Cassava Tech Talks, Ep. 1: Building African Intelligence

The pilot episode of the Cassava Tech Talks podcast covers the transformative power of technology to reduce the digital divide by leveraging true African Intelligence. Guests are Hardy Pemhiwa, Group CEO of Cassava Technologies, and Hendrik Malan, CEO of Frost & Sullivan Sub-Saharan Africa. #sponsored

Paula Gilbert, Editor

September 21, 2023

37 Min Listen

This is the pilot episode of Cassava Tech Talks, a sponsored podcast series powered by Connecting Africa.

In this episode, we discuss the transformative potential of technology in Africa including the rising potential of "African Intelligence" and how homegrown innovations can help improve access to the Internet, reduce the digital divide and help Africa's digitalization journey.

Connecting Africa Editor Paula Gilbert is joined by Cassava Technologies President and Group CEO, Hardy Pemhiwa, and Frost & Sullivan Sub-Saharan Africa Managing Partner and CEO, Hendrik Malan.

Here are a few topics we covered:

  • Defining the notion of "African Intelligence" and how the continent can better embrace the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) (01:30)

  • How African countries are pushing tech adoption, and how well it's working (04:40)

  • The challenges facing digitalization and progress made when it comes to policy modernization and innovation (11:40)

  • Investment opportunities and how more capital investment can drive connectivity adoption (15:50)

  • Driving education and digital skills development (21:47)

  • Examples of homegrown solutions impacting sectors like healthcare, financial services, agriculture and energy (27:16)

The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts. Find other podcast platform options on our main page on Spotify for Podcasters.

This podcast is sponsored by Cassava Technologies.

Related posts:

About the Author

Paula Gilbert

Paula Gilbert

Editor, Connecting Africa

Paula has been the Editor of Connecting Africa since June 2019 and has been reporting on key developments in Africa's telecoms and ICT sectors for most of her journalistic career.

The award-winning South Africa-based journalist previously worked as a producer and reporter for business television channels Bloomberg TV Africa and CNBC Africa, was the telecoms editor at online publication ITWeb, and started her career in radio news. She has an Honors degree in Journalism from Rhodes University.

Paula was recognized by Empower Africa as one of 35 trailblazers who shaped Africa's tech landscape in 2023 and won the Excellence in ICT Journalism category at the MTN Women in ICT Awards in 2017.

Travel is always on Paula's mind, she has visited 40 countries so far and is currently researching her next adventure.

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