Ecosystem Arabia - Episode 1 of 6 - In the first episode of our 6 week community activation, we tell the inside stories of Yahoo's acquisition of Maktoob.com, Amazon's acquisition of Souq, and dive into how technology inspired the Arab Spring uprising. This community activation is an interactive digital gathering of the Middle East and North African startup ecosystems; it consists of a 6 episode podcast mini-series and a 6 week live-streamed startup pitch competition, which will both culminate in an interactive virtual summit on February 16th.

Douglas Ogeto is the Co-Founder and CEO at LudiqueWorks and has built the largest community of game developers on the continent. He is an entrepreneur with 8+ years of experience in Technology, Branding & Community Building. He has co-founded 4 startups in Game Development, Education, Advisory & Branding and has played a key role in designing, planning and execution of entrepreneurship & impact related projects in Sub-Saharan & West Africa, having worked both in the private and NGO sector. What is the biggest hindrance to African Esports taking a broader spot in the global industry? [6:32]What companies and games are investing in Africa to support a league? [7:40] What are the most played consoles across Africa? [12:15]

Akin Sawyerr is the Strategy lead for Decred, where he leads strategy and governance functions, and supports the proliferation of Decred across Africa. Decred is an open and progressive cryptocurrency with a system of community-based governance integrated into its blockchain. He's also an early investor and director of Splash Mobile Money, the largest mobile payments company in Sierra Leone. Akin is a long time executive and entrepreneur operating in mobile money, remittances, and payments in sub Saharan Africa.On this episode you'll learn: What use cases within Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is Akin most excited for and why? [3:20]What aspect of DeFi does Akin think will have the biggest impact across Africa? [10:48]What are the best assets to peg a stablecoin's value to? [14:05]

In part 2 of our podcast mini-series we look at the investor perspective of the current state of the global seed and growth stage investing environment. Our 2 guests today include Sean O'Sullivan the Managing General Partner at SOSV, a global venture capital firm providing multi-stage investment and investing in 150 companies, and Tien Wong CEO at Opus 8, where he provides strategy and fundraising advice to technology companies and investors. Opus8 organizes tech networking events as well as fundraising missions for private equity and VC firms to meet overseas LPs.On this episode you'll learn:How Sean has adapted his global vc and accelerator programs and how to think about approaching the post COVID-19 era - [6:01]The difference between navigating market down turns as an entrepreneurs with a company of 15 vs as an executive with a company of 2300 employees  - [13:26]How this is affecting startup valuations and deal flow in the United States - [16:05]

In part 1 of our 2 part mini-series we dive into 3 different sectors ranging from delivery startups to CRISPR-based diagnostics as well as 3 geographies including Pakistan, Sierra Leone, and Argentina. Our 3 guests today include Syed Sair Ali, Cofounder and CEO at Pakistan based 'Eat Mubarak', Jurgen Descamps, the General Manager for 'Securiport' based in Sierra Leone, as well as Franco Goytia, cofounder at 'CASPR Biotech' based in Buenos Aires, Argentina & Silicon Valley.In this episode you'll learn:How delivery startups in emerging economies are being affected by COVID-19 - [6:38]How Sierra Leone's experience with Ebola helped shape it's response to COVID-19 - [8:45]How has COVID-19 affected the Buenos Aires Startup Ecosystem - [20:05]

For this podcast, Andrew Berkowitz sat down with Omar Christidis, the Founder and CEO at ArabNet, a digital media venture with the goal of spearheading the Arab Web and Mobile movement, and encouraging its expansion worldwide. Having played an essential role in driving the growth of multiple young companies throughout the middle east, ArabNet enjoys a loyal network of fans in the region.This episode features insight into the development of the startup ecosystem in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, UAE, and the rest of the gulf region. Listen in to learn the following:1) How Omar expanded his tech conference business across the middle east through Tweetups, [9:18]2) What nearing peak oil means for the gulf coast’s sovereign wealth funds, [15:01]3) A deep dive on the Saudi Arabia tech and innovation landscape, [20:09]4) Smart cities and special economic zones being utilized in the gulf region, [24:30]

In this conversation with Andile Masuku, Jean Bosco Iyacu thoughtfully interrogates the sustainable impact of progressive development finance versus the sketchy outcomes of foreign aid.Jean Bosco is a former banker and fellow of the Harvard Kennedy School. He is the director of programmes at Access to Finance Rwanda, an organisation which promotes financial inclusion for low-income clients. Listen to hear why he's not a fan of foreign aid and explain why a robust development funding market is key to disrupting the systematic issues with the global finance status quo.Editorial Disclaimer: This podcast is part of a seven-part podcast miniseries interrogating the progress being made in advancing entrepreneurship and job creation in some of the world’s most fragile regions. The series was taped at the fringes of SPARK’s 7th Annual IGNITE Conference in Amsterdam— a premier gathering of refugees, entrepreneurs, educators, private sector actors, government leaders, academics and NGOs.While SPARK is the presenting sponsor of the series, African Tech Roundup maintains complete editorial oversight. Opinions expressed by the host, Andile Masuku, and his guests, do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the presenting sponsor, SPARK.Image credit: Riccardo Annadale

