Tech Aways Podcast

What if sending money across African borders could be as straightforward as making a domestic payment? Stablecoins are increasingly offering an alternative to traditional payment infrastructure, with the potential to reduce intermediaries, settlement times and transaction costs.On this episode of Tech Aways with Ephraim, Nkahiseng Ralepeli, Director of Strategic Operations at BlockTower, discusses the company’s approach to building emerging-market stablecoins, including ZAR Universal (ZARU), its rand-backed digital currency.The conversation explores how BlockTower is combining local-currency stablecoins with dollar-denominated digital assets to address inefficiencies in cross-border payments and foreign exchange. Nkahiseng also explains how ZARU works, the role of its banking and asset management partners, and why distribution through established financial institutions and fintech platforms is critical to adoption.Key topics covered:* BlockTower’s business model and its focus on emerging-market stablecoins.* Why local-currency stablecoins complement dollar-denominated digital currencies.* How ZARU’s minting, redemption and reserve management work.* The roles of Standard Bank, Absa, Sanlam, Moore and Luno.* Why distribution and interoperability matter for stablecoin adoption.* The potential to reduce correspondent banking costs and settlement delays.* Stablecoins versus central bank digital currencies.* BlockTower’s expansion plans across Africa and Asia.* The regulatory challenges facing the stablecoin industry.* Why blockchain infrastructure could eventually become invisible to everyday users. 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

What does it take to build a technology company that survives for 25 years without external investment, while expanding across one of the world’s most complex markets?In this episode of Tech Aways with Ephraim, Metacom founder and CEO Réan van Niekerk reflects on building a South African enterprise technology business from an idea into a company operating across 26 African countries.Van Niekerk shares how Metacom started in 2001 with a vision for connecting devices and enabling them to communicate intelligently. More than two decades later, the company provides enterprise connectivity and communications infrastructure supporting everything from retail payment processing to electricity distribution systems.The conversation explores how Metacom grew without venture capital, why 83% of its income comes from recurring revenue, and how long-term customer relationships have helped sustain its expansion. Van Niekerk also discusses the realities of scaling across African markets, the growing importance of cybersecurity, and how the company is incorporating artificial intelligence without losing its people-first approach.We also unpack the technologies shaping Metacom’s next chapter, including AI-enabled edge computing and low Earth orbit satellite connectivity, as well as the lessons Van Niekerk has learnt from nearly four decades of building businesses.In this episode, we discuss:* How Metacom started in 2001 and the original idea behind its communications technology.* How the company used GPRS connectivity to modernise financial transaction processing for retailers.* Metacom’s work supporting retail networks and electricity distribution infrastructure.* How the business grew across 26 African countries without external investment.* Why recurring revenue, customer retention and after-sales service have been central to its growth.* How enterprise connectivity requirements have changed as businesses move towards cloud-based operations.* The growing cybersecurity risks facing connected businesses and how Metacom approaches security.* Why expanding across Africa requires navigating different regulatory environments, business practices and connectivity providers.* How Metacom is using AI to support customer service teams and explore edge computing applications.* Why low Earth orbit satellite technology could improve connectivity in remote parts of Africa.* Van Niekerk’s advice to founders on turning a good technology product into a sustainable business. 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

What does it take for businesses to move beyond simply experimenting with AI and actually rebuild how they operate around it?In this episode of Tech Aways with Ephraim, Verasiant CEO and co-founder Keagan Stokoe unpacks the company’s journey from building a solution for AI hallucinations to helping enterprises build the infrastructure needed to operate effectively with AI.The conversation explores Verasiant’s $1.2 million pre-seed funding round, why the company believes enterprise AI adoption is still moving too slowly, and how its temporal knowledge graph brings together fragmented enterprise data to create a shared context layer for AI agents.We also discuss the challenges of enterprise AI adoption in South Africa, the role of open-weight models, the global race for AI talent, Verasiant’s plans to expand beyond South Africa, and why Stokoe believes ambitious AI startups should look beyond the local venture capital market when raising capital.In this episode, we discuss:* Verasiant’s pivot from solving AI hallucinations to enterprise AI* Why enterprise AI adoption remains slow in South Africa* Why giving employees AI tools is not the same as AI adoption* What it means to rebuild a business around AI* How Verasiant’s temporal knowledge graph connects enterprise data* The role of AI agents in transforming business workflows* The case for open-weight and model-agnostic AI* Verasiant’s $1.2 million pre-seed funding round and how it plans to deploy the capital* The global race for AI talent and Verasiant’s hiring strategy* Keagan Stokoe’s advice to South African AI founders and businesses adopting AI 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

