African Tech Round-Up

This opening episode of a crypto-themed UNAJUA Series featuring Ronit Ghose takes a close look at how blockchain tech is (re)shaping the global financial services industry. In this podcast, Ronit answers the question, "Will blockchain-enabled fintech solutions completely disrupt incumbent financial institutions." He'll speak to some of the most significant geopolitical policy shifts shaping how incumbent financial institutions are thinking about blockchain tech adoption/deployment and cite some of the more notable experiments, pilots, and policy work happening around Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Ronit Ghose is the Global Head of Banking, Fintech and Digital Assets for Citi Global Insights (Citi Group). Ronit is also the lead author of the Citi Global Perspectives & Solutions (Citi GPS) insights platform. He advises Pan-African VC, Launch Africa Ventures and talent search startup Remotexec, and sits on the advisory board of the Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE). Click

The final instalment of this UNAJUA series featuring Henry Mascot addresses how insurtech startups are either looking to collaborate with insurance incumbents or choosing to disrupt them. Henry cites noteworthy attributes of innovative startups that have made headlines of late. He also talks about how various 'non-financial' sectors are vying to get in on the tech-enabled insurance distribution game. Henry Mascot is the founder and CEO of Curacel, a Pan-African insurance technology platform that uses artificial intelligence to power claims processing and fraud management. Henry was previously growth executive at Amplified Payment Systems (acquired by OneFi; formerly Carbon) and is an angel investor in the crypto trading platform, Roqqu. Curacel recently secured $450,000 in pre-seed funding, with Consonance Investment Managers and Atlantica Ventures being the two leading investors. Click here (https://telbee.io/channel/uuatbnkraty1vn-nkazpcg/index.html) to leave us a 60-sec voice note with your reactions to a

In this UNAJUA episode, Henry Mascot highlights the untapped gains of Africa's insurance market. Henry suggests how technology might fuel social and economic development and offer insight into how the insurance industry is already proving to be a driver of economic growth. Finally, he touches on three innovative ways that technologies like data analytics and artificial intelligence are currently being used to cover Africa's insurable risks. Henry Mascot is the founder and CEO of Curacel, a Pan-African insurance technology platform that uses artificial intelligence to power claims processing and fraud management. Henry was previously growth executive at Amplified Payment Systems (acquired by OneFi; formerly Carbon) and is an angel investor in the crypto trading platform, Roqqu. Curacel recently secured $450,000 in pre-seed funding, with Consonance Investment Managers and Atlantica Ventures being the two leading investors. Click here (https://telbee.io/channel/uuatbnkraty1vn-nkazpcg/index.html) to leave us a

This UNAJUA series opener featuring Nigerian insuretech founder Henry Mascot shares in-trench perspectives about Africa' growing insurance industry. Henry offers insights about the dynamics of insurance adoption, elucidating how economic development plays a vital role in its adoption. Listen in to hear why Henry believes Africa's insurance industry is poised for rapid growth. Henry Mascot is the founder and CEO of Curacel, a Pan-African insurance technology platform that uses artificial intelligence to power claims processing and fraud management. Henry was previously growth executive at Amplified Payment Systems (acquired by OneFi; formerly Carbon) and is an angel investor in the crypto trading platform, Roqqu. Curacel recently secured $450,000 in pre-seed funding, with Consonance Investment Managers and Atlantica Ventures being the two leading investors. Click here (https://telbee.io/channel/uuatbnkraty1vn-nkazpcg/index.html) to leave us a 60-sec voice note with your reactions to any of the topics raised

In this UNAJUA episode, Vivian Nwakah offers insight into the dynamics of Nigeria's open drug markets. Vivian highlights the counterintuitive ways that drug regulation affects the supply-side logistics of local and international drug producers. She believes that the intelligent use of technological solutions in the supply process will allow for medications to be sourced and distributed more safely and reliably. Vivian Nwakah is the co-founder & CEO of Medsaf, an enterprise pharma supply chain startup based in Lagos, Nigeria. Vivian is a serial entrepreneur and strategist and whose accolades include recognition by Forbes, the British Royal Family, and the Women in Africa Initiative. Click here (https://telbee.io/channel/uuatbnkraty1vn-nkazpcg/index.html) to leave us a 60-sec voice note with your reactions to any of the topics raised in the UNAJUA Series. (We will include some of your audio takes in future follow-up episodes.) EARN $ATRU TOKEN: Click here(https://bit.ly/ATRUToken) to complete the form and ea

