Shows
Tech Aways PodcastRenier Kriel: The role of media in growing South Africa's tech ecosystemSouth Africa’s startup ecosystem often talks about funding as its biggest challenge, but according to Renier Kriel, founder of The Open Letter, visibility may be just as important.Kriel reflected on how a personal frustration with the lack of meaningful local technology and business coverage led him to launch The Open Letter nearly four years ago. Having previously built and exited a technology agency, he wanted a platform that went beyond funding announcements to explain why businesses matter, what problems they are solving, and where opportunities exist.That philosophy has helped transform The Open Le...
2026-06-0941 min
Tech Aways PodcastLungisa Matshoba: Why Yoco believes the future of fintech is solving more than paymentsWhen Yoco processed its first transaction more than a decade ago, the startup had a simple mission: help South African small businesses accept card payments.Today, that mission has expanded far beyond payments.According to Yoco Chief Product Officer Lungisa Matshoba, the company now sees itself less as a payments provider and more as a technology platform designed to help small businesses run, grow and understand their businesses better.“The first product we launched was actually two products,” Matshoba said. “We launched payments, but we also launched a point-of-sale system. From day one, busine...
2026-06-0138 min
Tech Aways PodcastJesaya Hano-Oshike: How this $10 million fund plans to back Southern Africa's innovatorsJesaya Hano-Oshike: How this $10 million fund plans to back Southern Africa’s innovatorsFor years, Southern Africa’s startup ecosystem has found itself stuck in an uncomfortable position. The region has no shortage of entrepreneurs building interesting businesses, yet very little venture capital flows into markets outside South Africa.Jesaya Hano-Oshike, Managing Director of Bellatrix Investment Managers, believes that the gap represents an opportunity.Bellatrix recently launched the Ndjaba Seed Fund, a $10 million venture capital vehicle focused on backing early-stage startups across Southern Africa. The fund will invest in between 35 and 50 startups over a 10...
2026-05-2517 min
Tech Aways PodcastFlorence Bavanandan: Inside Botswana Tech Fund's £50 million mission to fund Southern Africa startupsFor years, most African venture capital has flowed into the continent’s biggest startup ecosystems — Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa. Southern Africa’s smaller markets have largely been overlooked.But according to Florence Bavanandan, general partner of the Botswana Tech Fund, that is exactly where the opportunity lies.Bavanandan described the fund’s strategy as a “contrarian thesis” focused on backing startups in Botswana and neighbouring countries like Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.“Where everyone is not looking, that’s where the opportunity is,” she said.The fund plans to invest in tech-first B2B...
2026-05-1931 min
Tech Aways PodcastNaco Bolote: Assessing the state of cross border payments & remittances in AfricaAfrica’s push toward deeper regional trade integration continues to run into a stubborn obstacle: moving money across the continent remains slow, fragmented, and expensive.Despite years of fintech innovation and billions of dollars flowing into African startups, cross-border payments across Africa are still heavily dependent on foreign currencies, fragmented regulatory systems, and infrastructure that was never designed primarily for intra-African trade.According to Naco Bolote, the continent’s biggest payments challenge is ultimately fragmentation, not just of payment rails, but also of policy, governance, and financial systems.“Africa is crying out fo...
2026-05-1350 min
Tech Aways PodcastTshepo Tshabalala: Exploring media innovation in Africa in the age of AIFor years, journalism has had a love-hate relationship with technology. First came social media, then podcasts, and now AI, each wave bringing both opportunity and disruption.The rise of content creators and independent publishers has broken traditional media monopolies, giving audiences more voices and perspectives than ever before. But it has also created misinformation, audience fragmentation, and what Tshepo Tshabalala, manager & team lead at JournalismAI, described as “bubble consumption”, where people only follow creators who reinforce their beliefs. At the same time, journalism continues to struggle financially. Despite billions flowing into African tech startups over the...
2026-05-0648 min
Tech Aways PodcastKieno Kammies: How Innovation City is building a community around innovationWhat synergies can 87 startups, scaleups, VCs and corporates explore when housed under the same roof?That is exactly the kind of sandbox experiment that is going on at 8 Darter Road, Gardens, Cape Town, the home of Innovation City.Founded by Stephan Ekbergh and Kieno Kammies in November 2021, the hub’s business enablement model has proved to be a hit, as shown by the tenants who currently call Innovation City home. These include Yellowcard, Smile Identity, Lauch Africa Venture, Norrsken 22, and MTN Digital.In this conversation, Kammies, who also has an extensive career in br...
2026-04-2743 min
Tech Aways PodcastWill Green: The role of ecosystem building in driving tech innovation in South AfricaIn computer network design, a supernode refers to a highly capable node in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network that acts as a central hub, relay, or proxy server for ordinary, less-capable nodes.If there is one analogy to describe Will Green’s role in South Africa’s tech startup ecosystem, it would be exactly that—a supernode. From running one of the country’s most efficient accelerators and helping wet-behind-the-ear founders figure out their business models to driving M&A strategies for exiting founders, Will's impact stretches across the entire ecosystem. But restricting his impa...
