#CitiTrends: Recent Episodes
Philip Ashon
Ghana's leading technology-focused radio show providing insight on technology literacy. Nominated for the World Summit Award 2015 as the best and most innovative solution in Media & News from Ghana.
Health is the centre around which a lot of life evolves. Health tech, on the hand, does not seem to enjoy the same level of acknowledgement in Ghana. What is the state of the health tech space in Ghana? What is working and what is not? Where is the potential? George Kesse is my guest this week and he shares his experiences with us.
Two amazing conversation for the price of one!
What could be better than that.
Press play to listen to Makafui Kwami, Founder of Mak Apps speak about his new app that is putting live music production on its head. It's called, LIVE CHOPZ.
Then turn up the volume to listen to CEO and Co-Founder of Ghana's first indigenous company and startup to be granted a manufacturing license for the manufacturing of electric vehicles in Ghana, SolarTaxi, Jorge Appiah.
Packed show, but worth every minute spent listening.
What an enthralling episode this week's show is! Speaking with Paul Ninson about Tech, visual education and business. Three ingredients for creatives ANYHWERE.
Paul shares his story, his journey and his vision for creatives on the continent; and in Ghana.
Enjoy the show.
FACTS are always sacred. Data helps to deduce facts.
Two items missing for a long time in the analysis of the tech ecosystem in Ghana.
Innovation Spark is helping to bridge that with the Ghana Innovation Ecosystem Report.
Massive body of work. Enjoy as we break it down.
AI is the new buzz word.
But why should it be such a big deal?
Tim is the CEO of COPIANTO AI and he shares insight on what the technology means for Ghanaians and Africans as a whole.
To pivot or not to pivot... That is the question.
It's actually much deeper than that and my guests on the show who joined my via zoom will give you better clarity on that.
Enjoy the show.
Valentine's Day edition of the show and we just couldn't help but dive into the global digital report put together by We Are Social and Meltwater. Lots of insights from Alice Mensah who is the Marketing Manager at Fido.
Enjoy
Tough conversations always require the folks with the knowledge who can break it down to the barest minimum. That is what Dr Kavaarpuo did on the show this week when he broke down what it takes to navigate an economic situation like what we have in Ghana. He is candid as he is knowledgeable. Enjoy the episode.
Content creation is big business today. It is changing lives and spawning new revenue streams folks didn't even know existed. It is a very open field now but question always remains, how do you cit through the noise? My guests, Two Video Content Creators who have really pushed the bounds of content creation in the past year share their hacks and frank opinions about what works and what does not based on their experiences.
Emmanuel Obuobi Fianko (delppy1_) and Desmond Appiah (@dessy_ocean) join me on the show this week.
It feels good to return for another year of Citi Trends and this year i decided to kick things off with one of the most hard working in the tech space in Ghana today. He is the founder of TechNovaGH and a well of wisdom. Hope his lessons and thoughts inspire you and keep you pushing in the new year.
Platform Economies have often been touted to be the saviours of the new world of work. Offering flexibility, ease of payment and so much more.
The reality however, is a bit different from that.
Researcher. Dr Budu and digital driver, Elizabeth, join me to discuss these issues and more.
Sat with two of Ghana's pioneers of the podcasting space, Donald Aryee and Cyril Afeku, cofounders of @thegoldcoastreport to talk openly about podcasting in Ghana.
We touched on financing, gear, revenue, platforms and more.
Three guests from diverse backgrounds joined me to discuss value chains and how paying attention to them could propel your business to the next level.
According to my guests, a lot of technology entrepreneurs do not pay attention to value chains as integral parts of their business. They see it as a function of procurement.
Take a listen and let me know what you think.
E-sports is a multi-million dollar industry globally. Over 300 million stream content around E-sports. But, why is it such a big deal? Why should Ghanaians pay attention to it.
I sat with the leadership of the E-Sports Association of Ghana to talk through this.
Enjoy.
Automation of processes is so commonplace in our daily life that often, we tend to ignore it.
In workplaces, a lot of people sometimes do not even know which part of their processes are automated.
But is that all there is to it?
Just a swanky-new-digital-age-must-have?
Check out this week's show for more.
Online platforms play an increasingly important role in today’s digital economy. One example of the growing relevance of the platform economy are online labour markets. These two-sided platform marketplaces allow buyers and sellers of online mediated work to connect around the globe and transact tasks in various occupations, such as graphic design, translation work, or software development.
Platform labour markets deliver value to customers and provide economic opportunities for suppliers. These digital markets also generate substantial economic benefits for the platforms themselves and they introduce novel and often precarious forms of work and economic interaction.
