredited chartered marketer, public speaker and author Musa Kalenga. Musa is a change agent for the marketing landscape within Sub-Saharan Africa. Not only is Musa disruptive in the marketing and communications industry, he is an exceptional all-rounder, who utilises his academic abilities and effective vocational training in a creative and innovative manner to ensure not only his success, but the success of the next generation within a more digitised, connected world. This discussion tackles entrepreneurship, corporate lessons, disruptive approach, technology immersions and his new book 'Ladders and Trampolines'.

Whatever you think of Nokia's re-introduction of the legendary 3310 device, you've got to hand it to HMD Global for completely owning Mobile World Congress 2017 in terms of capturing headlines. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to recall any other major announcement made at the world's premier mobile showcase this year. In this week's African Tech Round-up, Andile Masuku is joined by Zambian author, speaker and marketer extraordinaire, Musa Kalenga, to work out how much of the hype surrounding Nokia's new/old "dumbphone" is actually deserved, and whether the handset has the potential to do well if it's rolled out in Africa. You should also tune in to hear Musa factor in on some of the biggest headlines from the last couple of weeks, as well as to hear him unpack insights from a second book he has in the works, The Kalenga Conundrum-- which is just one of the many projects keeping him very busy in the wake of giving up his client partner role at Facebook Africa in recent weeks. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution

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 innovation news from across the African continent. This week though, we round off our coverage of the Annual Round-up 2015 with two awesome keynote addresses. The first is one is entitled, “Where To From Here” presented by Musa Kalenga who is Africa Client Partner at Facebook, as well as Head of Brand, IAB (SA). And the second talk entitled, “Digital African: Your Ides Matter” is presented by Founder & CEO of SeeSayDo, Kali Ilunga. (Apologies for the poor sound quality in the first half of Musa’s talk.) We couldn’t think of a better way to ring in the New Year. After all, the only thing better than a single dose of inspiration is two. Digital Africans, charge! Additional Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0