What does the journey from a startup idea to a fully scaled business really look like—and what kind of capital is needed along the way?In this episode of Tech Aways with Ephraim, E Squared Investments CEO Gladwyn Leeuw unpacks the organisation’s approach to building and supporting South Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.Using E Squared’s recently released Impact Report as a backdrop, the conversation explores the firm’s various investment and support platforms, including Startup Founder Pitch, Pathways, E Squared Ventures, E Squared Co-Investment, E Squared Social Enterprises and its Fund of Funds strategy.We also discuss the importance of patient capital, the challenges entrepreneurs face in securing funding, how impact is measured beyond financial returns, and what it will take to build a stronger, more inclusive startup ecosystem in South Africa.In this episode, we discuss:* E Squared’s approach to supporting entrepreneurs at different stages of their journey* What investors look for in an early-stage founder* How Pathways helps entrepreneurs become investment-ready* The role of E Squared Ventures in helping businesses scale* Why co-investment is important for growing companies* The intersection between business sustainability and social impact* Why E Squared invests in fund managers through its Fund of Funds strategy* The importance of patient capital in South Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem* How E Squared measures its impact* The future of entrepreneurship and venture capital in South Africa 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

In this episode of Tech Aways, Ephraim sits down with Wiza Jalakasi, Commercial Lead for Middle East and Africa at EBANX, for a wide-ranging conversation about Africa’s payments landscape, the complexity of operating across the continent, and where the industry could be heading over the next few years.Wiza’s journey into fintech began as a web developer in Malawi before he moved into mobile technology and payments. After working at Africa’s Talking, Hover and Chipper Cash, he developed deep experience building products and commercial operations across African markets. At EBANX, his focus is on helping global merchants navigate Africa’s fragmented payments landscape and access local payment methods.A central theme of the conversation was that Africa’s payments infrastructure is not necessarily behind more developed markets. In some respects, the continent has leapfrogged them. Kenya’s mobile money ecosystem, Nigeria’s domestic payment infrastructure and South Africa’s increasingly diverse payment rails illustrate how different markets have developed around different systems. The bigger challenge for global merchants is fragmentation, with different currencies, regulations, payment methods and settlement requirements across countries.Wiza explained that EBANX essentially abstracts this complexity for global merchants, connecting them to local payment methods while handling much of the operational infrastructure behind the scenes. He discussed the growing interest from international companies in African consumers, but stressed that businesses entering the continent cannot treat Africa as a single market. A card-only strategy, for example, can significantly limit a merchant’s addressable market in countries where mobile money, bank transfers or other local payment methods dominate.The conversation also examined some of the less visible challenges in African payments, including fraud, foreign exchange and repatriation. Wiza argued that global fraud models can incorrectly flag legitimate African transactions because consumer behaviour differs across markets, making local data increasingly important. FX presents another challenge, as merchants often want to settle in major currencies while collecting payments in markets with volatile local currencies.Looking ahead, Wiza expects account-to-account payments and real-time settlement to become increasingly important across Africa. He also sees artificial intelligence changing fraud prevention and potentially creating new ways for consumers to interact with financial services, including through voice interfaces. He expects further consolidation in African fintech, which he believes could ultimately strengthen the ecosystem.For his own predictions, Wiza identified Ethiopia as Africa’s most underrated market and backed account-to-account payments as the payment method most likely to gain ground by 2030. If he could change one regulation across the continent, he would introduce a single African Union licence for electronic money issuance, allowing providers to operate across multiple African markets under a common framework. Check out Wiza’s blog here. 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