In this UNAJUA series opener, Vivian Nwakah breaks down Nigeria's healthcare scene—highlighting the size of the sector as well as the disparity of healthcare access between the rich and less well off. Vivian Nwakah is the co-founder & CEO of Medsaf, an enterprise pharma supply chain company based in Lagos, Nigeria. Vivian is a serial entrepreneur and strategist and whose accolades include recognition by Forbes, the British Royal Family, and the Women in Africa Initiative. In this episode, Vivian addresses the following questions: —How big is Nigeria's healthcare sector? —What does the scene look like for grassroots level —How are tech startups like Medsaf attempting to usher in a new paradigm in Nigeria's pharmaceutical industry? Click here (https://telbee.io/channel/uuatbnkraty1vn-nkazpcg/index.html) to leave us a 60-sec voice note with your reactions to any of the topics raised in the UNAJUA Series. (We will include some of your audio takes in future follow-up episodes.) EARN $ATRU TOKEN: https://bit.

Part 2 of this UNAJUA Throwback series takes us back to when Lucy Hoffman, co-founder and head of operations at the Cape Town-based mobile content development startup Carry1st, joined Andile Masuku and Osarumen Osamuyi for an extended insight-rich chat—published on March 10th 2020. (Since then, Carry1st has gone on to close a $6 million Series A led by Colorado-based VC firm, Konvoy Ventures.) In this episode, Lucy Hoffman outlines Carry1st's user adoption strategy and suggests how startups like hers plan to compete against the likes of Facebook and Tencent. Lucy is an experienced American business operations specialist who, prior to joining Carry1st, spearheaded operations at impact investment facilitation startup Nexii and the African Leadership Academy. Before that, she interned for the global diversity and inclusion team at Credit Suisse and spent three and a half years embedded at Morgan & Stanley, where she worked on M&A and capital markets transactions for global power and utility companies. You ca

This UNAJUA Throwback episode takes us back to when Lucy Hoffman, co-founder and head of operations at the Cape Town-based, American mobile content development startup Carry1st joined Andile Masuku and Osarumen Osamuyi for an extended insight-rich chat (published on March 10th 2020). Since recording this conversation, Carry1st has closed a $6 million Series A led by Colorado-based VC firm Konvoy Ventures. Listen in to learn why, as glitzy ecosystem trends like fintech and mobility continue to dominate headlines, Lucy and the rest of her team at Carry1st are quietly bullish on the mobile gaming industry’s low-key commercial case and 'super-app/super-platform' potential. Lucy is an experienced American business operations specialist who, prior to joining Carry1st, spearheaded operations at impact investment facilitation startup Nexii and the African Leadership Academy. Before that, she interned for the global diversity and inclusion team at Credit Suisse and spent three and a half years embedded at Morgan & S

This UNAJUA podcast is the third and final episode of a three-part series featuring agri-tech founder, Karidas Tshintsholo. In this episode, Karidas addresses how access to market might be improved for African farmers, and how the playing field might be levelled for new entrants. Prior to founding KHULA!, Karidas co-founded a South African media company called the Money Tree Group and is currently an Advisory Board Member of the prestigious Anzisha Prize. HAVE YOUR SAY: https://telbee.io/channel/uuatbnkraty1vn-nkazpcg/index.html Leave us a 60-sec voice note with your reactions to any of the topics raised in the UNAJUA Series. (We will include some of your audio takes in future follow-up episodes.) PROMO: In case you’re new to the UNAJUA concept, this is where we offer minimal actionable responses to important questions in 15 minutes or less. Do yourself a favour and check out some of our previous episodes— like this one featuring Derin Adebayo, a Nigerian researcher & analyst who shared his take on the que

In this episode, South African agritech startup founder Karidas Tshintsholo addresses questions like What effect does access to certified inputs have on overall farmer success? and How can easier access to technical advisory & services improve yields? Prior to founding KHULA!, Karidas co-founded a South African media company called the Money Tree Group and is currently an Advisory Board Member of the Anzisha Prize for young African entrepreneurs. Click here (https://telbee.io/channel/uuatbnkraty1vn-nkazpcg/index.html) to leave us a 60-sec voice note with your reactions to any of the topics raised in the UNAJUA Series. (We will include some of your audio takes in future follow-up episodes.) Useful References: ARTICLE: Winning in Africa’s agricultural market by Lutz Goedde, Amandla Ooko-Ombaka and Gillian Pais (McKinsey) REPORT: GSMA Mobile Economy 2020 by GSM Association ARTICLE: E-commerce in Africa by Simona Varrella (Statista) Promo: In case you’re new to the UNAJUA concept, this is where we offer minim