Two broad conversations were had in this episode:
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How can marketable and sustainable skills be identified and tracked that allow online platform workers in local environments to participate and excel in the global online labour market?
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How can online labour platforms be regulated and managed to improve worker protection and platform infrastructure to enable sustainable and decent work opportunities?
In the first of this series, we speak to founder of eCampus, a web and mobile based online teaching and learning (EdTech) platform, Cecil Nutakor as he opens shop in Dakar, Senegal.
He shares lessons on what he learnt on the journey of expanding his business into new territories and some harsh realities he has had to deal with.
Enjoy.
The global creator economy is said to be worth over $100 billion, and Africans are mostly shut out of it.
How do we gain a foothold in that space?
Brian shares some thoughts on that in this week's episode of the show.
Enjoy
Well, money makes the world go round. At least, that is what they say. The world of payments, receiving and sending, is what makes money move. Whether you consider it to be a transfer of value or funds or whichever, it needs to move. Who makes it move, who benefits, how does the movement help businesses and entrepreneurs. We tackle all this and more on the show this week. Enjoy.
Joe is such an unassuming guy. However, he knows his stuff and that is what we enjoyed when he joined the show this week.
Such great insight from both a personal and professional level on what Marketing Technology as a field of study and work actually means.
Very practical knowledge shared and very open about the details of what a job role in MarkTech actually means.
Enjoy.
Elon Musk buy Twitter and the world will not be the same.
What does the purchase mean for the app, how does the personality of Elon change the prospects of the app and what lines could potentially be crossed.
A star studded team brings their perspective to bear on the conversation.
SnooCode has become the official property addressing system for the Liberia. What does that mean though?
Thinkers and innovators like Saron Paz are always a delight to hold conversations with about the meaning of tech and what the future of it all looks like.
On this episode we speak about everything from teaching innovation, the meta verse, technology and its limits and so much more.
Enjoy
What happens when jobs are available but the people are not skilled enough to take them?
What happens when the people demand for particular jobs but things like the pandemic do not make it possible for them to be hired?
How do you even know when a job in a particular sector is available.
We discuss all this and more on this week's show with Hilda Nimo-Tieku, CEO of Jobberman.
Enjoy.
The Citi FM/Citi TV Heritage Caravan gives all patrons a unique insight into the tourism potential, or otherwise of Ghana. Patrons get to travel across the country to experience different parts of it in a road trip-type of experience.
This year, Mr and Mrs Adranyi were on the caravan and they had their tech lenses on right from day one.
They share their experiences and insight on the show this week.
Enjoy.
International Women's Month on Citi Trends and what a topic to kick off with!
Emily Sheldon, CEO of African Health Innovation Centre, shares some much needed insight on innovations both globally and locally that seek to bridge gaps.
Enjoy.
Building any team is tough. Building a strong team as a tech startup, however, is on a whole new level.
Emily Fiagbedzi, Director of training programmes at MEST Africa joins me on the show to share some much needed insight on the topic.
It is no secret that the world get excited when conversations about new mobile devices are made.
The type of device, the new features, the price and everything else in-between.
However, there are some burning issues with the increasing number of mobile device releases and its associated disruptions.
On the show this week we speak to Benjamin Afrifa, Product Manager (Visual Display) at Samsung Electronics West Africa, shares his thoughts on the topic and explores some of the newly released product.
Enjoy
Deborah Asmah, Chief Marketing and Operations Officer at At Npontu Technologies, is my guest this week and she shares some very intriguing thoughts around what it means to pivot in a digital age. She shares insights from global and local business on the episode and speaks to heart of a matter than many technology entrepreneurs struggle with today. Enjoy the show.
Digital is leading the marketing space. That is really all you need to know.
However, the space is cluttered with so many different voices, so much content and so much noice. How do you make your voice heard (and seen) in all of that.
My guest on the show this week is Kofi Ayeh Akrofi, the Creative Director at Social Ghana - a creative agency in Ghana.
In 2021, the Government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization, gave a directive that all Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards should be reregistered over a six-month period spanning October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 using the Ghana Card.
The process has however, be fraught with a series of challenges including long queues at registration centres, delays during the registration process due to device challenges and many more. Questions have also been raised by various civil society groups on the data protection components of the exercise plus the need of the exercise in the first place.
Selorm Branttie, Vice President of Imani Centre for Policy and Education joins me on the show to discuss the technology side of the situation.
Enjoy the show.
The Electronic Transaction Levy is a raging issue in Ghana. Opinions are divided on the matter.