2026-04-2152 min
Tech Aways PodcastNkahiseng Ralepeli: How digital assets are ushering in a new era of banking in AfricaThere is a convergence that is happening in Africa’s banking ecosystem. Banks, which were originally seen as the subjects of disruption driven by the emergence of digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenised assets, are embracing them.Traditional finance and decentralised finance, once thought to be sworn enemies, are forming new use cases which are addressing some longstanding pain points in Africa’s banking ecosystem.For example, over the last half-decade, stablecoin adoption at the retail level has seen explosive growth, with Africans using them for facilitation of remittance payments and hedg...
2026-04-1330 min
Tech Aways PodcastZachariah George: From a career on Wall Street to backing Africa's early stage startupsZachariah George is a lot of things. He is a guitarist, pianist and vocalist, has been to over a hundred countries, holds a Stanford MBA and is a member of MENSA, meaning he has an IQ score at or above the 98th percentile.In Africa’s tech startup ecosystem, Zach is known as the managing founder of Launch Africa Ventures, one of the most prolific early-stage VC investment firms on the continent. He is also a prominent angel investor and was part of the formation of some of Africa’s revered accelerators, including Startup Bootcamp.
2026-04-0742 min
Tech Aways PodcastKevin Kissi: From principal manager at Microsoft to building an AI startupWhat does it take to take the leap from a manager role at one of the biggest technology companies in the world to founding an AI startup? According to Kevin Kissi, it takes a belief that what starts as just an idea can change the world.Hailing from Ghana, Kevin has pivoted his career from mechanical engineering to software engineering, swapping CAD-rendered designs for writing code. Through Zof AI, he is taking it up a notch, enabling mid-market businesses to ship code that has been tested to ensure its quality.In...
2026-03-301h 03
Tech Aways PodcastLouis Manu: After Showmax, what does the future of streaming in Africa look like?A fortnight ago, Showmax, which for the last ten-plus years had been pan-African broadcaster Multichoice’s answer to the arrival of global streaming platforms on the continent, shut down.Canal+, Multichoice’s parent company, pointed to the streaming platform’s not-so-pretty financials as the reason for pulling the plug. With Showmax gone, which was the closest Africa-born competitor to Netflix at least from the POV of budget spend, what will become of the continent’s streaming landscape?While Showmax has always grabbed the headlines as Africa’s forefront streaming platform, several other streamers have amass...
2026-03-2451 min
Tech Aways PodcastHlumelo Fungile: How data centres can address Africa's digital infrastructure challengesAs Africa tries to catch up to the world in adopting emerging technologies such as AI, the importance of digital infrastructure cannot be overstated enough.Data centres are at the forefront of this infrastructure, providing the requisite environment to build out application layers, resources such as fintech apps and e-commerce platforms.In this episode, Hlumelo Fungile, Chief Commercial Officer at PAIX Data Centres, breaks down the challenges facing Africa’s data centres ecosystem, including limited capital investment and energy constraints.He also touches on the opportunities on the continent, including a growing population, wh...
2026-03-2047 min
Tech Aways PodcastLucia Malapane: Rebranding TymeBank to GoTymeWhy did TymeBank rebrand to GoTyme? A few weeks ago, South African digital bank TymeBank announced a rebrand from its widely recognised yellow-and-black brand to “GoTyme”, featuring a Tiffany blue and charcoal black colour palette.But beyond the change in logos and colours is a much broader view of the bank’s service provision, which is now more globally oriented for a natively South African bank.To shed some insights on the rebrand, head of marketing Lucia Malapane stopped by the Tech Aways podcast to expound on the rationale for the process.She...
2026-03-0917 min
Tech Aways PodcastKeet van Zyl: Understanding the SA VC ecosystem, from acceleration to exitHow has South Africa’s venture capital landscape changed from the time Mark Shuttleworth sold Thawte to Verisign, up to now?One person who is well placed to answer this question is Keet van Zyl, co-founder and managing partner at Knife Capital. Having cut his teeth in VC at Shuttleworth’s family office, Here Be Dragons, Keet went on to found Knife Capital, which has since evolved into one of the continent’s foremost VC firms.In this conversation, Keet chronicles his early days in VC, including Knife Capital’s early exit successes, the role Section...
2026-03-021h 01
Tech Aways PodcastMathew Marsden: Tackling South Africa's early stage startup ecosystem challengesEarly-stage startup founders in South Africa face various challenges, including a lack of capital, struggling to achieve product-market fit, and even loneliness.In 2022, after he himself faced similar challenges when building his early-stage venture, Mathew Marsden founded Startup Club ZA. The community, which comprises in-person events, awards, and now a platform to enable ecosystem stakeholders to share press releases, job listings, etc, has grown substantially.In this episode, Mathew shares about the early days of Startup Club ZA, what is currently missing in SA’s VC ecosystem, the impact AI will have on ea...
