African Tech Conversations

There are many who aspire to the title of “activist”, but few walk the tweet. But Cameroonian-born Rebecca Enonchong is the real deal. Rebecca’s technical and leadership track record at the highest level has led to her being widely considered one of the most credible ambassadors for Africa’s burgeoning tech scene. We can at least vouch for this: Rebecca is not afraid of the truth. Her commitment to helping emerging entrepreneurs on the continent by sharing openly the details of the challenges, failures and successes of her career is refreshing. And as both a tech pro working her way up the corporate ladder, and later, a tenacious startup founder determined to design and build ladders of her own, hers has been quite a journey. Besides being the Founder & CEO of enterprise application solutions company, Apps Tech, Rebecca is also a trusted advisor in matters of tech and innovation to many of Africa’s most influential brands and businesses. When she’s not flying between Douala and Washington DC on Apps Tech business, Rebecca maintains a busy speaking schedule that takes her all over the world, and she serves on several boards, for the likes of the African Business Angel Network and VC4Africa. It’s fair to say that we're more than a little stoked that Johannesburg made it into her travel itinerary. Music Credits: All music by Brian Lupiya. Used with permission.

Anyone who's ever heard Gys Kappers speak will know how passionately he advocates for organisations to be super-intentional about systematically tapping every single employee— from the top to the very bottom of their structures, for game-changing insights and wisdom that can otherwise easily go ignored. In the latest episode of African Tech Conversations, Gys shares an incredible story of how an idea put forward by an entry-level factory worker helped the concrete masonry business he had a hand in building (the largest privately-owned business of its kind in South Africa at the time) stay afloat during the early to mid 2000’s. But it was a chance encounter with a fellow MBA student at the University of Cape Town following that seminal experience that would lead Gys to co-founding “social business software and collaboration company”, Wyzetalk— which is currently leading the charge on the continent to persuade companies to adopt social business software to achieve collaboration, open innovation and communication objectives. Music Credits: All music by Brian Lupiya. Used with permission.

This week’s chat on African Tech Conversations is with a globe-trotting Brit who has spent the last 20 years working in retail, investment and corporate banking in no less than four continents. Before Ashley Veasey’s current gig as Chief Information Officer at Barclays Africa Group, he served in senior leadership positions at corporate giants like Citi Group and JP Morgan. Prior to joining Barclays, however, Ashley worked for Standard Chartered Bank as CIO in Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong, where he made a name for himself as somewhat of disruptive technologies maverick. Nowadays, Ashley enjoys travelling, and has an inexplicable passion for Italian motorbikes. Listen in to find out what the man literally has under his skin. Music Credits: All music by Brian Lupiya. Used with permission.

Brandon Bekker is Managing Director for Africa and the Middle East at email security firm, Mimecast. This former pro rugby player and lawyer-turned-tech salesman has come a long way from his humble entry level position at Internet Solutions. Prior to joining Mimecast in 2008, Brandon spent 10 years within the Dimension Data Group, and ended up serving in executive positions at both Internet Solutions and Dimension Data. At Mimecast, Brandon’s credited for contributing significantly to the company’s continued growth into a serious international player within email security management. Listen in to hear what went into Brandon's decision to leave the security of working for a large listed tech company to join a startup. You’ll also be interested to hear what he had to say when asked whether or not email will exist in the next 5 years, and whether Mimecast isn't in fact a data business which just happens to provide email security solutions. Music Credits: All music by Brian Lupiya. Used with permission.

After being at the helm of Africa’s largest Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) sector focused fund manager for nearly a decade, Brandon Doyle seems to have thoroughly shed any visible traces of his punk rock past. Since co-founding Convergence Partners in 2006, Brandon and his team (many of whom are Charted Accountant types) have built an impressive track record of developing new investment opportunities and adding value to existing investments across the entire life cycle of ICT assets in Africa. In the latest instalment of African Tech Conversations, the Convergence Partners CEO shares some highlights from his stellar career in finance— which features lengthy stints at firms like Nedbank and Anglo American. He also hints at elements of the “secret sauce” that’s allowed his company to lay claim to the title of “impact investor”, and be widely considered a leading player within Africa’s ICT infrastructure venture capital scene. Brandon also gives us an update on how well Convergence Partners’ legacy business portfolio is doing— which includes hugely successful investments like SEACOM and Dimension Data, and talks about how he’s planning to invest the $200 million Convergence Partners has managed to woo into its recently-closed Communication Infrastructure Fund. Music Credits: All music by Brian Lupiya. Used with permission.