The government of Ghana in its 2022 budget proposal announced the introduction of an Electronic Transaction Levy which will be a 1.75 percent charge on all electronic transactions, including Mobile Money (Momo). The levy will be waived for transactions that amount to GH¢100 or less in a day or approximately GH¢3,000 per month.
What are the good points, the bad and also what other options could have been considered?
My guests for the conversation were Nana Adwoa Amponsah-Mensah, a Tech Attorney at 8 Geeks at Law and Derek B. Laryea, Digital Financial Services Expert and a Director, ADEF.
Enjoy the show.
After Zuckerberg unveiled Meta, we got a sense into what his vision was for the company.
The reality of the meta verse is both frightening and exciting, all in one.
However, what are the prospects of the project for Ghanaians and others in the subregion.
We discuss this and more with Maximus Amertogo and and Eyram Tawiah
Every couple of months, a new phone is released.
Folks go out and buy mobile phones for all manner of reasons.
But, why should you buy a phone for GHS100 or another for GHc 9650?
We discuss all these and more on this episode of the show with Divine Puplampu and Leslie Mills.
Enjoy.
This episode was all about breaking it down to the barest basics.
What personal computers are, how they impact our lives, what you should bear in mind when purchasing one, what goes into the spec sheet... and ultimately why price should be the last factor to worry about.
Divine Puplampu (Tech lead at Stimuluz) and Edward Opoku (Head of IT & New Media at Citi FM) joined me for this one.
What a show it was!
Everyone has their own idea of what it means to scale. At the base of it, it is often about growth. Kweku of MESTAfrica shares his unique perspective on the topic and why it might be important for startups and businesses to reconsider their understanding of the concept.
We speak to folks from GIZ about the thorny topic of building an inclusive digital economy and society, its building blocks, policy and its role and the role of the individual as well.
Enjoy.
A packed week deserved nothing less than a packed show. The team from Ghana Meteorological Agency talk to us about their new app which could help dozens and save countless lives. Eric Asuman who is the Deputy Director General at Ghana Meteorological Agency and Maureen Abla Ahiataku who is a meteorologist joined me for the conversation.
Andrews Akoto Addo, Daniel Owusu and Jorge Appiah all of the Ghana Tech Lab joined me on the show to discuss the state of the Ghana Startup ecosystem. Powerful thoughts and insights. Take a listen.
Building a tech business is not for the faint hearted and my guest on the show this week, knows a thing or two about that.
Derrydean Dadzie shares his insights from his journey in this tech space and helping to shape the fintech space in Ghana.
What it means to go against the grain, always pushing the envelope and charting new paths; all this and more covered in this episode.
Enjoy.
One of the most passionate humans you will meet anywhere who also happens to be the main holding high the flag of Ghana in the world and gaming, GLOBALLY.
My guest this week is award winning technology entrepreneur, writer and singer, Eyram Tawia.
We speak about gaming in Ghana and Africa, what it takes to succeed in the ecosystem, principles that all technology entrepreneurs should hold on to and his love for Fintech.
Enjoy the show.
Straight talking and frank. That is Cecil.
He looks back at his life in the tech space and shares lessons from there.
So much to learn and pick ups.
Enjoy.
We continue our series of conversations with Ghana's leading tech talent and innovators and this week, Curtis Vanderpuije (CEO of expresspay) joins us.
He speaks about the fintech space, dealing with policy makers, trends within his space, cryptocurrency and so much more.
Enjoy the show.
Alloysius Attah, Co-founder of Farmerline and one of the most honest talking tech leaders you will find in Ghana.
He shares his story of building one of the most recognisable AgriTech brands in Africa and the key lessons he has picked up along the way.
He also speaks on policy, pivoting and returning to basics within the agritech space.
Enjoy.
Nigeria in the last couple of days:
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Federal Government bans Twitter.
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Federal Government issues an order asking all media outlets to suspend the use of their Twitter handles.
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Federal Government set to prosecute ALL Nigerians found tweeting.
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Nigeria estimated to be losing over $10M in e-commerce revenue.
On the show this week, we try to understand the why, who, what and when of this decision by the Nigerian government.
My guests are:
Abubakar Idris - Africa Reporter at Rest of World
Maximus Ametorgoh - Digital Lead at Popout
Kingsley Abrokwah - Chief Enabler at Kudigo
Joseph-Albert Kuuire - UX Designer at Jetstream Africa/Editor at Tech Nova GH
A woman who achieves.
That is what i have known the founder of Soronko Solutions to be. She has a compelling story about how she got into tech and what has kept her in it.
