Does South Africa Really Want To Regulate Netflix?

There are media reports doing the rounds regarding South Africa’s Film and Publication Board (FPB) Chief Operating Officer Sipho Risiba supposedly giving Netflix a two-week ultimatum to comply with its regulatory requirements (whatever those are), or risk facing tough sanctions.

Word is, Risiba recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Kenya Film Commission in a show of support for Kenya’s mission to regulate Netflix’s activities within that country. Despite details around this matter being sketchy, critics have already started accusing the FPB of functioning outside of its mandate, and senselessly seeking to regulate the internet.

In my conversation with Justin Spratt over a year ago, he alluded to the fact that the proliferation of internet usage in Africa would change the face of traditional broadcasting and media distribution— leaving various stakeholders within those industries scrambling to cope. He certainly called it!

In this week’s discussion on the African Tech Round-up, our content editor, Peter Peele, joins me to mull over the implications of attempts, or indeed alleged attempts, by government agencies like the FPB to regulate OTT video-on-demand services like Netflix.

First published in African Tech Round-up.

Will These FinTech Startups Disrupt Incumbents?

Last week, the Standard Bank Incubator in Johannesburg played host to Nest.vc’s forum on finance and technology. The gathering formed part Nest’s monthly entrepreneurship speaker series and showcase dubbed #WhatsNext.

It is the very first #WhatsNext event that Nest has hosted in Southern Africa— doing so in partnership with Standard Bank South Africa, and with support provided by iAfrikan and the African Tech Round Up.

In this week’s discussion, Zimbabwean tech entrepreneur and Business Analyst Team Leader at Digital Planet, Nzwisisa Chidembo joins me to unpack some of the weightier insights shared by the panelists who spoke at #WhatsNext #FinTech— namely, Dare Okoudjou of MFS Africa, Gerry Mitchley of Visa, Sechaba Ngwenya of Creditable and Lungisa Matshoba of Yoco.

Africa is seeing the unprecedented adoption of cutting edge financial technologies that some are hoping will accelerate financial inclusion on the continent. Incumbents within the financial services sector are being forced to rethink their business models in order to remain relevant and profitable in a rapidly-changing landscape. Meanwhile, innovative fintech disruptors are keenly carving out niches for themselves, and would only be too happy to render large institutions relics of the past.

Only one thing is certain for Africa’s financial industry— the future will happen. The question is, will legacy players gear up for continued domination, or will disruptive upstarts end up hosting the party?

Vodacom Accused Of Stealing An Idea, Again!

Vodacom is reportedly fielding a lawsuit filed by a South African company called Ndabenhle Business Enterprises CC. Word is, Ndabenhle is alleging that Vodacom stole the “Airtime Advance” idea from them and ran with it, leaving them in the cold. Vodacom’s Airtime Advance innovation allows prepaid subscribers who run out of airtime to get R5 or R10 in prepaid minutes on credit and only pay it back when they recharge, with a little interest of course.

In this episode of the African Tech Round-up, Tefo Mohapi and I debate what constitutes a protectable idea and whether the plaintiff in this particular matter may have approached their interaction with Vodacom with naiveté. It’s worth remembering that former Vodacom employee Kenneth Nkosana Makate’s court case against Vodacom, in which he alleges that Vodacom stole his ‘Please Call Me’ idea, is still pending.

The one thing these two cases have in common aside from alleging that the folks at Vodacom are a bunch thieving rascals, is the busload of cash the plaintiffs stand to rake in if they win their respective legal bids. It’s the type of money that no doubt makes the incredibly difficult legal confrontation with a well-heeled corporate giant seem worth the slog.

Originally published in AfricanTechRoundup.com

Apple, Sony And Samsung Face Child Labour Allegations In The DRC

I had to face a tough truth this week. The fact is that I am complicit in the perpetuation of horrible crimes against humanity. And if you’re reading this right now, it’s likely that you are too.

If you’re an enthusiastic user of the useful tech products made by the likes of Apple, Sony and Samsung (as I am), then you’re contributing to the on-going exploitation of children as young as seven years of age in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In this week’s episode of the African Tech Round-up, Tefo Mohapi and I discuss the disturbing implications of an exposé recently put out by Amnesty International and African Resources Watch (Afrewatch), which names and shames leading technology manufacturers who use cobalt sourced in the DRC in lithium-ion batteries found in their products. (Fast fact: The DRC produces at least 50% of the world’s cobalt.)

There’s no doubt that there’s an argument for how companies and governments need to be held to account, but we as consumers need to realise that ultimately, it is we who wield the greatest economic leverage to influence commercial and political interests to act ethically.

The pertinent question is therefore less, “What will they do about it?” but more, “What am I going to do about it?”

Netflix & Buffering (featuring Emeka Okoye and Aaron Fu)

The team at the  African Tech Round-up is just loving this trend of brilliant Africans crashing our podcast recordings. The last time that happened we had a total blast with Rebecca Enonchong, Mark Kaigwa and Thebe Ikalafeng. In case you missed it, check out that episode here.