Professor and Founding Co-Director of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Globalization 4.0 at Thunderbird School of Global Management  Landry Signé joins Andile Masuku and guest co-host Iginio Gagliardone for a heartfelt discussion about how the COVID-19 crisis might alter Africa's economic growth trajectory.Landry is a Senior Fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution and his passionate perspectives about the merits of democracy feature heavily  in this episode. His views are coloured, in part, by the live policy-making exposure he's gleaned during advisory assignments such as serving on the Global Network on Digital Technologies for Sustainable Urbanization at the appointment of a United Nations Under Secretary-General.Using Landry's new book Unlocking Africa's Business Potential: Trends, Opportunities, Risks, and Strategies as a springboard for the conversation, the trio interrogates some of the speculation influencing Africa's collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic.Listen in to learn why, despite what's going on right now, Landry is standing by the bullish notions outlined in his book— views which, for the most part, Iginio buys into given the positive progress points the continent was posting before the whole COVID-19 nightmare set in.Questions discussed in this episode include:1) What immediately pops into Landry, Iginio and Andile's heads when they hear ‘Covid-19 and Africa?' [08:34]2) In light of what is happening in his native Italy, what does Iginio view as key learning points for South Africa, where he is currently based? [18:45]3) How should 'expert' projections shape Africa's political and economic response to Covid-19? [22:36]4) Landry unpacks insights from his new book, Unlocking Africa’s Business Potential: Trends, opportunities, risks and strategies. [42:11]5) Why would anybody consider Africa's population growth trajectory as anything but a good thing? [43:52]6) How might Africa position to become more competitive in the global economy? [45:30]7) Is Landry as bullish on Africa’s potential now as he was before the COVID-19 pandemic hit? [49:10]8) Why might Africans do well to be cautiously optimistic about the continent's recovery prospects? [51:00]9) What does Landry see as Africa's top unique selling propositions? [58:59]10) Apart from the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement, what other evidence might there be of increased regional trade cooperation in Africa? [1:08:05]Image credit: Nick Romanov

This brief fire-lighter conversation was taped live on stage at SPARK’s 7th Annual IGNITE Conference in Amsterdam. It features three local women who live and work in Arab states, namely, Hala Bugaighis, a law expert who co-founded Jusoor Centre for Studies and Development, a Libyan think tank which focuses on economic development with special focus on women issues, Jumana Salous, who is programme manager of the Business Women Forum Palestine, an organisation which empowers local women founders and SMEs, and from Jordan, Lamia Tarabiah, the founder of Nawaret Haretna, a women-focused community center which supports entrepreneurs.This brief fire-lighter conversation was taped live on stage at SPARK’s 7th Annual IGNITE Conference in Amsterdam (spark.ngo/ignite-conference-2019/). In this conversation, Andile Masuku is joined by Hala Bugaighis, founder of Jusoor Center for Studies and Development in Libya; Jumana Salous, Project Manager at Business Women Forum - Palestine; and from Jordan, Lamia Tarabiah who is the founder of Nawaret Haretna Support Centre for Women.They discuss how supporting female entrepreneurship is economically sensible in the face of all of the negative preconceptions that currently exist; and call for greater participation and support of women entrepreneurs— as well as the removal of barriers that have historically made it more challenging for women to start up businesses in the Arab world.Editorial Disclaimer: This podcast is part of a seven-part podcast miniseries interrogating the progress being made in advancing entrepreneurship and job creation in some of the world’s most fragile regions. The series was taped at the fringes of SPARK’s 7th Annual IGNITE Conference in Amsterdam— a premier gathering of refugees, entrepreneurs, educators, private sector actors, government leaders, academics and NGOs.While SPARK is the presenting sponsor of the series, African Tech Roundup maintains complete editorial oversight. Opinions expressed by the host, Andile Masuku, and his guests, do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the presenting sponsor, SPARK.Image credit: SPARK

Ozow Co-founder & Head of R&D, Mitchan Adams, joins Andile Masuku and guest co-host & Lettuce Co-founder Simon Dingle for this beefy flagship episode to discuss the current state-of-play in South Africa's digital payments processing scene.Mitch reveals why Ozow is actively recruiting and onboarding new hires right now and explains why the startup is seeing a sharp spike in revenue even as the global COVID-19 crisis continues to unfold.Listen in for actionable insight about South Africa's competitive financial services landscape, and learn why both Mitch and Simon hope that the country and some of its neighbours in the region will adopt open banking regulation a la Europe's PSD2 dispensation sooner rather than later.Mitch is a software engineer who, prior to co-founding Ozow (formerly i-Pay) in 2014, worked at a stockbroking firm— developing and maintaining software which interfaced with Johannesburg Stock Exchange's futures, stocks and bond markets. He also worked a stint at Setcom, where his knack for online and card-based payment streams properly took root.To skip all the introductory niceties, head straight to [12:52].Questions discussed in this episode include:1) How is Ozow coping with the mandatory national COVID-19 shutdown ordered by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa? [12:52]2) How might payments processors like Ozow position for long-term success in what is a highly-competitive and hugely-commoditised digital payments landscape? [23:47]3) Can open banking-led fintech innovation offer the kind of platform integrity, financial inclusion and system efficiency decentralised cryptocurrency proponents insist decentralised blockchain-based platforms like Bitcoin are positioned to deliver on? [30:57]4) Is the obsession with building and maintaining walled gardens a prevalent dynamic within the South African financial services industry? [44:30]5) How are mobile telcos shaping fintech innovation in South Africa? [47:28]6) What unique challenges and opportunities are presented by open banking regulatory frameworks? [53:04]7) Is fintech startup success possible in South Africa without subscribing to a VC-backed hyper-scale, hyper-growth strategy?   [1:08:44]8) In what ways do Mitch and Simon anticipate the world will never be the same again once we recover from COVID-19 crisis? [1:21:05]Resources referenced in this episode:Coronavirus Stimulus Offered By House Financial Services Committee Creates New Digital Dollar by Jason Brett for ForbesImage credit: Ruxipen