On the show, she shares these stories and her lessons she has picked up on the way as she charts an incredible path for women in Tech globally.
She speaks on the power of partnerships, focus and understanding the market for your tech products.
Enjoy.
A truly dynamic individual with a big focus on using technology to develop others around him and project Ghana to the world.
Director of the GhanaThink Foundation and a young man who has dabbled in everything from music, to Google to advocacy to training to everything else in between.
Press Play and enjoy the conversation.
He describes himself as an entrepreneurial leader with rich experience building products, teams and international partnerships to deliver innovative technology solutions. He says about himself, "I enjoy tackling complex problems of scale that involve learning and deep analysis towards strategic and significant impact."
Kofi Dadzie shares suggest of wisdom about building tech businesses, handling transitions, leadership in a tech environment, handling government agencies and more in this new series on Citi Trends.
Enjoy
What a show we have this week.
Twitter has established its HQ for Africa in Ghana and the country is buzzing. We establish the details of the move and provide some clarity on the show with Foster Akugri, founder of Hacklab.
We continue our series on Tech Pandemic Stories by looking at how education is evolving in Ghana and what needs to be done to propel the sector to the next level using technology.
Enjoy the show.
Eno Quagraine, Founder of Talkative Mom, has built her solution from a blog three years ago with readers all over the world into Ghana's First Mom App and motherhood-specific search engine. With a passion for women’s health, she built her audience through her candid, sincere storytelling on motherhood-related issues that wasn’t addressed at the time. It has a host of features including a marketplace with almost 130 businesses and thousands of products, a blog with contributions from certified professionals and experts and lists of essential service providers to help parents and care-givers.
She shares her experiences of building a tech solution on the show.
Enjoy.
In this new series on the show, we speak to technology entrepreneurs about how they are surviving and have managed to overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This week, i speak to two female solution providers; one into automotive and the other into fintech.
We talk about growing your business and finding ways to survive during a pandemic.
Enjoy.
Online music streaming has become the most preferred way for accessing music and audio content today. With several players in the game, Spotify appears to be a market leader of sorts, contentious as it may be. In a recent online event, the company announced an expansion to over 80 new locations around the world, across Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and Latin America in its broadest expansion yet. These include Papua New Guinea, Palau, Samoa, Zambia, Cameroon, Ghana, Haiti, Jamaica, Bahamas and more.
I spoke to Phiona Okumu, Head of Music (Sub Saharan Africa) at Spotify to shed more light on the developments.
Enjoy the show.
Content, they say, is KING.
The question though, remains, who is serving the king? How are they surviving? How are they surviving? How are they producing quality content within a space that is in its nascent stages.
Kwadwo Sheldon and Rick Aqua, share their insight on the show this week.
Enjoy.
The global digital report put together by We Are Social and Hootsuite yearly, presented some rather interesting details about the state of the digital world we live in today.
For example, 5.22 billion people are reported to use a mobile phone today, equating to 66.6 percent of the world’s total population. There are now 4.20 billion social media users around the world with the typical user now spending 2 hours and 25 minutes on social media each day. Filipinos are still the world’s biggest consumers of social media, spending an average of 4 hours and 15 minutes per day using social platforms
The issue however is, what do these numbers actually mean?
Stephen Boadi and Nadia Owusu share some insight into all of this on the show.
To everyone who has a bank account, who spends money, who gives money; who does anything related to financial transactions, this is a show for you.
With global trends suggesting a huge interest and funding in the financial technology space, it was only a matter of time for investors and entrepreneurs to find ways of disrupting the financial sector.
One of such concepts gaining traction across the continent is Open Banking.
Paul Damalie, CEO of Appruve, joined me to share some insight and how crucial it was to roping more people into the financial space.
Enjoy the show.
Happy New Year and what a way to kick things off on #CitiTrends.
The platforms that allows us to stay in touch with loved ones and family and friends come under scrutiny. Whatsapp, global leader of the pack, issues a statement about data it will be making available to Facebook (its parent company) and the world goes into meltdown.
People want to delete the app, other want to switch, others just do not understand what is going on.
On the show this week we answer the security concerns of the announcement and what users should bear in mind when using the messaging platforms.
We also gain insight on how the announcement will impact the the lives of individuals, businesses and the tech space generally.
Closing the curtains on the show this year, we spoke to Eric Osei-Annor on television resolutions in Ghana and why the TV industry needed a player to provide an HD television output service. Enjoy the show and Merry Christmas.
Ghana's electoral was uploaded onto a Google Drive account. The link was shared. Everyone had access to it. Lots of people uploaded. The Election Commission says it has withdrawn it and will publish another one with added security features. How big a deal is that?
