iAfrikan BYTES

Over approximately the past decade, Facebook has been investing millions of dollars into telecommunications infrastructure and partnerships to connect Africans to the Internet. What hasn't been clear during this period is whether or not these telecommunications infrastructure projects and partnerships are making an impact on reducing the digital divide. A recent study conducted by Analysys Mason h...

Nigeria is no different from most African, if not all, in that most of its retail supply chain is informal and fragmented. Many companies have tried to tackle this market by introducing e-commerce business models that have worked in North America and Europe but they fast learn that the conditions on the ground in Africa are very different. What makes this retail supply chain problem even more comp...

Now more than ever during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the enforced lockdowns, online shopping has become an essential part of our daily lives. The convenience is that you don’t have to leave your home. However, not all businesses across Africa have online shops in place to take advantage of this and make it convenient for their customers to shop. On this episode of the iAfrikan BYTES podcast...

During 2018 Naspers announced that it will be committing R1,4 billion towards funding technology startups in South Africa over three years through a new fund known as Naspers Foundry. The announcement was made during the inaugural South Africa Investment Conference which took place in Johannesburg on 26 October 2018. To date, Naspers Foundry has invested a total of R130 million in two South Africa...

iAfrikan.com, with Tefo Mohapi as MC, recently facilitated a webinar hosted by 4IRSA Black Partnerships and Collaborations Group led by Gcobisa Mashegoane. The event took place on 20 May 2020. The webinar was themed “Repositioning Business for Post COVID-19 phase.” One of the speakers was Mr. Xolani Qubeka explored several things that small and medium businesses can do to reposition themselves pos...

iAfrikan.com, with Tefo Mohapi as MC, recently facilitated a webinar hosted by 4IRSA Black Partnerships and Collaborations Group led by Gcobisa Mashegoane. The webinar was themed “Repositioning Business for Post COVID-19 phase.” The event took place on 20 May 2020. One of the speakers was Mr. Tito Mboweni, South Africa’s Minister of Finance, who among several topics stressed that there will be con...

iAfrikan.com recently facilitated a webinar hosted by 4IRSA Black Partnerships and Collaborations Group led by Gcobisa Mashegoane. The webinar was themed “Repositioning Business for Post Covid-19 phase.” The event took place on 20 May 2020. The keynote address was delivered by Mr. Billy Selekane who is an Author, Internationally acclaimed Inspirational Keynote Speaker, Personal, Team, and Organiza...

Bhekisisa Ngcobo, Chief Director (Youth and Children) at South Africa's Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services, joined us on this podcast to briefly explain what the country's "Youth in ICT" strategy aims to achieve. He also elaborates on what work is being done to keep the Internet safe for children.

Qhakaza Mthembu (Head of Strategy at Digify Africa), Nqobile Tshabalala (student / Ilizwe lam youth ambassador), and Jamie-Lee Simelane (student/ Ilizwe lam youth ambassador), join the discussion about online safety for youth in South Africa. Also discussed on the podcast is the iLizwe Lam youth safety training programme - a partnership between Facebook and Digify Africa.

We sat down with Emilar Gandhi, Public Policy Manager at Facebook Africa for a quick interview. We discussed Facebook's safety and community #policies and tools, whether Facebook users should still be worried about Facebook third-party apps harvesting their data given the recent Cambridge Analytica saga, as well as Facebook's involvement and partnership with Digify Africa's iLizwe Lam youth safety...

Gugu Zikhali, Head of Transaction Products: Mass Market at First National Bank of South Africa talks about the bank's newly launched digital banking solution targeted at the unbanked and underbanked. Zikhali explains what motivated the bank to launch the eWallet eXtra mobile bank account and its features.

During August 2017 Nigeria's Hotels.ng announced a partnership with Akwa Ibom State Government for a remote internship programme. We caught up with Neo Ighodaro, CTO at Hotels.ng, to understand what the remote internship entails and what motivated the partnership with Akwa Ibom State.

Shaun Durandt, General Manager for Southern Africa at HMD Global talks about Nokia's return to Africa. Durandt explains the motive behind HMD Global deciding to re-launch the Nokia brand of phones as well as touch on the dynamics of the mobile phone industry and how HMD Global hopes to navigate them.

A quick discussion between Balungile Belz and Oluwatobi Asehinde, Founder and Managing Director of Nigeria's Vibe Web Solutions, about the importance of keyword research for digital businesses. Tobi explains that "It all comes down to knowing what people want, and we don’t guess at this, but only by proper keyword research can we realistically know what people are looking for."

Linda Khumalo, Founder of the South African Digital Content Organisation explains briefly what the fourth industrial revolution is all about. Linda also takes us on a short history of the previous three industrial revolutions dating back to the 1800s.

Envir Fraser, Chief Strategy Officer and Principal at Investment company Convergence Partners​, speaks about the key trends they have observed and what they think 5G means for Africa. The trends were focused on technology infrastructure mostly. He also touched on the changing models of Data Centers, OTT service providers, FinTech, Bitcoin, Security and Privacy.

Yarik Turianskyi and Steven Gruzd speak to Balungile Belz to explain how technological advances can help improve the state of governance in Afrika. Revolutionary technological advances over the past decade have provided new opportunities for establishing deeper links between citizens and state institutions. The question is can they help Afrikans on their quest for better governance?

Tefo Mohapi caught up with Marcello Schermer, Regional Manager for Africa at Seedstars, to get an update on what we can expect at the Seedstars Summit 2017 and what Seedstars has in store for Africa in 2017.

Mimi Mefo reports from Douala, Cameroon on the Internet shutdown in the English-speaking North-West and South-West regions of the country. Mimi also gets reactions from residents of Cameroon affected by the Internet shutdown and what impact it is having on their lives and businesses.

Sean Obedih speaks to Balungile Belz to discuss the state of angel investing in Afrika. Sean runs the London-based private investors club NewGenAngels. NewGenAngels is a members-only investment Club for high liquid professionals and sophisticated angels, Ultra High Net Worth Individuals, venture capital firms, family offices and angel networks with an interest in Africa.

Balungile Belz chats to Simon Dingle about the latest updates on the Bitcoin phenomenon and the Decentralized Autonomous Organisation (DAO).

Dr. Happy Sithole speaks to Balungile Belz to explain why Lengau, a Super Computer developed by South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and its partners, is important for Africa's development.

Daniel Mwesigwa speaks to Balungile Belz to explain the value of storytelling in terms of sharing and shaping Africa's narrative of growth.

Intelsat’s Jean-Philippe Gillet, Vice President of Europe, Middle East and Africa Sales, elaborates on some of the projects that they are involved in South Africa with. He also goes on to talk about the importance of protecting the C-Band spectrum and its importance.

Martin Koffijberg, EMEA Product Marketing Manager ATM Security at Diebold, elaborates on South Africa's history of physical ATM attacks and explains how Diebold is impleting measures and technology to combat physical attacks on ATMs in South Africa.