#cititrends

Four personalities involved in the Arts and Craft space in Ghana meet in one studio to talk about their sector and how it connects with tech. Tonyi Senayah (Horseman Shoes), Nana Asaase (Asaase Inscriptions), Mabel Simpson (Mspimps) and Alma Tawia (Prestige Kente) share great insight on this week's episode.  

We always hear about technology hubs springing up in all parts of the country offering one service or the other. However, what really are they? We needed to have a decent conversation about the state of the tech hubs 'model' of training and growing technology talent in Ghana, misconceptions about tech hubs and what the way forward with them. Well, that's what we did. Josiah Eyison (Co-founder of Ispace), Brian Dzidefo (Co-founder of Ho Node) and Gideon Brefo (Co-founder of Hapaspace) were my guests. 

In sub-Saharan Africa, Artificial Intelligence remains an emerging technological innovation. The technology has, however, been a significant factor in creating more social inequalities and widening the inclusion gaps. Kofi Yeboah, A graduate student at the University of Alberta conducted some research looking into the phenomenon and shared some insight on this on the show. Our sponsor, Zeepay, also shared some progress they had made with us on the show. 

The first edition of For Or Against, a new feature on the show where we debate One Topic from the tech industry was the highlight of the episode this week. The debate topic was intriguing enough. The debaters were fantastic; Nehemiah Attigah (CEO of Hatua Tech) and Mary Abiogun (Product lead at Colibri Africa). We also kicked off a new series with the 8Geeks at Law where we find the intersections between the law and tech. Enjoy the podcast. 

A topic that is often left undiscussed but critical for business growth, no matter the sector; failure. My guests for this week helped to get some closure on the matter; Amma Gyampo (@amdecoafrica) Paul Ziem (@paulziem), Nana Prempeh Agyeman (@kingnanaprempeh) and Lorraine Wright (@lorrainehwright).

The payment systems and services act, 2019 was put in place to amend and consolidate the laws relating to payment systems, payment services and to regulate institutions which carry on payment service and electronic money business and to provide for related matters. However, what exactly does all that mean? Who does it cover? Who does it control? What restrictions remain?  Kofi Owusu-Nhyira, a private legal practitioner joins me to share some insight on the show. 

The US senate met the CEOs of Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Google to quiz them about  online platforms and market power, their dominance, competition problems in the digital economy and the roles of the companies in stifling competition in the tech space. There were invaluable lessons to be learnt from the sessions and this week's episode sought to unearth some of these. My guests for the discussion were Maximus Ametorgoh (CEO of Popout), Paul Damalie (CEO of Appruve) and Andrew Takyi-Appiah (MD of Zeepay).  Enjoy the conversation. 

There comes a time when as an industry observer you need to take a step back and do some reality checking of what is actually going on. Two of the hottest segments of the technology space in Ghana today are church management applications and video gaming. My guests for the discussion were: - Co-founder and Head of Payments at Asoriba, Nana Prempeh (@kingnanaprempeh) who is a serial technology entrepreneur who has led great teams to build Asoriba, MyChurchPay.com, MyBusinessPay.com and growforme.com. - Dynasto Afedo (@TheDynasto), a self taught App Developer with expertise in business and development solutions, as well as games and social apps. He is the brain behind the sensational RWC Racing Vol 1. 

Education continues to change globally but Africa is in a unique position. How does Africa position itself for the future it wants for its educational systems. Anne Salim, education technology specialist, shares some insight on the matter. Miracule Gavor who is an Education Adviser at Transforming Teacher Education and Learning, also shares his perspective on the matter from a Ghana point of view. 

With guests from across the continent and another from across the Atlantic, this week's show focused on understanding what the future of the gaming industry in Africa looked like. What will it take to make it all a reality?  My guests for the how were: Sithe Ncube - Director at Prosearium.net, (@_LadySith), Douglas Ogeto - Co-Founder & CEO of LudiqueWorks (@douglasogeto), Johana Riquier - Strategic Partnerships and Business Development for Unity, and D&I Advocate (@jo_riquier), Cholwe Elen Shabukali - Co- Founder & Managing Director at Team Gematrix Limited (@cholweshabukal) and Eyram Taiwah - CEO of Leti Arts. 