Mike Perry Attara, Software Engineer with Walulel; Carl Sackey, President ISACA Ghana; Patricia Adusei-Poku, Executive Director Data Protection Commission and Kofi Owusu Nhyira, Private legal practitioner, join me to discuss it.
Ghana's cybersecurity bill has been reviewed by Parliament. The President needs to sign it. But what does the bill mean for the Ghanaian? Private legal practitioners, Jessie Abugre and Yinsongti Tindana break the bill down on the show. Derek Laryea who is the Head, Research & Communications at the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications also shares some insight into how the bill affects the financial tech and telecommunication space.
Getting affordable and accessible internet to the remotest parts of Africa will also be a headache. What is most encouraging is the desire for Africans to develop home grown solutions for the. continent. My guests to share their insight on the show this week were:
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Andy Halsall, CEO of Poa Internet, an ISP bridging the digital divide by providing affordable Internet to rural and low-income communities in Kenya.
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Henri Nyakarundi is a native Rwandan is a well-respected voice on entrepreneurship in Africa, renewable energy, innovation & technology impact and more.
Double dose of goodness on #CitiTrends this week. We look at how the legal fraternity in Ghana has been trying to catch up with the myriad of technological disruptions happening globally with legal profession with Kwaku Boadu, an IT lawyer.
We then try to break down what influencer marketing is all about with Therese Jones of Ripple Influence.
Loved every bit of it. Time for you to do same.
The final debate of the year!
What a debate it turned out to be.
Kudos to Elikplim Sabblah, Project Coordinator at Mobile Web Ghana, who argued for Twitter emerged victorious.
Duncan Kwame Gablah, a Member of GhanaThink Foundation, argued for Facebook.
Enjoy the debate.
We did a number of things on the show this week.
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We found out the topic for the next edition of #ForOrAgainst
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We found out about the law covering the digital payments and services sector
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We spoke about the Apple event..
We had fun basically.
Enjoy.
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:
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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.
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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.
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Eyram Tawia : CEO of Leti Arts
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Paul Ziem: Indie Game Developer and Entrepreneur
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Forster Akugri: Incubator Manager, SBIncubator
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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.
Mark Kaigwa, founder of Nendo, author, and Entrepreneur focused on data, strategy and marketing in digital Africa.
Muriel Lamin, in charge of commercial strategy, operations and philanthropic partnerships at BBC World Service.
Two incredible resource persons speaking on media publishing and the content distribution game in Africa on the show this week.
Enjoy.
CEO of Popout, Maximus Ametorgoh and Digital Marketing Consultant, Stephen Naasei Boadi broke down the details behind the facts about Ghana's the digital landscape. The team gave some candid advise to companies to help them remain connected to their clients, and audiences in the next decade.
Alfred Opare Saforo was my guest this week. He is the Creative Director at Teamalfy.com & a freelance work evangelist. He also founded freelancebootcamp.org. He explained for everyone what a Gigi economy entailed and how much support it could actually give to the real economy.
My guest this week, Joseph-Albert Kuuire (Editor of Tech Nova GH), talks to us about user experience (UX), what is it means, why it is important to pay close attention to it in product development and some of the things you should be aware of. Joseph speaks about putting yourself in the place of the user, focusing on solving errors and always testing with actual people before you release your product. Enjoy the show.
Speaking about cybersecurity in Ghana and on the continent is one of the only ways to create the needed sensitisation required to get the population care about it. Khallai Taylor, whose area of expertise is with secure APIs and data protection joined me on the show this week to look at exactly that.
Conversation around innovation don't get any better than this one with Haim Gilad, an Israeli expert with 35 years of experience in innovation from governmental and private sector. He speaks from the heart about some of the lessons on innovation such as the need to create a culture that allows for failure and learning from it.
A new year, a new episode, the same amazing show. Ernest Nii Adjah Akrong & Bernard Archibold Baidoo, both Associate Software Engineering Analysts at Rancard, focus on the power of Artificial Intelligence and its transformative power on global technology development. The guests also share insights and products from the Consumer Electronics Show.
In the final episode of the show for the year, Clement Osei Tutu of Axe Technologies, Yao Banku of Pennysmart and Maximus Ametorgoh of PopOut joined me to talk about their businesses.
They also made some interesting projections to be seen in the tech sector in 2020.
Another good week, another set of brilliant technology entrepreneurs from Ghana.