In this episode of Tech Aways, I sat down with Professor Vukosi Marivate, a computer scientist, AI researcher and one of the key figures behind Africa’s growing artificial intelligence research community.The conversation begins with the origins of the Deep Learning Indaba, which Marivate co-founded in 2017 at a time when AI was not yet receiving the attention it does today. He explains why the rise of deep learning and increasingly capable models convinced a group of African researchers that the continent needed to build its own capacity rather than simply wait for technologies developed elsewhere to arrive.Almost a decade later, the Indaba has grown significantly, with more than 1,000 people attending recent editions and thousands applying. Marivate discusses what that growth says about the appetite for advanced AI research on the continent and, more importantly, the emergence of a new generation of African researchers. The challenge now, he says, is creating enough opportunities for that talent to remain connected to and contribute to the continent.The conversation then turns to one of the biggest structural challenges facing African AI: research and development. Marivate argues that Africa’s ability to shape future technologies is constrained by relatively low R&D investment. Using South Africa as an example, he points to the gap between the country’s own R&D ambitions and actual spending, while arguing that the private sector will also need to play a much larger role in funding research.From there, we explore the importance of African languages in AI. Marivate explains why the underrepresentation of African languages in datasets is not simply a problem of AI systems producing poor translations or responses. It affects whether these systems properly understand the people and environments in which they are being used. He estimates that African data accounts for less than 1% of the datasets currently being used, despite Africa being home to roughly 2,000 of the world’s 7,000 languages.The discussion looks at the work of the Masakhane ecosystem and how researchers and communities are working to improve the representation of African languages. Marivate explains the different roles played by the Masakhane Research Foundation and the Masakhane African Language Hub, as well as the importance of enabling smaller language communities to develop their own capacity rather than relying entirely on large technology companies.I also ask about the gap between African AI research and commercialisation. Marivate argues that the problem is not simply a lack of good research. Public and private institutions are often not structured to procure and test locally developed technologies, meaning promising products can remain stuck in pilot programmes instead of reaching customers. He also discusses the enormous cost of compute for deep-tech startups and draws on his experience as CTO of Lelapa AI to explain what it takes to turn AI research into a commercial technology company.The conversation then moves to talent and the challenge of retaining African AI researchers. Marivate argues that the continent should not be focused on producing a handful of exceptional individuals, but on building a much larger ecosystem around them. He discusses the importance of communities such as Deep Learning Indaba in raising the quality of African AI research and introduces the idea of “brain circulation” rather than simply viewing migration as brain drain.We also unpack the increasingly important question of AI sovereignty. For Marivate, sovereignty is ultimately about having the agency and freedom to choose which technologies Africa builds itself and which it adopts from elsewhere. That requires greater transparency around AI models, including understanding the data and design choices behind supposedly “open” systems.The conversation then expands into the geopolitics of AI and the role of African governments. Marivate discusses data sovereignty, privacy, explainability and the challenge of creating a coordinated African regulatory position. He points to the Malabo Convention as an example of the difficulties of achieving continent-wide alignment on digital policy.The episode closes with a look at the next five to ten years of AI in Africa. Marivate says what excites him most is the growing number of young African researchers moving into senior positions and producing increasingly sophisticated work. He argues that the continent now needs to give these people the opportunity to experiment, build and solve problems locally.For Marivate, Africa’s AI future will ultimately depend on a willingness to believe in what can be built on the continent, support local builders and create the conditions for them to take risks.The conversation covers the evolution of African AI research, Deep Learning Indaba, R&D investment, African-language AI, Masakhane, AI startups, compute, talent, brain circulation, AI sovereignty, regulation and the opportunities that AI could create across sectors including healthcare, agriculture and government. 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