This UNAJUA series features a South African agritech founder called Karidas Tshitshonlo. Karidas has a lot of insight to share from his agribusiness adventure thus far, but before we get to that. Karidas T. shares his take on how innovation in agriculture is providing new opportunities not only to the farmers but to the consumers as well. Khula App is a South African app that connects farmers to a formal marketplace. By using the app, African farmers can now list and track the delivery of their products in real time. Karidas is the founder & CEO of Khula app, an agritech startup he founded 4 years ago. Prior to this venture, he co-founded a South African media company called the Money Tree Group. He is also currently an Advisory Board Member of prestigious Anzisha Prize. Karidas sees agriculture as the backbone of our everyday life. For instance, food, clothing are just two major industries that stem from agriculture. He believes that how we frame the agriculture sector is key to raising proper awareness of

Mwihaki Mundia gives a perspective of how brachiaria grass is exceptionally suited for the Sub-Saharan African livestock farmers especially looking at what climate and soil type does it thrive in. She further weighs in on the dynamic “rivalry” with fodder options such as the popular Napier and Brachiaria grass. On this instalment, Mwihaki Mundia argues that Brachiaria grass is well-suited for Sub-Saharan African livestock farming and unpacks which climates and soil types are best suited to grow the indigenous fodder. Mwihaki Mundia is a Communications Specialist currently working at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Nairobi where she advocates for different technologies that improve smallholder farmers’ livelihoods in the Africa region. HAVE YOUR SAY: Click on the UNAJUA tab at AfricanTechRoundup.com (www.africantechroundup.com/unajua/) and leave us a 60-second voice note with your reaction to this episode. (We will include some of your audio takes in future follow-up episodes.) PROMO:

This UNAJUA Series - presented by Kenyan die-hard environment advocate and comms pro, Mwihaki Mundia - offers a minimum actionable response to the question: "Could the adoption of Brachiaria grass be a game-changer for livestock farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa?" As part of her Communications Specialist role at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Nairobi, Mwihaki distils expert research into technologies that improve smallholder farmers' livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa. Her advocacy work helps farmers utilise limited space to grow crops and rear animals for sustenance. In this episode, Mwihaki outlines the state of play in Sub-Saharan African subsistence farming and explains why she and the research scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Nairobi are bullish about the climate change-resistant potential of indigenous brachiaria grass. *pun intended* HAVE YOUR SAY: Click on the UNAJUA tab at AfricanTechRoundup.com (www.africantechroundup.com/unajua/) and leave us

In this bonus, episode (the second of a two-part conversation), Socialstack Co-founder and CEO Andrew Berkowitz joins African Tech Roundup Co-founder and Executive Producer Andile Masuku to discuss some of the technicalities of the $ATRU launch. They discuss the merits of launching the token on the Celo blockchain and share details about how you can ready yourself to earn the token in the coming weeks. PART 1: Unpacking the $ATRU Token with Andrew Berkowitz Part 1: Re-imagining Media Ownership (https://www.africantechroundup.com/unpacking-the-atru-token-part-1/) CREATE A CELO ACCOUNT: https://celowallet.app PRESS RELEASE: www.africantechroundup.com/atru-token/ RESOURCES ON SOCIAL TOKENS AND THE CELO BLOCKCHAIN: Social Tokens: Get Ready for the Next Massive Crypto Trend by William White for Nasdaq (https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/social-tokens%3A-get-ready-for-the-next-massive-crypto-trend-2021-04-29) Exploring the social token revolution by Andrew Steinwold for ZIMA RED (https://andrewsteinwold.substack.

