Ghana’s Police Threaten Social Media Blackout (feat. Stephen van Coller)

So, turns out Ghana’s top cop— Inspector General of Police John Kudalor thinks that blocking social media access across the country might be necessary to ensure Ghana’s national security on election day in November 2016.

Mr Kudalor reckons that Ghana might do well to learn from the example set by other countries on the continent and around the world that have take similar steps in the recent past— Uganda no doubt being top of mind.

I sense that the Inspector General’s comments might have been made to test public sentiment on the issue ahead of the polls. However, if the chill I’m picking up on Twitter is anything to go by, Ghanaians don’t seem to be terribly concerned at the prospect of having to survive 24 hours or so without access to Facebook and Twitter come November 7th. Ah, well…

Meanwhile, in place of our discussion segment on the African Tech Round-up this week, we feature part of a recent in-depth conversation I had with Stephen van Coller, who is the Chief Executive for Corporate and Investment Banking at Barclays Africa.

Listen in to hear Stephen tell me how Barclays Plc’s imminent plans to shed its investments in Africa will impact the business he runs, and why he is confident that fintech startups on the continent will never completely disrupt incumbents within the financial services industry.

Bonus: Look out for a comment made by Nigeria’s leading podcaster, Andre Blaze Henshaw, on why he reckons that podcasting as a medium is likely to be a big deal in the media scene of the future.

First published in AfricanTechRoundup.com

Does Africa Need More Cheap Smartphones?

For many recently married couples, the diamond engagement ring is one of their biggest assets— albeit an emotional asset, symbolising love and lifelong commitment. In financial terms it isn’t an asset at all, considering the fact that it loses at least 50% of it’s retail value the moment you leave the jewellery store. Rough, isn’t it?

And yet still we feel compelled to buy diamonds for our loved ones, and continue to fuel a global billion-dollar industry. One has to admire the ingenious marketing strategy drafted and executed by the N.W. Ayer ad agency in the early 1900s for their client, De Beers, which resulted in the world attaching value to a commodity that’s not nearly as rare (or as necessary) as we were led to believe.

In this week’s African Tech Round-up, Tefo Mohapi and I discuss the the implications of low-cost smartphone penetration on the continent. The increase in internet use via mobile devices has undoubtedly delivered certain advantages. But when you consider how issues like the prevalence of preventable diseases, hunger and limited access to basic education continue to be a daily reality faced by many Africans, the importance of whether or not you have a smartphone might be in question.

So, just how important and necessary is this so-called “mass exodus” from feature phones to smartphones, and could the Android-brigade (led by Google and its mobile device manufacturing homies) be stimulating the demand for the smartphone the way De Beers did for diamonds near the turn of the century?

Also in this week’s episode, all the biggest digital, tech and innovation news from across Africa:

• Vodacom South Africa rolls out voice-over-WiFi calling,
• The Nigerian Communications Commission poised to deactivate 10.7 million mobile lines over various networks,
• Kenyan banks are finally getting in on the mobile money craze in a big way,
• Uber Kenya sees their user numbers triple following the introduction of Uber Cash,
• The embattled Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa is reeling following a train crash,
• Thousands of South Africans reportedly implicated in the Ashley Madison data dump, and
• Google rolls out its Android One programme is Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Egypt, and Morocco.

What Are You Going To Do When They Come For You?

Think back to high school. Remember how the new dude always got all the girls whispering, or how the new girl got all the boys trying to walk her home? Now, if the newbie rolled into town with discernible signs of affluence (i.e. dope clothes, or an expensive scent), the singles market would get particularly frenzied. And when the newbie possessed a hint of exoticism (i.e. a foreign accent, or an unusual taste in music), even the kids involved in some of the most stable couplings might start feeling the pressure to reevaluate their options.

In this week’s African Tech Roundup, Tefo Mohapi and I discuss the pressure African tech startups are feeling in the face of local markets being invaded by experienced and well-resourced foreign-based interests. Local incumbents in many sectors of tech now find themselves fielding competition from abroad. In everything from venture capital investment to mobile money solutions, media streaming platforms and e-commerce solutions, the race to dominate is well and truly on.

In the light of all this, I pose a simple question, “What are you going to do when they come for you?”

This week’s episode will feature some insights from Nubi Kayode that may help us all find confident answers to that question. Nubi is a Nigerian Business Analyst at Accenture Ireland, and Managing Partner at DevShackAlpha.co.  He co-founded EasyAppetite.com— Nigeria’s first online takeaway site in 2012, and managed to survive railroading attempts by foreign-backed competition, and set himself up to make a successful exit in 2014 when his company was acquired by CityChops.

Be sure to catch all the week’s most important digital, tech and  innovation news from across the African continent:

• Find out about a Zimbabwean high school dropout who’s built an electric powered vehicle and a hybrid helicopter,
• Discover which two foreign money transfer firms have teamed up and become the latest to launch into Africa,
• Learn more about Kenya’s admirable obsession with building their own laptops,
• Hear what you can do to extend the runway for struggling Cameroonian startup, KwiiziBox, and
• Get the low-low on a South African-based video-on-demand platform that is calling it a day.

Open Source vs. Proprietary Software: What is Best For Africa?

As long as “Microsoft” remains synonymous with “Proprietary Software” the jury will be out on whether proprietary software is superior to open source software (OSS). For many ardent proponents of OSS, this debate is mostly about rooting for the ‘little guy’, but in this week’s discussion, your hosts Tefo Mohapi and I, will start a conversation about the pros and cons of both regimes, and highlight some issues that they think should headline this debate.

Then we’ll leave it up to you to decide which of the two might be best for Africa to embrace, considering how important it is for the continent to create innovative solutions to its own problems, and develop marketable technologies that compete favourably against the very best in the world.

Also, for the first time since the launch of this podcast, we’re excited to feature comments we’ve received from our listeners following the passionate conversations sparked by our previous podcast around the the question, “Are Tech and Innovation Hubs in Africa Effective?”

And as always, you can expect all the week’s leading tech, digital and innovation news:

— Discover what Nokia has in its stable that’s causing a feeding frenzy among the likes of Audi, Mercedes Benz, Uber and Facebook,

— Take a peek under the hood of one of Africa’s biggest tech deals this year: Telkom’s acquisition of Business Connection,

— Observe the dynamics of Ghana’s decrease in mobile data use,

— Get details on the “hacktivism” attack on South African firm Sekunjalo Investment Holdings’ news archives, and

— Learn how a pharmacy in Harare, Zimbabwe is cleverly harnessing Whatsapp to facilitate online payments.