This Is Connectivity - African Tech Roundup

POD: From Maputo to Shopify—Why Guidione Machava says 'African Designer' is a career-limiting label

Guidione Machava argues that leading with geographic identity in a global market can unconsciously devalue your talent. He shares how he's built a cross-continental product design career, from founding Mozambique’s top dev community to working at Shopify and 23point5.

Market Intelligence

OP-ED: Embedded Insurance—How routine township shopping in South Africa now buys you 'invisible' funeral cover

SAG Ventures’ Purchase Pal, underwritten by Sanlam, tucks funeral insurance into everyday grocery purchases. No forms, no intermediaries, no premiums. Prince Nwadeyi shows what happens when deep consumer research drives product design.

Career

POD: Wabo Majavu on Early AI, Strategic Foresight, and Digital Activism

South African strategist Wabo Majavu traces her technical roots at CSIR, MTN, and Intelsat to reveal how they've informed her executive strategy work—balancing digital inclusion, AI innovation, and commercial success.

Ecosystem

OP-ED: Funding Plus—Alesimo Mwanga on why strategic partnerships are the secret to scaling African innovation

Ecosystem strategist Alesimo Mwanga explains how strategic partnerships unlock cross-border venture growth where funding alone falls short.

Artificial Intelligence

OP-ED: Claude, Deepfakes, and the Death of ‘Real’—A wake-up call for the digital age

As AI blurs the line between truth and fiction, our collective indifference to reality could prove more dangerous than the technologies reshaping our world.

Venture Building

POD: Venture Building, AI and Scaling Impact—Inside Funema’s vision for backing African ventures

David Ogundeko unpacks Funema's contrarian venture development philosophy, long-term investment sensibilities, and lessons from nearly a decade of building startups in Nigeria, South Africa, and the US.

Career

OP-ED: When AI Comes for Your Craft—A personal reckoning in Africa’s creative scene

AI is disrupting African creative work—and it’s personal. Andile Masuku confronts hard truths about his own voiceover career and what comes next for creatives all over the continent.

Artificial Intelligence

POD: Stop Raising Millions—Why African filmmakers must embrace AI or risk irrelevance

Marie Lora-Mungai joins the African Tech Roundup Podcast to explore how AI is democratising filmmaking in Africa—and why adopting emerging tools is now more practical (and necessary) than pursuing conventional production models.

Ecosystem

OP-ED: Edge of the Matrix—Bankole Oluwafemi on levelling up in a world of unequal passport access

For Nigerians, global mobility isn't just travel—it's a game rigged at birth. "Full-stack creative" and TechCabal founder Bankole Oluwafemi reveals how to hack the system and rewrite your sovereignty stats.

This Is Connectivity

POD: From Meta to Independent Media—Fatu Ogwuche on personality-driven journalism and creative storytelling

Fatu Ogwuche, founder and CEO of Big Tech This Week, joins Andile Masuku on the African Tech Roundup podcast to share her journey from big tech to independent media, offering insights on research-driven storytelling, audience engagement, and the future of African tech journalism.

This Is Connectivity

OP-ED: The New Rules of Influence—Ikpeme Neto on leveraging public persona for startup success

Doctor-turned-founder Ikpeme Neto is building Wellahealth with substance over hype. His journey highlights the power of strategic visibility, public engagement, and sustainable execution in digital healthcare.

Media

POD: Tinashe Mukogo of Money & Moves on building independent media that balances commercial success and public interest

Former Deloitte consultant and Siemens executive, Tinashe Mukogo, discusses how his professional experience and corporate background are shaping his live, real-time approach to building a sustainable, independent financial media property.

This Is Connectivity

OP-ED: From Couch to Connectivity—Building a global network on a failed podcast

A squawking Hadeda ibis, a faltering TV career and a failed podcast in Johannesburg became unlikely building blocks for global tech ecosystem connections.

Ecosystem

OP-ED: Systematic Strategies & DIY Innovation—Shaking up market education in Africa’s startup investment scene

A new generation of African VC professionals is reshaping ecosystem education through institutional strategy and individual innovation.

Telecoms

OP-ED: Emergence Over Extraction—What Africa’s telco sector teaches us about progress

Andile Masuku taps Lanre Kolade's insights on patient collaboration, creative capital and ecosystem alignment behind landing Google's Equiano cable in Togo, sparking transformative regional broadband connectivity.

This Is Connectivity

POD: This Is Connectivity a la VC with Accion Venture Lab's Jasiel Martin-Odoom

Discover how Accion Venture Lab's Africa Investment Officer blends digital savvy with authentic relationship-building to find and fund some of the continent's most promising fintech startups.

This Is Connectivity

OP-ED: AI Meets Its Match—Human connection

In the afterglow of the NOVACOM Africa 1-to-1 Telco Summit 2024, Andile Masuku notes that while AI continues to advance, the fundamentals of meaningful human interaction remain essential for long-term success.

This Is Connectivity

OP-ED: Unlocking Innovation—The power of prioritising connectivity in your strategy

Africa's innovation hinges on strategic, trust-based connectivity. Andile Masuku advocates for leaders to invest in continuous, intentional network-building.