PODCAST · technology
The BIG5D Podcast
by The BIG5D Podcast
The BIG5D Podcast features interviews with entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, and others driving the adoption of digital marketing and commerce tools by small businesses in Africa and the Middle East. The "Big Five" in this context are search, social, mobile, location, and payments. This podcast is produced by BigFiveDigital and The Africa B2B Tech Report. Send inquiries to [email protected]
Episodes
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Episode 60: The Struggles of Women in African Tech
In this episode of the BIG5D Podcast, host Charles Laughlin sits down with Jill Kerr, co-founder of Misfit Ventures, and Laura Thomas, founder of The Aligned Woman, to talk about the struggles female founders face in Africa. Recorded live at the 2026 BigFive Summit in Cape Town, this conversation...
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Episode 59: Zachariah George, Launch Africa Ventures
Welcome to the BIG5D Podcast, home to important conversations on the Business of African Tech. We recorded this interview with Zach George, the CEO and co-founder of Launch Africa Ventures, on stage at the March BigFive Summit in Cape Town. T his episode is sponsored by Telkom, also the lead...
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Episode 58: Rahul Jain, Peach Payments
Welcome to the BIG5D Podcast, where we bring you meaningful conversations on the Business of African Tech. We recorded this interview with Rahul Jain, the CEO and co-founder of Peach Payments, on stage in March 2026 at the BigFive Summit in Cape Town. This episode is sponsored by Telkom, also the...
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Episode 57: Bianca Waterberg, Nspyre
Episode 57 of the Big5D Podcast again turns to the May 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town for a great conversation about tech and business in Africa. This conversation, recorded at Innovation City Cape Town on 6 May 2025, features a primer on how to choose a digital marketing agency partner led by...
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Episode 56: Keshni Morar, Founder Institute
In Episode 56 of the BIG5D Podcast, we talk about venture building with Keshni Morar, the MD-South Africa, Founder Institute. The conversation jumps off from a LinkedIn post Keshni wrote about #Statuptruth in which she laments how too many startup founders fail to appreciate the need to carefully...
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Episode 55: Live from the BigFive Summit -- GTM for SMEs
Episode 55 of the Big5D Podcast once again turns to the May 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town for a great conversation about tech and business in Africa. This conversation, recorded at Innovation City Cape Town on 6 May 2025, features a panel on Go to Market Strategies for SMEs led by Summit…
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Episode 54: Live from the BigFive Summit -- Supporting Startup
Episode 54 of the BIG5D Podcast again turns to the recent BigFive Summit in Cape Town for source material. This episode features a panel discussion of the kinds of support, in addition to capital, that African startups need to be successful -- things like best practice sharing and mentorship…
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Episode 53: Jamie Wyngaard, Loop
Episode 53 of the Big5D Podcast comes from the recording of an on-stage interview with Loop Co-founder Jamie Wyngaard at the 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town. Loop is a South African fintech startup that has digitized payments for African minibus taxi drivers using WhatsApp. Loop's broader…
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Episode 52: Zach George, Launch Africa Ventures
Episode 52 of the Big5D Podcast comes from the recording of a Fireside Chat (sans fire) that we recorded with Zachariah George at the 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town. Zach is the Managing Partner of Launch Africa Ventures, the Cape Town venture firm that has invested in African startups…
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Episode 51: Tinashe Ruzane, FlexClub
This episode of the BIG5D Podcast is presented by Local Knowledge. Episode 51 of the BIG5D Podcast, features a conversation about using the subscription model to help South Africans gain access to automobiles in a non-traditional manner with Tinashe Ruzane, the co-founder and CEO of FlexClub....
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Episode 50: Neal Polachek
This podcast usually talks to guests with a foot on the ground in Africa or the Middle East. For this episode, we make an exception. Neal Polachek is an old colleague who has co-founded Dialog, a business doing groundbreaking research around small business use of AI. Dialog is learning not just…
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Episode 49: Steven Boykey Sidley, Johannesburg Business School
Steven Boykey Sidely is a professor, author, and investor with strongly held views on the threats and opportunities presented by AI. This candid and engaging conversation spans AI safety, the AI opportunity for startups, and AI's geopolitical implications. It is a fascinating conversation that…
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Episode 48: Houssam Kayal, FOO
This week's guest on the BIG5D Podcast is Houssam Kayal, the chief revenue officer at FOO, a Dubai-based B2B SaaS company that offers banking-as-a-service and other solutions that help corporations offer financial services. The conversation covers trends in fintech that are making financial...