Cecil Nutakor of eCampus, Rebecca Gagblezu of FindRapidly, Winifred Kotin of Superfluid Labs, Joseph-Albert Kuuire of Technova GH and Meghan McCormick of Oze.
What a show.
Nehemiah Attigah of Code Factory, Curtis Vanderpuije of expressPay and Shika Nornoo of ShikaKope.com shared a platform as we spoke to more brilliant Ghanaian technology entrepreneurs.
Press play and enjoy the conversation.
There is so much happening on the tech scene in Ghana and we often forget to celebrate our little victories. For this reason, #CitiTrends tries to do exactly that every November on Ghana radio. A chance to hear about the revolutionary work being done and an opportunity to pick lessons and new learnings.
Part One shares the stories of Andrew Akoto of Growth Mosaic, Henry Cobblah of Ahwenepa LLC, Lady-Omega Hammond of Ampersand Technologies and Joseph Yaw Frimpong.Enjoy
This episode features some of my favourite discussions of the year; some wise words from Jemila Abdulai of Circumspecte and Kofi Dadzie of Rancard. We also speak to YahClick and Teledata ICT about providing affordable satellite internet access to homes and businesses across the country.
Enjoy.
It is very easy for parents today to feel 'left behind' on the technology 'usage race' (unless you are a developer or enthusiast). You soon realise her well versed your children are in the technology tools around the house and you have not figured out 40% of it. Reena Efua Ametorwo and Roslyn Naadu Laryea, both from SeekApor Ghana joined me to share thoughts on this issue and more.
The show has a new sponsor: First National Bank.
They often say that when music hits you, you feel no pain. Today, it appears you don't even feel the pain in your pocket as well. Streaming platforms have revolutionised the music industry tremendously. Sadiq Abdulai Abu of 3Media Networks shares some insight on what the picture looks like for African and Ghanaian artistes.
Nana Bambara-Abban of Akaditi Limited also features on this week's episode speaking about using the right processes to bring out the right results by applying some simple principles.
Enjoy.
According to the 2018 Global Cybersecurity Index, the average cost of data breaches in the world was up by 6.4% in 2018 costing global businesses a whopping USD 2 trillion by the end of 2019. Mr. Philemon Hini who is the Head of Technical Operations at e-crime bureau and a Digital Forensic Professional shared some insight on its implications for businesses.
Ethel Cofie, founder of Edel Technology Consulting then shared insight from the 2019 GSMA report with a special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.
Did you know that about half the population in Sub-Saharan Africa will subscribe to mobile services by 2025?
Everyone needs money to get their business from idea to product. The tricky thing is often where to get 'safe' funding which will not cause an implosion but will rather spur the business forward. Samuel Oriaku and Kelvin Tyron, both of Invoicia, joined me on the show to share some thoughts about this very issue and some solutions available today.
Four incredible female techprenuers on one insightful radio show. Patience Teiko Tetteh (@jbosschic1), Software engineer; Cyhana Williams (@CyhanaLena), GIS Technician; Tracy Ayebea Obeng (@traybengs), Flight Operations at Zipline Ghana and Alice Kuukua Mensah (@kuukua_mensah), a certified Google partner and digital marketer.
The ladies review some of the top trending technology trends of the last quarter on the show.
We also feature folks from Social Media Week Accra on the show ahead of the commencement of the 2019 edition.
Andrew Takyi-Appiah, Managing Director of Zeepay holds the opinion that borderless payments should be a reality before the close of 2019. He speaks about the potential of borderless payments on the continent through OTT.
Gaming is a global phenomenon. From mobile games to console games, the global gaming industry is estimated to be making about $300million by 2025. Question though is, how is Africa positioning itself to benefit from those numbers? Isiah Triforce Johnson who is the Founder & CEO of Empire Arcadia and Ardayfio Prince Andrew who is the Creative Director and Game Designer for EnterAfrica joined me with their views and thoughts.
Photography has a rich history but its future is never certain. The technology available today is changing the way people interact with with photographs and event take them. Michael Dakwa and Timothy Adei from Team1000words were my guests in the studio for this conversation about Photography in the 22nd century. Enjoy.
The idea of failing in business has had several definitions over the years with a number of theories being coined from it. Ashwin Ravichandran, Managing Director at MEST Africa joined me to share his thoughts on the concept of failing first but failing fast.
Cecil Senna Nutakor, Founding CEO of eCampus LLC joins me for a conversation about a future where schools 'follow' children wherever they go plus some other concepts on the future of learning and education. He shares some practical ideas on things Ghana can start doing now in order not to miss out on the global working spaces of the future.