This week, Nigerian software engineering heavyweight, Emeka Okoye, literally walked into the room as Tefo Mohapi and I were chatting about about how Africa seemed to be responding to Netflix’s surprise roll-out of its service to pretty much every corner of the planet. Be sure to listen in to hear him share his thoughts on the impact (or lack thereof) that Neflix’s entry into the Nigerian video-on-demand market is likely to have.

Then, in place of our regular discussion segment this week, we’ll be sharing an interesting chat I had with Aaron Fu, Managing Partner (Africa) at NEST— recorded when we hung out with him during his first proper visit to Johannesburg recently. We talked about everything from what he’s personally looking forward to in 2016 to what strikes his fancy in his professional capacity as the head of a leading VC firm on the continent.

Dominique Collett-Antolik and Brandon Doyle Talk 2015 African Fintech & Telecoms Trends

Over the next four weeks the we are taking a much-needed break.

Cue peaceful ocean sounds

But while we’re away, in place of our regular programming, we’ll be sharing exclusive content from the Annual Round-up 2015 event we hosted at the Wanderers Club, Johannesburg on November 26th 2015. The Event was powered by the good people at Opera Africa, who are totally all about helping us “do more” (on the web).

This week, we kick things off by sharing a stimulating panel discussion around tech in enterprise facilitated by Tefo Mohapi— featuring Senior Investment Executive, RMI Holdings and former co-founder of the hugely successful fintech startup Tyme, Dominique Collett-Antolik and CEO & Founding Partner, Convergence Partners, Brandon Doyle.

Another great reason to listen in is to find out if you’re one of the two lucky people who’ve won a Google Cardboard virtual reality viewer in last week’s competition, sponsored by Google.

Being Unemployable With Alan Knott-Craig Jr

Our final guest on Season Two of African Tech Conversations is the “unemployable”, disruptive force that is Alan Knott-Craig Jr.

It’s natural to assume that Alan Knott-Craig Sr (his father) paved the way for his son and namesake, Alan Jr to become one of the most well-recognised personalities on South Africa’s tech scene.

And while it’s impossible to disregard the advantages of having such an experienced and well-connected man for a father, Alan Jr has long proved his mettle as a startup founder and gone on to carve out his own success.

Prior to founding Free WiFi non-profit, Project Isizwe, Alan Jr founded World of Avatar and served as CEO of Mxit. Prior to that, he was Managing Director of iBurst, as well as Chairman of Cellfind.

At Project Isizwe— where he’s currently CEO, he’s poised to hand over the reins to Zahir Khan, so he can focus his energies on steering his latest venture— WiFi network startup, HeroTel.

There’s no doubt that when it comes to speaking his mind with little or no filter, Alan Knott-Craig Jr proves that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Happily, that attribute makes him a very interesting subject indeed.

Enjoy the conversation!

Going Wireless With Michael Fletcher

There’s no doubt about it. WiFi is the new black.

California-based, NYSE-listed wireless systems company Ruckus Wireless is betting that the rate of WiFi infrastructure development Africa will continue to rise. And you can be sure that they’re doing what they can to help service the millions of Africans coming online year on year— profitably, of course.

In the latest instalment of African Tech Conversations, I chat with the adrenaline-junkie that is Michael Fletcher— who has overseen Ruckus Wireless’ operations and new business development on the continent since 2010.

In a career spanning 23 years, Michael has helped establish new businesses, penetrate new markets, and managed sales teams for companies like Motorola, Workz, Belkin and of course Ruckus.

These days, Michael and his team at Ruckus are leveraging the company’s smart wireless solutions and nimble approach to edge in on massive incumbents like Oracle. They’re aiming to increase the company’s partner footprint across Africa and position to exploit new business opportunities.

Doing Social Business With Gys Kappers

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.

Listen in for the whole story.

Hanging With Mark Kaigwa, Thebe Ikalafeng & Rebecca Enonchong

This week’s instalment of the African Tech Round-Up was recorded at the African Media Leaders Forum, which wrapped in Johannesburg on the weekend. And what a treat it is!

“It’s a blessing to be born in Africa, and to be an African.” –Sugun Agbaje 

The show is an all-Africa affair — what with Mark Kaigwa stopping by. Mark is easily one of Kenya’s leading proponents of social media, as well as a respected innovator within digital tech in general. He is also the Founder and CEO of the Nairobi-based digital agency, Nendo Ventures— well-known for the Nendo Social Media Trend Report. You can look forward to hearing his insider’s take on several of the week’s biggest stories.

*TV informercial voice* But that’s not all… Cameroonian tech entrepreneur, Rebecca Enonchong, and South African business, branding and marketing legend, Thebe Ikalafeng, both make unexpected guest features on this week’s episode.

Rebecca shares some strong views on whether she thinks the MTN will actually pay the $5.2 billion fine levied by the Nigerian Communications Commission, and Thebe drops some wisdom around what Africa’s “new breed” of techies need to do to attain global relevance.

Check it out!