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Episode 47: Nic Rawhani, Vula
Nic Rawhani is a native South African software engineer and McKinsey alum who has co-founded Vula, a company that aims to use AI to solve Africa's SME funding gap, which Rawhani says surpasses $330 billion. The conversation digs into the bad experiences most SMEs face in Africa as they seek the...
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Episode 46: Imtiyaz Mohamed, Realm Digital
Imtiyaz Mohamed is the principal consultant at South Africa technology consulting firm Realm Digital. One of Realm's and Imtiyaz's focus areas is augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR). The conversation focused on clarifying what AR/VR is (and isn't) and how businesses use it today to save...
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Episode 45: Zane Stenning, Mia Health Technologies
Zane Stenning is the Co-founder of Mia Health Technologies, a Cape Town startup that addresses profound needs in Africa by providing greater access to dental care. Zane and his team do this via mobile clinics. But Mia also leans into new technologies from 3D printing to connected technology to AI...
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Summit Speaker Series John Kitenge
The BigFive Summit Speaker Podcast Series continues with a conversation with John Kitenge, a young South African entrepreneur who founded Fraktional.dev, a marketplace that matches IT talent with startups and cpr[pporates. The interview covers how startups can use alternative workplace models to...
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Summit Speaker Series Thaheer Mullins
The BigFive Summit Speaker Podcast Series continues with a conversation with Thaheer Mullins. He is the general partner of Savant Venture Fund, which is a deep tech-focused venture firm and startup accelerator. The interview talks about how the fourth industrial revolution is breeding some very...
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Summit Speaker Series Kimberley Taylor
The BigFive Summit Speaker Podcast Series continues with a conversation with Kimberley Taylor. She is the founder and CEO of Loop, a South African logistics tech company that helps delivery companies with route optimization. The interview talks about how her company progressed from idea to...
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Summit Speaker Series Fiona Tabraham
The BigFive Summit Speaker Podcast Series continues with a conversation with Fiona Tabraham, CEO of Capaciti, a South African organization that provides digital skills training for African youth so that they can compete for tech-related jobs in the private sector. This episode is sponsored by the...
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Summit Speaker Series Ashmita Singh
Episode 2 of the 2024 BigFive Summit Speaker Series featured a chat about economic inclusion with Ashmita Singh, the Co-founder of SwapVend Afrika and the Co-Managing Director for South Africa of AMLANDA Social Entreprises. The conversation is focused on addressing informal SMEs with technology,...
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Summit Speaker Series Aisha Pandor
The BigFive Summit Speaker Series features conversations about Africa’s tech scene, empowering SMEs with technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, startup life, and much more featuring the incredible thought leaders who will speak at the 2024 BigFive Summit, 19-20 March in Cape Town. The series’...
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Episode 38: Zack Marks, Jia
Episode 38 of the BIG5D Podcast features an interview with Zack Marks. He is the Co-founder and CEO of Jia, a blockchain-based small business lender that is focused on emerging markets, where Marks says there is a $5 trillion small business credit gap. Jia's current operational scope includes...
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Episode 37: Michelle Geere, AdBot
Episode 37 of the BIG5D Podcast features a conversation with Michelle Geere, CEO of Adbot, a Cape Town startup that automates Google and Bing ads for SMEs. The conversation included a discussion of how AI will change everything from digital marketing to employment to how we create the movies we...
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Episode 36: Caitlin Craig, Untapped Global
Episode 36 of the BIG5D Podcast features a conversation with Caitlin Craig, head of private capital markets at Untapped Global, an asset based financing firm focused on emerging marketing, in particular Africa. This episode is sponsored by the no code website builder Duda.co.