Serial Entrepreneur and investor Eric Osiakwan was my guest on the show to talk about the his K.I.N.G.S. concept and how crucial it is for African countries to digitise their economies to speed up their development.
Lady Omega Hammond, Freda Engmann and Aseda Addai-Dese explored the top tech stories of the last quarter with me. the top texhpo
Desmond Israel, Gerald Nsiah-Asare and Ash Dastmalchi join me on the show this week to speak about the state of cyber security. They shed light on global trends and give perspectives about its impact locally.
The regulation of data is necessary in order to balance the protection of the individual’s privacy rights with the rights of organisations and governments to collect and use data for business and administrative purposes. That is what data protection is all about.
A special audit carried out by the Auditor-General in Ghana on the Electoral Commission (EC) revealed what many termed as the 'sale' of voters’ data to an Accra-based software development company, Bysystem Ltd. According to the 2018 audit, Bysystem Ltd ‘bought’ the data from the EC and further sold them to financial service providers for a fee. The audit report also found fault with a lack of contractual agreement to cover the deal between the EC and Bysystem Ltd in breach of procurement laws. What exactly is going on and are our data protection laws up to date with the times?
My Guests :
Adu Ampofo is the CEO of Velia and she is a compliance and data protection consultant
Maximus Ametogoh, CEO of PopOut
Paul Damalie, CEO of Appruve
Rita Adjei, Head of Brands and Marketing at Nsano
The debate over 5G came up prominently, a few weeks ago, when Trump banned the purchase of electronic and telecoms software and hardware for Huawei by technology companies. Aside the shock over the Google-related issues, the bigger conversation about the race to dominate 5G came up.
Why is it even a race in the first place? What is it going on? How will it change your life and why should you care?
Kofi Dadzie is the CEO of Rancard. He joins me to share some thoughts and insight o the matter.
A concept that will change the world of entrepreneurship forever. Hybrid Entrepreneurship. Weaving social impact into the very fabric of businesses! Dr. Gordon Adomdza, Associate Professor at Ashesi University in Ghana and Jewel Thompson, Adjunct Lecturer at Ashesi University join me to provide some understanding on the subject.
Ghana is in a very unique position today. A strong political framework and system, a good media landscape that is relatively free plus strong indices on the technological map. The government of Ghana is pursuing a digitised economy as well, and has commenced several initiatives to realise that dream. Some complain that the efforts seems scattered and uncoordinated. Others also feel there are components missing. What is a digitised economy made of? How can Ghana succeed in its efforts to create one? How beneficial is a digitised economy? My guest is the Managing Partner of Chanzo Capital, Eric Osiakwan.
Out of ten finalists that pitched at the final event at the Accra Digital Centre last Friday, three strong winners emerged. Kwidex, Nocofio and Pennysmart shared their thoughts on the essentials of maintaining a tech startup in the Fintech space on the show.
The best way to grow, sometimes, is to just learn from those that have walked your path. Isreal is the Mecca of Investors looking to invest in viable tech startups due to a number of reasons. Philip Ashon speaks to Oren Simanian about how to stimulate a strong innovation subculture in an emerging economy. He also speaks to Eyram Tawiah, CEO of Leti Arts, about charting a new course in the tech space as he is doing in the animation and superhero field.
Having the right personnel in the right jobs is every managers dream. The nightmare, for most managers, is managing the personnel in this roles. Philip Ashon speaks to Yaw Oduro Amoateng of NIIT Ghana about the best way for human resource managers to go about hiring and managing tech talent. Bilal Abdullah of Kobo 360 shares insight about building a tech business to disrupt legacy or traditional institutions; in his case the haulage industry.
Every passing month or week, one hacking competition or the other pops up within the tech space in Ghana. The definition of the hackathon plus more questions come up regularly. Philip Ashon speaks to Ato Ulzen Appiah and Eyram Tawiah on the differences and similarities between hackathons and pitch competitions and how Ghana's tech eco-system can take advantage of it. The show also clarifies some common myths about hackathons.
Online communities are for bonding and reaching out to one another.
They create the spaces for people to share ideas and help resolve problems.
How do you know which communities to join? where are the most impacting conversations happening? Who are the leaders and how can you keep the community accountable?
Gameli Adzaho, lead for Facebook Community Leadership Circles, Accra joined me on the show this week to discuss BUILDING AND SUSTAINING communities online for offline impact.
Jeff, Mr Antwi and Farida were on the show with the Apps, Your Tech and Trending segments of the show.
Education is core to every community's development. The quality of the education, however, is more crucial. The diversity, the learning outcomes, the potential impact of the education on the economy and more are questions we seek to answer in this episode of the show.