In this episode of the Tech Aways Podcast, we sit down with Wayne Steppe, Enterprise Architect at Ecentric Payment Systems, to unpack the evolution of South Africa’s payments ecosystem and explore where the industry is headed next.Ecentric operates behind the scenes of many of the country’s largest retailers, providing the infrastructure that enables millions of card transactions to be processed every day. From card terminals and acquiring banks to payment switches and settlement systems, Wayne offers a rare look into the complex network that powers modern commerce.The conversation begins with a breakdown of how a typical card transaction works and the role Ecentric plays in connecting merchants, banks and payment networks. Wayne explains how payment switches help retailers route transactions between multiple acquiring banks, improving reliability and reducing dependence on a single provider.Reflecting on the last decade, Wayne identifies COVID-19 as a major catalyst for change in the payments landscape. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of contactless payments, tap-to-pay functionality and digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay. At the same time, QR-code-based payment solutions like SnapScan and Zapper gained traction, particularly among small businesses looking for affordable ways to accept digital payments.The discussion also examines the role fintech startups have played in expanding payment acceptance across South Africa. Companies such as Yoco and iKhokha have lowered the barriers for small merchants to accept card payments, helping drive financial inclusion and digital commerce beyond traditional retail environments. According to Wayne, these innovations have made it easier for entrepreneurs, informal traders and small businesses to participate in the digital economy.Looking beyond South Africa, Wayne highlights the diversity of payment ecosystems across Africa. While South Africa has built a sophisticated card-based infrastructure, other markets have followed very different paths. Kenya’s mobile-money-led ecosystem, Ethiopia’s bank-specific terminal model and Nigeria’s tightly regulated payments framework demonstrate that there is no single blueprint for digital payments on the continent. These differences underscore the importance of building payment solutions that reflect local consumer behaviour and regulatory realities.A significant portion of the conversation focuses on regulation and the transformation currently underway in South Africa’s payments industry. Wayne discusses the South African Reserve Bank’s efforts to modernise the country’s payment infrastructure through initiatives such as PayShap and the broader Payments Ecosystem Modernisation programme. These reforms aim to make payments faster, more affordable and more accessible while reducing reliance on international card schemes.The episode also explores the growing conversation around open banking. While South Africa does not yet have formal open banking regulations comparable to those in Europe, Wayne believes the sector is moving in that direction. Increased competition from digital-first banks and new entrants has already begun reshaping the banking landscape and creating opportunities for innovation.When discussing the future of payments, artificial intelligence emerges as a major theme. Ecentric already uses AI to support software development and analyse transaction data for operational insights. Looking ahead, Wayne believes one of the most significant developments will be the rise of agentic payments, where AI assistants will be authorised to complete purchases on behalf of consumers. This could fundamentally change how people interact with commerce, allowing AI agents to research, select and pay for products and services within predefined limits set by users.Cross-border payments are another area of focus. Wayne explains how initiatives such as Transactions Cleared on an Instant Basis (TCIB) are attempting to make payments between African countries faster and cheaper. While the technology already exists, broader adoption remains constrained by regulatory coordination and differing national priorities. Nevertheless, solving cross-border payments will be critical to unlocking the full potential of intra-African trade and the African Continental Free Trade Area.Looking ahead, Wayne sees PayShap as one of the biggest opportunities in South Africa’s payments sector. He is also particularly excited about mobile phone-based acceptance technology, which allows merchants to accept card payments directly on a smartphone without requiring dedicated hardware. Ecentric’s own focus over the coming years will be expanding its presence among mid-sized retailers and strengthening integrations between payment infrastructure and point-of-sale systems through its POSPAY initiative.Whether you’re a fintech founder, retailer, investor or simply curious about how digital payments work, this episode offers valuable insights into the infrastructure, regulation and innovation shaping the future of commerce in South Africa and across the continent. 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

Angel investing is becoming one of the most important building blocks of Africa’s startup ecosystem, but it remains one of the least understood.On this episode of the Tech Aways Podcast, Thaheer Mullins, Founding Director at African Angels Guild, unpacks how angel investors think, how syndicates are changing the way early-stage companies raise capital, and why founders should stop assuming venture capital is the only growth path.Mullins traces the origins of African Angels Guild to his own experience in venture capital. After repeatedly encountering promising startups that fell outside the mandate of traditional VC funds, he began investing personally before joining forces with other investors to create a structured angel syndicate. Rather than simply pooling capital, the group spent months developing its governance, investment philosophy and decision-making processes before making its first investments.Unlike venture capital funds, which often seek businesses capable of delivering outsized