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Episode 35: Lavina Ramkissoon, the "aiMom"
Episode 35 of the Big5D Podcast features an interview with Lavina Ramkissoon, a South African expert on artificial intelligence, who has adopted the personal brand "the aiMom". She is an advisor to the Africa Union and a co-founder of the Fintech Association of South Africa. The discussion is...
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Episode 34: Brenton Naicker, CV VC
Episode 34 of the Big5D Podcast features an interview with Brenton Naicker, Director of Capital Formation and Growth at CV VC, a blockchain-focused Swiss venture firm that is actively investing in Africa. The interview includes Brenton's take on recent developments in the cryptocurrency industry....
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Episode 33: Andrew Katzwinkel, LayUp Technologies
This episode features an interview with Andrew Katzwinkel, CEO of LayUp Technologies, a South African fintech that offers save now, buy later payments solutions to merchants large and small. This episode includes a discussion of LayUp''s efforts to establish SNBL as a responsible alternative to…
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Episode 32: Tyler Karahalios, MarketForce
This episode features an interview with Tyler Karahalios, Global Head of Special Projects and Merchant Banking for MarketForce, an East African retail distribution platform that was founded in Kenya in 2018. This episode includes a discussion of MarketForce's effort to build a super app for...
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Episode 31: Firas Ahmad, AzamPay
This episode features an interview with Firas Ahmad, Group CEO, AzamPay, an East African mobile money platform. Topics range from the future of mobile money to the state of venture investing in Africa. To access podcast bonus features, please subscribe at ctlaughlin.substack.com/ This episode is...
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Episode 30: Zachariah George, Launch Africa Ventures
This episode features an interview with Zachariah George, MP of Launch Africa Ventures, an early-stage VC investing in African B2B startups. To access podcast bonus features, subscribe at https://ctlaughlin.substack.com/ Here is a link to the article on the demise of Kune...
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Episode 29: Jason Sive, Mobicred
Episode 29: Jason Sive, the CEO of South African virtual credit platform Mobicred talks about the problems facing the buy now, pay later space. This interview was recorded at the BigFive Summit, 12-13 May 2022 in Cape Town.
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Episode 28: Vinny Lingham, Waitroom
This episode features South Africa Shark Vinny Lingham talking about his new company Waitroom, why South Africa will never be a tech innovation leader, the true promise of blockchain, and what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. This episode is sponsored by Matchcraft
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Episode 27: Gideon Greaves, CV VC
Episode 27 features Gideon Greaves, MD, Africa for CV VC, a Zurich-based blockchain-focused VC firm. Greaves was brought on last year to build the VC firm's Africa practice. As he explains in the podcast, there is plenty of activity among startups built on blockchain technology, many of which...
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Episode 26: Guy Futi, Orda
In 2020, Guy Futi left Jumia, where he ran Jumia Food in Nigeria, to launch Orda, a Lagos-based software company that aspires to be the operating system for small (and also large) restaurants across Africa. Great conversation about launching a business and raising money with a born entrepreneur....
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Episode 25: Mike Smits, Ukheshe Technologies
Episode 25 of the BIG5D Podcast features a conversation with Mike Smits, CFO and a co-founder of Ukheshe, a South African fintech that provides API-first fintech-as-a-service solutions to banks, telecoms, and other fintech companies.
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Episode 24: Ezana Raswork, Africa 118 & Taskmoby
This episode features an interview with Ezana Raswork, CEO of Africa 118 and Taskmoby. The latter company is an Ethiopean home services platform that was a 2021recipient of Google's Black Founders Award, an equity-free investment from the search giant.
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Episode 23: Tariq Sheikh, CEO, Postpay
Postpay is a player in the Middle East buy now, pay later space. And it hopes soon in the wider Africa, Middle East, and Asian markets. A former consultant, Sheikh launched Postpay in 2019, around the same time as several other regional competitors. The podcast covers the BNPL business model,...
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Episode 22: Deepankar Rustagi, CEO, Omnibiz
Deepankar Rustagi founded Omnibiz in 2020 to help small FMCG retailers run their businesses more efficiently. He explains his business and his outlook on Africa's tech scene in this 30-minute interview. The company recently raised $3 million to build out its product and pursue international...