This podcast is the second in the two-part UNAJUA series unpacking the question, "What does it take for a Ugandan research insights startup to become a commercial success?" presented by founder and researcher Peter Kisadha. In this episode, Peter speaks on whether it's possible for an African research insights company to be commercially viable and puts forward why he believes the business opportunity tied to servicing Africa's research gap is hugely underrated. HAVE YOUR SAY: Click on the UNAJUA tab at AfricanTechRoundup.com (https://www.africantechroundup.com/unajua/) and leave us a 60-second voice note with your reaction to this episode. (We will include some of your audio takes in future follow-up episodes.) PROMO: African Tech Roundup has partnered with Socialstack to launch the $ATRU social token on the Celo blockchain. Listen in to hear African Tech Roundup Co-founder Andile Masuku and Socialstack Co-founder and CEO Andrew Berkowitz unpack the rationale underpinning the token (https://www.africantech

In this special bonus episode (the first of a two-part conversation), Socialstack Co-founder and CEO Andrew Berkowitz joins African Tech Roundup Co-founder and Executive Producer Andile Masuku to unpack the rationale behind the launch of the $ATRU token—which the two organisations have partnered to launch on the Celo blockchain. PRESS RELEASE: www.africantechroundup.com/atru-token/ CREATE A CELO ACCOUNT: https://celowallet.app RESOURCES ON SOCIAL TOKENS AND THE CELO BLOCKCHAIN: Exploring the social token revolution (https://andrewsteinwold.substack.com/p/-exploring-the-social-token-revolution) Social Tokens: A Potential Growth Opportunity For Your Brand (https://blog.loomly.com/social-tokens/#:~:text=Social%20tokens%20%E2%80%93%20also%20known%20as,cryptocurrencies%20like%20Bitcoin%20or%20Ether.) Social Tokens: Get Ready for the Next Massive Crypto Trend (https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/social-tokens%3A-get-ready-for-the-next-massive-crypto-trend-2021-04-29) You had me at “Celo” — Why build on the Celo bloc

This UNAJUA podcast the first of a two-part series highlighting ecosystem insight gaps that African research startups might help to address. Presenting the series is Ugandan founder and researcher Peter Kisadha. Peter has just recently joined early-stage investment outfit Future Africa as an associate researcher. He previously worked for the mobility tech company, Eywa, and, before that, he interned at Jumia Group's classifieds arm in Uganda. He is also the co-founder of the tech innovation data and insights startup Digest Africa. In this episode, Peter offers minimum actionable responses to the question, "Why would anyone launch a research insights business in Uganda?" by outlining the significant real-world problems local research businesses might undertake to solve. HAVE YOUR SAY: Click on the UNAJUA tab at AfricanTechRoundup.com (https://www.africantechroundup.com/unajua/) and leave us a 60-second voice note with your reaction to this episode. (We will include some of your audio takes in future follow

In this final instalment of our UNAJUA learning series themed: "Is the African technology ecosystem at an inflection point?" Nigerian analyst and researcher Derin Adebayo unpacks what is driving the increase in capital flowing into Africa's tech ecosystem. Derin also suggests what the various types of money making its way into the market might signal and analyses the role local and international investors play in the space. Have your say by clicking on the UNAJUA tab at AfricanTechRoundup.com (https://www.africantechroundup.com/unajua/) and leaving us a 60-second voice note with your reaction to this episode. (We will include some of your audio takes in future follow-up episodes.) Image credit: David Rotimi

This UNAJUA installment features Nigerian analyst and researcher, Derin Adebayo's second "minimum actionable response" to the question: "Is the African technology ecosystem at an inflection point?" In this podcast (the second in a three-part series), Derin shares what he reckons the founders of Africa’s first generation of internet startups have learned and suggests what lessons might be gleaned from other emerging markets. Have your say by clicking on the UNAJUA tab at AfricanTechRoundup.com and leaving us a 60-second voice note with your reaction to this episode. (We will include some of your audio takes in future follow-up episodes.) Image credit: Muhammadtaha Ibrahim Ma'aji

Welcome to the first episode of African Tech Roundup's new learning podcast series called Unajua. The word 'unajua' is a word in KiSwahili that means "do you know?" Here's how the Unajua Series will work... First, we'll crowdsource pertinent questions from you, The Village, and break them down into 3 to 6 bite-sized sub-questions. Then, we'll invite a revolving door of Villagers who know a little more than a thing or two about how things work in our ecosystem to offer what we're calling 'minimum actionable responses' to these sub-questions—in 15 minutes or less. From here on in, Unajua Episodes will drop every Monday. To launch the series, we've sourced answers to the question: Is the African technology ecosystem at an inflection point? Factoring in on this question in a three-part response is Nigerian analyst and researcher Derin Adebayo. Derin covers technology, entrepreneurship, and venture capital across emerging markets in his monthly Substack newsletter called Unevenly Distributed. He formerly worke