Many of us can relate to being let down, or at least disillusioned with our careers when we were in our early twenties. In the latest instalment of African Tech Conversations, Dominique Collett-Antolik chats to Andile Masuku about experiencing a complete meltdown based on her disappointment with how little she had achieved in life at the age of 23. By her standards, her gig at that age— investment banking at Standard Bank, was simply not good enough. After all, the dolls she played with as a child had been “23-year-old lawyers and astrophysicists”. Yes, folks. We are dealing with a serious over-achiever here-- a force of nature whose journey through life has led her through the corporate halls of some of the world's leading investment banking institutions and consulting firms. Following a successful exit at the incredibly successful fintech startup she co-founded, Tyme (acquired by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for a rumoured ±USD30 million), Dominique has gone on to become a financial services investor and innovation architect who now inhabits a senior role at Rand Merchant Insurance Holdings. She is no doubt one of the most talented, well-informed and influential players on South Africa’s innovative fintech scene. Music Credits: All music by Brian Lupiya. Used with permission.

By her own admission, Matsi Modise, does not look a day over 25. But you would do well not to underestimate this 30 year-20old executive who has recently been appointed Managing Director of SiMODiSA-- a South African industry-led initiative launched to address the hurdles faced by small and medium-sized enterprises and startups. Formerly the National Executive Director of the South African Black Entrepreneurs Forum, Matsi is an avid entrepreneurship activist and a successful entrepreneur in her own right — having co-founded the business development advisory firm, Emerge Ltd. In this conversation, Matsi spoke about finding her voice and not being afraid to use it to advocate for causes she cares about. No doubt, it is her affinity for engaging in meaningful dialogue that has led to her being inducted as a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, and appointed the South African Chapter Head of the Pan-African foundation, Africa 2.0. We are willing to bet that this bright, millennial upstart will continue to help keep the African startup eco-system's fires burning. Music Credits: All music by Brian Lupiya. Used with permission.

Oresti Patricios co-founded Ornico Group in 1984, aka the year I was born. While incredibly disruptive in its time, the video reel production business Oresti operated back then is a far cry from the media conglomerate he runs today. Ornico Group has made a solid name for itself in Africa’s leading markets, boasting a client list which includes the likes of MultiChoice, Old Mutual and Woolworths. Oresti, who is undoubtedly a thought-leader in the sphere of African media and brand intelligence, recently made headlines by overseeing Ornico’s acquisition of the media monitoring and social analytics startup, Fuseware-- founded by Mike Wronski. At a recent talk and fireside chat I attended, hosted by iAfrikan and Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg, Oresti and Mike shared their excitement for their new partnership, but to the dismay of many in attendance, the pair remained tight-lipped on their immediate plans for the future. In this relaxed conversation, Oresti shares on the influences that shaped his success, and explains how understanding that "business is all about people" has helped him pick the right partnerships over the years. Music Credits: All music by Brian Lupiya. Used with permission.

Mteto Nyati is no stranger to playing ball at the highest level in Africa’s corporate scene. His resume is pretty impressive. Studying at Yale, executive posts and directorships at companies like IBM, Enablis and Blue Label-- to name some, and even being MD of Microsoft South Africa for several years makes him anything but your average corporate animal. In his current role as CEO (Chief Enterprise Officer) for the MTN Group, Mteto continues to live up to his totem-- Nyati, which is Xhosa for “buffalo”, by bullishly challenging the status quo and lending his unique brand of "change-making" to a mobile telecoms business that is ripe for disruption. In this laid-back chat, Mteto unpacks his plans to change "how MTN makes money" and shares how "planning accordingly" makes it possible to overcome the on-going marginalisation of women and non-whites within corporate. Enjoy the conversation. Music Credits: All music by Brian Lupiya. Used with permission.

What do you get when a Microsoft geek and an IBM nerd fall in love and make a baby? Justin Spratt, that's what. Discover how Justin (Quirk MD Africa) went from being a curious, ten-year-old “hacker” in Australia, to rocking a suit at Morgan Stanley in London– then later becoming a tech-loving digital agency exec and start-up investor right here in Africa. We asked Justin what it’s like running what's widely considered to be the fastest-growing digital agency in Africa, and got him to share his impressions of some big-name tech entrepreneurs he’s been lucky enough to work with and be mentored by over the last decade. Name-drop alert: people like Internet Solutions Founder, Ronnie Apteker, Quirk Founder and CEO, Rob Stokes and Dimension Data Chairman, Jeremy Ord, to name some. Highlights of this absorbing conversation with Justin include: --Justin explaining why he reckons the future of tech and entrepreneurship in Africa is super-bright, --Trends to watch that will lead to the total disruption of the traditional broadcasting industry, --Invaluable advice to African millennials poised to launch themselves into the big, bad world after they finish school and/or university. Be inspired!