Philip Ashon speaks to Margaret Dawson-Amoah on technologies available today in education sector to support today's student.
Fifa, Prince of Persia, Oware 3D, Mortal Kombat, PES; you name it.
Incredible game titles that have shaped so many lives across the globe.
Today, the gaming industry is worth billions and more investment continues to flow in that direction.
However, is it an issue of just playing for the entertainment sake or there is more to it.
Paul Ziem who is an Entrepreneur, Indie Game Developer and Consultant Founder at NerdCore Studio was my guest to discuss the issue.
In a week of incredible device releases such as the Galaxy Fold and the Mate X, there was very little space for anything else.
On Tuesday however, Naasei Boadi flipped everything on its head when he joined the show to talk about the global digital landscape and lessons for Ghanaian businesses and organisations.
He shared data from research about the number of people using social media daily and which devices they used them on. He also shared insight on what these permutations meant for the Ghanaian digital space.
We also speak about the Betway Fintech Challenge 2019, a three-month journey to discover, train and reward some of the brightest Fintech ideas in Ghana. Over 50,000 available in cash prizes.
We have the Trending, Apps, Your Tech and How to segments as well on the show.
Enjoy.
She is a content creator like very few.
She is a mind worth listening to.
She enjoys a great chat. And that is what we had on Citi Trends this week with Jemila Abdulai, founder of Circumspecte.
We spoke about what sort of skillsets and tools young entrepreneurs and business leaders need to survive in a digital future.
Lola Kassim, General Manager of Uber West Africa joined me to talk about how safe Uber was.
Jeffrey, Farida, Mr Antwi and Mr Opoku were incredible as always on the show.
Enjoy.
When you get the chance to set up a business, one of your biggest headaches is funding.
Where do you get the money, how do you pay back, how much money will you get?
My guest this week was a serial investor, business leader and global technology icon. Eric Osiakwan is the Managing Partner of Chanzo Capital is an Entrepreneur and Investor with 15 years of ICT industry leadership across Africa and the world. He has worked in 32 African countries.
He had some incredible insight to share about what funding means for a tech startup and how to get some.
Enjoy.
A sombre week indeed for the tech community on Africa.
Six staff members of Kenya based technology firm, Cellulant, were killed in a terror attack by five al-Shabab-linked terrorists.
Cellulant is an online payment solutions provider in the region.
The six are: Ashford Kuria, Dennis Mwaniki, Jeremiah Mbaria, John Ndiritu, Kelvin Gitonga,Wilfred Kareithi.
Edem Kumodzi however lifted our spirits with an eyeopening conversation about how to get into tech with special emphasis on the Ghana tech ecosystem.
He spoke extensively about staying curious and being passionate.
Take a listen to the show.
We are ready for a new year, are you?
And what a way to start things off?
Technology consultant and member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Hub Accra, Emmanuel Gamor, was my guest for the first episode of the show.
He cautioned that Ghana risks losing its competitive advantage on the global stage if it fails to identify the unique opportunities technological advancements offer.
He further urged Ghanaian technology entrepreneurs to create globally competitive products in order to extend their influence and reach.
Take a listen.
The queen was here.
What an episode!
Elated to have had the pleasure of chatting with blogger and writer Keni Ribeiro about what it means to write for a digital audience and also what platforms to distribute content on.
Keni spoke about her beginnings as a writer and her influences.
She shared insight into how to win in the content creation war and also some great life lessons for writers.
Incredible show.
CEO of Edem Technology Consulting, Ethel Cofiewas my guest on the show this week as we explored what it means and takes to build a technology company for Africa that serves the African continent and its needs as against building a technology company in Africa whose focus is outside of the content.
Ethel touched on everything from the money business to the lack of understanding of the global market to the lack of understanding of the African market.
Thoroughly enjoyable conversation.
We have the Apps, Trending, Your Tech and How to segments as well.
Take a listen.
A great to return from the Christmas break! Starting where we left off last year. Great conversations about Uber's 'headaches' in Ghana and some very candid opinions shared about their 'legal' status in Ghana.
Shared some great insight about robotics training and education in Ghana as well plus so much more on the show. Enjoy.
The final show of the year sums up a lot of experiences for the team. Lady Omega Hammond join Jefferey and myself for a good chat. Enjoy the show.
Ing. Kenneth Owusu-Akyaw joined me on the show this week as we discussed the blueprint of making Ghana's music industry profitable again. We talked about structure, GhudMusic, and so much more. We checked out some mobile applications and got a sense of the latest technology trends from across the world.