returns, the Guild looks for companies that have already proven customers are willing to pay for their product. The focus is less on chasing billion-dollar outcomes and more on backing resilient businesses with realistic growth potential, strong founding teams and meaningful commercial traction.The conversation also explores one of the biggest misconceptions among African founders: that every startup should be built for venture capital. Mullins argues that VC funding is designed for a very specific type of high-growth business and comes with relentless expectations for scale. Many businesses, he says, are better suited to angel capital, which provides founders with greater flexibility before they decide whether venture funding is the right next step.Another recurring theme is the value angel investors bring beyond money. Because syndicate members are often experienced founders, executives or operators, they frequently step into portfolio companies to help solve practical challenges ranging from marketing strategy and hiring to business development and governance. For many startups, this hands-on support can be just as valuable as the investment itself.Looking at the broader ecosystem, Mullins believes Africa has made significant progress, with more than a hundred angel networks now active across the continent. However, he argues that the next stage of growth will depend on greater collaboration between these networks, more investor education, richer market data and stronger secondary markets that allow early investors to realise returns while recycling capital into the next generation of startups.The episode also touches on current investment trends, why business-to-business startups continue to attract the most investor interest, the structural challenges facing consumer-focused businesses in African markets, and how syndicates make it possible for individuals to participate in angel investing without committing large amounts of capital on their own.For founders navigating fundraising and for professionals considering becoming angel investors, the discussion offers a practical look at how early-stage investing is evolving across Africa and why patient, collaborative capital may prove just as important as venture funding in building the continent’s next generation of successful startups. 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

The interview reinforces a point that often gets overlooked in discussions about African venture capital: the problem is not necessarily a lack of investors, but a lack of investors willing to fund startups caught between grant funding and Series A. That is the real story here, and it’s stronger than simply announcing a new fund.South African venture capital firm Aions Ventures believes one of the biggest obstacles facing the country’s startup ecosystem is not a shortage of entrepreneurial talent, but a lack of funding for startups that have already proven their products and are preparing to scale.The firm recently launched the ZAR100 million Aions Seed Fund I to address what investors often describe as the “funding valley” between grant funding and Series A investment. While South Africa has numerous programmes supporting startups at the idea stage, founders who have begun generating revenue often struggle to secure the capital needed to grow into venture-backed businesses.Speaking on the Tech Aways Podcast, Investment Principal and Partner Karabo Makete said the fund is specifically designed for post-revenue, technology-enabled South African startups that have demonstrated market traction and are preparing for rapid growth.“We’re looking for high-potential startups that have a pathway towards globalisation and that solve real South African and African problems,” she said.The fund will invest between ZAR5 million and ZAR7 million per company, targeting businesses operating across the technology spectrum, including fintech, climate technology, energy and other digital solutions. Rather than backing companies still at the concept stage, Aions is focusing on startups that are already generating revenue but need capital to reach Series A readiness.According to Makete, too many promising businesses fall into a gap where they have outgrown grant funding but remain too early for institutional venture capital.“There are many promising businesses that are starting to gain traction and working towards sustainability, but they need funding to scale and become attractive to Series A investors,” she said.She described the challenge as a “chicken and egg” problem. Investors want startups to demonstrate strong growth before committing capital, yet startups often require funding to achieve that growth in the first place.Unlike many venture capital firms that primarily provide financing, Aions intends to work closely with portfolio companies after investment. Makete said capital alone is rarely enough for young businesses.“We don’t just write a cheque and let you run off on your own,” she said. “We offer strategic support, shared services and opportunities into supply chain networks to give startups a more holistic approach.”The firm also plans to strengthen governance within portfolio companies, introduce clearer decision-making structures and help founders prepare for future institutional investment. The objective is to exit investments after around five years, ideally through follow-on Series A investors or acquisitions.Makete said one of the biggest mistakes founders make is becoming too attached to their original product or business model.