Episodes

  • TCS | MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita on competition, AI and the future of mobile

    TCS | MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita on competition, AI and the future of mobile
    Nov 28 2025
    South Africa’s big three telecommunications operators have all reported numbers in recent weeks, and the theme is clear: competition in prepaid has intensified sharply.
    Telkom’s resurgence has put pressure on both MTN and Vodacom, with MTN acknowledging it has “discernibly” lost prepaid market share.
    This is one of the topics covered in this wide-ranging and exclusive TechCentral Show interview with MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita, who sat down earlier this week with TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod to discuss this and other major topics, including:
    • The impact of online gambling on the telecoms sector;
    • The need for further consolidation in South African telecoms, and why Mupita won’t completely rule out a deal with Telkom, provided the “stars align”;
    • Vodacom’s acquisition of a co-controlling stake in Vumatel parent Maziv and how MTN will respond;
    • The impact of low-Earth orbit satellite connectivity on the telecoms industry and how MTN plans to work with companies like SpaceX/Starlink and Amazon Leo – and whether he sees them as competitors or partners (or both);
    • The spectacular turnaround in Nigeria and whether it’s durable;
    • The future of MTN’s involvement in Iran, and the lessons learnt from the group’s exit from other Middle Eastern markets;
    • Plans to shift MTN Group’s focus to East Africa in the coming years; and
    • Why he’s fascinated by the impact that AI could have on telecoms in Africa.
    Don’t miss a great discussion on the future of MTN and telecoms in Africa! TechCentral
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    57 mins
  • TCS | Dominic Cull on fixing South Africa’s ICT policy bottlenecks

    TCS | Dominic Cull on fixing South Africa’s ICT policy bottlenecks
    Nov 21 2025
    Returning to the TechCentral Show is ICT regulatory expert Dominic Cull, founder of Ellipsis and regulatory advisor to the Internet Service Providers’ Association. Cull recently attended communications minister Solly Malatsi’s policy colloquium in Pretoria – the first under a non-ANC communications minister.
    Cull says there is a discernibly different tone from Malatsi compared to his predecessors: more openness, more willingness to engage stakeholders and a stronger focus on evidence-based policymaking. However, while the intent is encouraging, South Africa’s ICT policy environment remains inconsistent, slow and fragmented.
    In the podcast, Cull discusses:
    • Malatsi’s policy colloquium and what came out of it
    • The state of ICT policy and regulation in South Africa
    • The biggest policy bottlenecks holding back growth in the ICT sector
    • Why government doesn’t fully grasp the economic impact of digital infrastructure
    • The latest on the next spectrum auction
    • The EU’s decision to hand much of the 6GHz band to mobile operators – and why South Africa shouldn’t blindly copy it
    • What’s needed to fix the Rica legislation
    • Why Starlink isn’t coming to South Africa anytime soon
    Cull also shares the top priority areas he’d focus on in 2026 if he was minister of communications.
    It’s a great discussion – don’t miss it! TechCentral
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Meet the CIO | How BDO’s Khaya Mbanga is preparing the firm for the AI future

    Meet the CIO | How BDO’s Khaya Mbanga is preparing the firm for the AI future
    Nov 17 2025
    Welcome to season 2 of Meet the CIO, TechCentral’s podcast series that dives into the minds of South Africa’s top technology leaders. Meet the CIO is brought to you by NTT DATA – where global experience meets local impact.
    After a highly successful first season featuring CIOs from across the corporate landscape, we’re kicking off season 2 with a conversation with Khaya Mbanga, chief information and digital officer at BDO South Africa, where he also heads the firm’s growing BDO Digital division.
    BDO is one of the world’s largest professional services firms, specialising in audit, tax and advisory. Headquartered in Belgium, its name comes from the three founding firms – Binder, Dijker and Otte – that merged to form the organisation.
    In this wide-ranging episode, Mbanga reflects on his career journey through consulting, FMCG and mining; how he first got into technology; and the evolution of the CIO role into one that now straddles digital strategy, cybersecurity, AI and organisational change.
    He also unpacks his passion for artificial intelligence, including his involvement in the IITPSA Special Interest Group on AI and Robotics, and offers his perspective on how AI will reshape auditing, tax and broader business functions in South Africa. From managing hallucinations in large language models to rethinking talent pipelines, Mbanga shares candid insights into both the opportunities and risks ahead.
    Topics covered include:
    • What it means to be the CIDO of BDO South Africa
    • Career background across consulting, FMCG and mining
    • His first computer and how he got into technology
    • Robotic process automation in the mining sector
    • How AI will transform auditing and tax
    • Dealing with the risk of AI hallucinations in data-sensitive environments
    • The broader impact of AI on South African business
    • Technology talent shortages and what skills CIOs need today
    • His favourite productivity hacks and tools
    Don’t miss this great opener to the new season of Meet the CIO. If you missed any of the interviews from season 1, you can find them all on TechCentral. TechCentral
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    35 mins
  • TCS | BMW CEO Peter van Binsbergen on the future of South Africa’s automotive industry