Education has changed significantly in the period of the COVID pandemic and the rise of digital education has been incredible. My guests on the show this week explore just how much of all the buzz translates into quality education. Märt Aro, Ecosystem Orchestrator at Dream Apply; Anne Salim, Product Associate at Longhorn Publishers and Lauri Jarvilehto, Professor of Practice at Aalto University; provide some incredible insight. 

Every quarter the ladies take over the show to review the top technology trends from the past quarter. This quarter we had Nana Efua Benyaw (@NanaEBP) who is the project manager at Dnar Limited,  Audrey Mengue (@AudreyHMMengue who is a data scientist in training at Azubi Africa and Charis Kumordzie (@coomogee) who is a JavaScript tutor at Codewit. Insightful!

Education, Entrepreneurship, Entertainment. Three pillars used by the Nordic countries to chart a path to growth and development. Can Africa learn from the best practice and chart a new future for itself? My guests on the show think so. - Eyram Tawia : CEO of Leti Arts - Paul Ziem: Indie Game Developer and Entrepreneur - Forster Akugri: Incubator Manager, SBIncubator - Peter Vesterbacka: 'Mighty Bird' and Entrepreneur Enjoy the conversation. 

My guest. on the show this week - Eric Osiakwan, Managing Partner of Chanzo Capital, Entrepreneur and Investor with 15 years of ICT industry leadership across Africa and the world - joined the show to share insight into what an African economy needs to be doing to digitise in these times of a pandemic. What critical blocks need to be laid to ensure a viable digital economy is sustained and grown.  Enjoy the show. 

Its always an amazing experience to share thoughts with some of the best in the tech space in Ghana and this week's show was no exception. Four guests joined the show to share thoughts on the impact of the pandemic on Ghanaian techprenuers and what lessons they can pick from it, Jemila Abdulai (Founder of Circumspecte.com) Ashwin Ravichandran (Managing Director, MEST AFRICA) Curtis Vanderpuije (CEO, eexpressPAY) Ehi Binitie (CEO of Clearspace Labs) Enjoy a great listen. 

What a time to be alive! The global pandemic that is COVID-19 has birthed so many conspiracy theories about its origins. One of the most popular has to be the impact of 5G on the virus. David Gowu, a telecommunications consultant, joins me to shed light on the theories and give some education on why 5G is so crucial for global commerce and social mobility.  Ghana has launched a COVID-19 Tracker App, but it seems not all that glitters is gold on that front. Software engineers and cybersecurity experts have raised a number of questions about the app, its functionality and some of the permissions it requires. Hadi Mukaila, a software consultant with over  9 years development experience with web/mobile development, and integrated security system shared thoughts on the app and its usage on the show. Ash Dastmalchi, Head of cybersecurity at Quantum Security Solution also shared his thoughts on the security implications of the app on the show as well. Packed and Ready for you to enjoy. 

What a time to be alive! One virus changing lives, perceptions and lifestyles all over the world. Education has been hit as well in a place like Ghana and a lot of schools and parents are exploring online options. My guest, Magaret Dawson-Amoah speaks about the impact of COVID-19 on education and shares some platforms to help you on the 'virtual' educational ladder.  Enjoy.

The outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020. Over 400k cases recorded as at the time of the recording of the show. COVID 19 is sweeping across the world like wildfire. Regardless of the pandemic, health care professionals continue to fight. Technology entrepreneurs have also joined in. Patrick Beattie, CEO of Redbird, Andrew Quao - COO of Redbird and Edward Longstaff - CTO of Redbird joined me to share their platform with the world. www.covid19.redbird.co is the site. Visit the platform and let's stop the virus.  Enjoy the show.

On the show this week we hear from Miishe Addy and Solomon Torgbor of Jetstream as they talk about the impact of Covid-19 on trade, trade in the West African subregion, API’s and collaborations between tech players in the ecosystem to enable payments, commerce and movement of logistics. Enjoy a great conversation. 

Inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes and our guest this week epitomizes that. Mike Perry Yeboah Attara was a basic school teacher who decided to follow his dream as a software developer. He shared lessons and thoughts about the tech ecosystem in Ghana and what must change.