“Bright ideas come about very often,” she said. “What matters is whether the team can execute, whether they’re coachable and whether they can pivot when the market tells them something different.”She also cautioned founders against presenting unrealistic financial projections or failing to understand their target customers’ buying cycles. Instead, she encouraged entrepreneurs to engage potential customers early and build forecasts based on genuine market validation rather than optimistic assumptions.While the fund is sector agnostic, Makete identified energy as the area she finds most exciting, arguing that South Africa’s ongoing energy transition presents significant opportunities for entrepreneurs. She also expects artificial intelligence to become an enabling technology across industries rather than a standalone investment category.“I don’t see AI as a sector on its own,” she said. “Within energy, manufacturing and water there will be layers of AI interpreting data and creating intelligence, but there still needs to be actual value beneath the AI.”The ZAR100 million fund was capitalised through ZAR60 million from the High Impact Seed Fund of Funds, managed by the SA SME Fund, with an additional ZAR40 million committed directly by the Technology Innovation Agency.Makete hopes the fund will encourage greater participation from institutional investors and contribute to building a stronger pipeline of investment-ready startups.She also believes South Africa’s startup ecosystem is becoming increasingly collaborative, with investors, incubators and ecosystem partners working together to improve founder support rather than operating independently.“I see it growing into an actual ecosystem in the next few years,” she said. “We’re very open to collaborating with different funders and incubators to ensure there’s a cohesive approach to supporting startups in South Africa.” 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

When most companies think about market research, they think of email surveys, focus groups, and online questionnaires. For Tim Treagus, co-founder and CEO of Yazi, the answer was hiding in plain sight: WhatsApp.On this episode of the Tech Aways Podcast, Treagus shared how Yazi has built a research platform that allows businesses to conduct surveys, AI-moderated interviews, and longitudinal studies entirely through WhatsApp. The idea emerged while he was working on innovation projects aimed at South Africa’s informal sector and realised traditional research tools struggled to reach large segments of the population. WhatsApp, however, was already in almost everyone’s pocket.Founded in 2022, Yazi has since grown into a global research platform with a panel of 1.8 million profiled participants across multiple markets. The company enables brands to gather customer insights through a familiar messaging interface, improving accessibility and response rates while supporting richer forms of feedback such as voice notes, images, and videos.Treagus’s entrepreneurial journey began much earlier during his time at the University of Cape Town, where he co-founded an e-commerce startup selling waterproof beach pillows. While the venture itself wasn’t destined to become a long-term pursuit, it taught him valuable lessons about building businesses, solving operational challenges, and developing the confidence to create something from scratch.Today, Yazi operates both as a software platform and as a research partner. Some clients use the platform independently, while others rely on Yazi’s team to design studies, recruit participants, analyse findings, and generate reports. Its customer roster includes major brands such as Capitec, Discovery, Old Mutual, Pick n Pay, Uber, and leading research agencies. Notably, more than half of the company’s revenue now comes from outside South Africa.One of the company’s biggest differentiators is its use of artificial intelligence. Yazi’s AI-moderated interview capability can conduct thousands of conversations simultaneously, dynamically asking follow-up questions based on participant responses. The company has also introduced AI-powered analysis tools, including automated classification of responses and the ability to generate highlight reels from participant voice notes.Treagus believes WhatsApp will become a standard research channel for companies operating in emerging markets. That conviction helped underpin Yazi’s recent funding round, alongside strong growth metrics and growing enterprise adoption. The company has tripled in size over the past year and is targeting another year of similar growth as it expands further into international markets, particularly the United Kingdom.The conversation also explored startup fundraising, enterprise sales, AI-assisted product development, and the realities of building a venture-backed company from Africa. Treagus emphasised the importance of developing a compelling narrative, demonstrating traction, and positioning startups as solutions to urgent business challenges rather than simply offering incremental improvements.Looking ahead, Yazi plans to deepen its AI capabilities, including voice-based interviews conducted directly through WhatsApp calls. The broader ambition is to become synonymous with WhatsApp-based research globally, creating a category-defining business that reshapes how companies understand and engage with their customers. 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