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Episode 21: Kennedy Kamau, MD, Kune Food
The episode features an interview with Kennedy Kamau, a startup veteran who is now managing director of Kune Food, a food-tech startup in Nairobi that has a unique business model, using its own cloud kitchen and a fully owned and operated distribution network. The company raised a $1M pre-seed...
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Episode 20: Martin Majlund, CEO, Sky.Garden
This episode features Martin Majlund, co-founder and CEO of Sky.Garden, an eCommerce that offers a Shopify-like solution to small businesses in East Africa. The company recently raised $4 million to grow and expand internationally. This episode is sponsored by Matchcraft.
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Episode 19: Simon Ellis, SmartWage
This episode features a conversation about earned wage access with SmartWave CEO Simon Ellis. EWA is an increasingly common tool that gives employees access to wages before payday, usually for a small fee. EWA platforms are popping up all across Africa, where the need is acute. By some measures,...
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Episode 18: Mohamed Al Fayed, Grubtech
Mohamed Al Fayed is co-founder and CEO of grubtech company that is emerging as a key infrastructure player in the UAE’s exploding ghost kitchen scene.Grubtech has built an operating system to address the friction points arising from running a high-volume food delivery business.
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Episode 17: Tori Samples, Leaf Global Fintech
Tori Samples is co-founder and CTO of Leaf Global Fintech, a company based in East Africa that offers a blockchain-based digital wallet for refugees and migrant workers. The podcast focuses on whether a mission-driven business can also be a scalable fintech. And why blockchain can transform the...
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Episode 16: Firas Ahmad. AzamPay
This episode features Firas Ahmad, /CEO of AxamPay, an East African fintech that is a division of Azam Group, the East African conglomerate. Firas is a thought leader on African fintech in addition to running a payments platform. His view that mobile money is not sufficiently innovative forms the...
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Episode 15: Katharine Budd, NOW Money
Katharine Budd and her business partner Ian Dillon spotted a huge underserved community in the Gulf Region. The millions of lower-wage migrant workers are largely unbanked and send billions of dollars back to their families in their countries of origin. NOW Money has created a digital banking...
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Episode 14: Brett White, Zapper
We engage Zapper CEO Brett White on the stage of small business in South Africa one year into the pandemic. We also discuss innovation, fintechs vs banks, and the technologies that will drive the payments space in the years to come.
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Episode 13: Lauren Kagori, Pezesha
Lauren Kagori works with Pezesha, a financial inclusion platform in East Africa that is trying to solve to problem of poor access to capital for small businesses through crowdfunding.
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Episode 12: Omosalewa Adeyemi, Flutterwave
Flutterwave's head of global partnerships chats with the BIG5D Podcast about her company's meteoric rise to become of just a few tech unicorns in Africa. Among the topics covered include Flutterwave's $170 million Series C round, its new deal with PayPal, and the complexities of simplifying...
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Episode 11: Dana Buys, CEO, Cloudone.mobi
Dana Buys is a longtime software entrepreneur who had a vision for creating a technology that allows restaurant owners to manage their businesses through a mobile device. Cloudone's TallOrder point of sale solution is designed for a mobile-first present and self-service future in the retail,...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The BIG5D Podcast features interviews with entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, and others driving the adoption of digital marketing and commerce tools by small businesses in Africa and the Middle East. The "Big Five" in this context are search, social, mobile, location, and payments. This podcast is produced by BigFiveDigital and The Africa B2B Tech Report. Send inquiries to [email protected]
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The BIG5D Podcast
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The BIG5D Podcast have?
The BIG5D Podcast currently has 53 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The BIG5D Podcast about?
The BIG5D Podcast features interviews with entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, and others driving the adoption of digital marketing and commerce tools by small businesses in Africa and the Middle East. The "Big Five" in this context are search, social, mobile, location, and payments. This...
How often does The BIG5D Podcast release new episodes?
The BIG5D Podcast has 53 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to The BIG5D Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The BIG5D Podcast?
The BIG5D Podcast is created and hosted by The BIG5D Podcast.
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