2026-02-2347 min
Tech Aways PodcastNtsako Mgiba: Addressing the racial disparities in South Africa's tech startup ecosystemWhy do black tech startup founders get disproportionately less funding than their white counterparts in South Africa?It is a question that has faced the ecosystem for years, but one that is yet to be addressed or even discussed in the mainstream via LinkedIn or at ecosystem events. But Ntsako Mgiba, founder and CEO of the Darkies in Tech community, is actively working to change that.Founded in February 2021, Darkies in Tech was founded out of the frustration that Ntsako experienced as a black founder when navigating the ecosystem. Realising that there was a lack...
2026-02-1652 min
Tech Aways PodcastTony Anscombe: The state of cybersecurity in 2026For most companies, cybersecurity is not something that is discussed at the board level, but is often relegated to underfunded and underequipped IT teams.This is even though a serious cyberbreach could have detrimental financial and operational consequences. In this conversation with Tony, he outlines the findings from ESET’s latest H2 2025 Threat Report, which flagged phishing as the most prominent cybersecurity concern.He also dives into several issues, including the impact of AI and crypto on cybersecurity, why there is a lack of talent in the sector, some tips to avoid the mo...
2026-02-0942 min
Tech Aways PodcastNtuthuko Shezi: Inside Livestock Wealth's growth as a "crowd farming" platformHow do you run a business when you are under investigation by South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) for two years?This was the predicament faced by South African agritech startup Livestock Wealth when it became the subject of an investigation by the FSCA in January 2024.Two years later, according to Livestock Wealth CEO Ntuthuko Shezi, the investigation has completed with a positive outcome for the company, and he is ready to chart the next wave of growth for the company.Shezi also shares more on the investigation process, the lessons he...
2026-02-0234 min
Tech Aways PodcastClive Butkow: How to build a venture scalable startup in South AfricaHow much equity should you allocate to a co-founder and first hires? Is it easier to build a B2B or B2C startup in South Africa? Should you be trying raise from local or international investors? Is an IPO a realistic path to exit in South Africa?There are some of the questions that founders ask themselves every day as they navigate the complexities of building a venture-scalable company in South Africa. Answers to these questions play a large part in who becomes a successful company or joins the 90% stat of startups which fizzle...
2026-01-2651 min
Tech Aways PodcastStephen Timm: Six SA startups to watch in 2026As we get 2026 fully underway, which startups in South Africa should you have an eye on as an ecosystem stakeholder? Stephen Timm wrote about six startups he will be keeping an eye on and joins the podcast to explain his selection.Some of what we discussed:* The rationale for picking the startups* Which SA tech startup hub is the most exciting* Why SA startups looking at external markets for growth avenues* How to address SA’s regulatory hurdlesCheck out Stephen’s musings here and conn...
2026-01-1942 min
Tech Aways PodcastLindsey Schutters: Tech in SA 2025 wrapped & 2026 unwrappedWhat were some of the biggest tech stories in South Africa in 2025, and what does 2026 have in store? The brilliant Lindsey Schutters breaks it all down.What you can expect:* Starlink’s licensing fiasco in South Africa* The digital bank battle royale and how it will evolve* The scramble for stablecoinsRead Lindsey’s reporting here and connect with him on Linkedin. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit techaways.substack.com
2026-01-0137 min
Tech Aways PodcastIs Starlink getting special treatment in South Africa?The first episode (or is it the pilot?) of the Tech Aways podcast explores the latest in the Starlink vs South Africa saga.What you can expect:* Overview of how we got here* Why the licensing issue has dragged on* What do Elon’s politics have to do with the delay* What will likely happen nextReferences:Daily Maverick: “Why Malatsi believes bypassing BEE rules for Starlink is good for SA”Tech Aways: “Starlink’s Mzansi Entry Has Long Been Coming” This is...
2025-12-1609 min
SoccerNothing sinister about Serero's omission: MashabaThe omission of South Africa’s best football export at the moment Thulani Serero from Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba’s first Bafana Bafana squad has received a lot of attention from the nation. This follows Mashaba’s announcement of a 34-man squad to face Sudan and Nigeria in 2015 African Nations Cup qualifiers in the first week of next month. Announcing the team in Cape Town today where Bafana will play Nigeria on the 10th of next month five days after their first game in Khartoum, Mashaba says there’s nothing sinister about the omission of the Ajax Amsterdam midfielder…Serero who sco...
2014-08-2511 min
SoccerPSL players fully behind MashabaBafana Bafana players have reacted positively to the appointment of Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba as the new national team coach with some going as far as saying he’s the type of a coach worth dying for. Mashaba returned to the country this morning from West Africa where he had been on tour with the SA U20 squad preparing for the crunch two-legged tie against Cameroon this month. SABC Sport journalist Velile Mbuli has been talking to some PSL players and this is what he gathered…As Mashaba prepares to start his fourth stint as Bafana coach, he can count on...
2014-08-0703 min