    TCS | BMW CEO Peter van Binsbergen on the future of South Africa’s automotive industry
    Nov 6 2025
    South Africa’s automotive industry is in a state of flux. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, BMW Group South Africa CEO Peter van Binsbergen unpacks the challenges – and opportunities – facing a sector under pressure.
    He tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the future of BMW’s Rosslyn manufacturing plant in Pretoria, which was established more than half a century ago, and the urgent need for new government policy to ensure the automotive industrial base in South Africa is future-fit and ready for the shift to electric mobility.
    Van Binsbergen also discusses the rise of imported vehicles in the sales mix in South Africa – including the rapid expansion of Chinese brands. China is a market he knows well, having spent three years there with BMW.
    In the interview, TechCentral Show viewers will also hear about:
    • The state of the local automotive manufacturing industry;
    • What South Africa needs to implement in policy reform to ensure the automotive industrial base in South Africa – and why this is urgent;
    • How the country must adapt to the global shift to electric mobility;
    • The role of BMW’s IT Hub in South Africa;
    • BMW’s global EV strategy, and what that means for South African EV buyers; and
    • BMW’s Neue Klasse vehicles, which run the company’s next-generation EV platform, and why they are significant to its future.
    Don’t miss a fascinating discussion! TechCentral
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    30 mins
  • TCS | Why Altron is building an AI factory

    TCS | Why Altron is building an AI factory
    Oct 28 2025
    Altron earlier this month announced that it has deployed an "AI factory" in one of Teraco’s new Johannesburg data centres. Powered by Nvidia AI infrastructure and software, the factory is has already gone live with half a dozen customers.
    In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Altron Group chief technology officer Bongani Andy Mabaso explains the rationale for the investment, what building the factory entailed and what the anchor tenants are using the platform to do.
    Mabaso tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod:
    • What an AI factory is exactly and why Altron has decided to build one;
    • What’s involved in deploying AI infrastructure, especially from a power and cooling perspective – and why Altron decided to locate its AI factory at Teraco;
    • What companies like Lelapa AI, MathU and Dataviue are using the Altron AI Factory to do;
    • Why Altron partnered with Asus and HPE on the project;
    • How the infrastructure can be used; and
    • The advantages of hosting an AI factory in South Africa, as opposed to an offshore data centre – it’s not only about better network latency.
    Don’t miss the conversation! TechCentral
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    27 mins
  • TCS+ | Videsha Proothveerajh on Vodacom Business’s new approach to enterprise technology

    TCS+ | Videsha Proothveerajh on Vodacom Business’s new approach to enterprise technology
    Oct 28 2025
    Vodacom Business recently appointed an “extraordinary business advisory board”, a strategic initiative designed to strengthen its enterprise expertise and support organisations on their digital transformation journeys.
    To unpack the decision to appoint an advisory board, TechCentral is joined in this episode of TCS+ by Videsha Proothveerajh, director of Vodacom Business, who explains that it’s all part of Vodacom’s shift from being a traditional telecommunications provider to a “techco”, or technology company.
    In this episodes Proothveerajh chats about:
    • The advisory board, who it is comprised of and the purpose it is meant to serve in the business services landscape in South Africa;
    • The fact that the pace of technology change has accelerated coming out of Covid and how this influenced Vodacom Business’s approach to digital transformation;
    • How the new advisory board influences Vodacom’s approach to guiding enterprise clients on digital transformation;
    • The role the latest telecoms technologies, including 5G and the internet of things, are playing in the business-to-business environment in which Vodacom Business operates;
    • How Vodacom Business tailors its digital transformation solutions to meet the needs of different industries or enterprise segments, or indeed of customers that might not be as advanced as others in their application of technology;
    • The most common obstacles South African enterprises face when it comes to technology adoption and digital transformation; and
    • The emerging trends and technologies that will have the biggest impact on the business market in the next few years.
    Don’t miss an informative discussion! TechCentral
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    32 mins
  • TCS | The company building a ‘living computer’ with human cells

    TCS | The company building a ‘living computer’ with human cells
    Oct 23 2025
    The invention of the silicon transistor was fundamental to the success of the digital age, driving the core of the modern-day digital economy.
    The rise of generative AI has put hardware at the epicentre of the next wave of economic growth, with chip makers such as Nvidia and AMD reaching record valuations as demand for advanced chips far outstrips supply.
    But as AI data centres expand, so, too, does their consumption of resources, with their demand for water and electricity rising exponentially.
    FinalSpark is a Swiss biocomputing company exploring more efficient ways of computing – and it’s turned to human neurons as a potential solution.
    In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Fred Jordan, co-founder and co-CEO of FinalSpark, gives insight into “wetware” (in effect, living hardware) and what it means for the future of computing.
    Jordan delves into:
    • What inspired him turn to living neurons as a means of processing;
    • Parallels between his training as a signal processing engineer and his work with living neurons;
    • Why FinalSpark uses human neurons and not any other like those from a cat on an octopus;
    • How skin cells are used to “create” the neurons;
    • How the neurons are fed, stored and kept alive;
    • How long the neurons live for and the sort of computations FinalSpark has made them perform; and
    • His views on the future of computing.
    Don’t miss this intriguing discussion! TechCentral
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    20 mins
  • TCS+ | Managing Sims, saving money: how MSB Micro keeps businesses connected

    TCS+ | Managing Sims, saving money: how MSB Micro keeps businesses connected
    Oct 22 2025
    In today’s hyperconnected society, mobile connectivity is key to running a successful business, helping keep employees connected to each other, to organisational resources and to customers.
    To manage communications effectively, businesses need to have a clear view of the entire Sim estate across the organisation. Monitoring usage and having the control needed to provide (or restrict) resources such as voice minutes and data quickly and easily are critical to managing costs effectively.
    MSB Micro Systems is a company specialising in managed network connectivity for corporate entities. In this episode of TechCentral’s TCS+, MSB Microsystems founder and CEO Danny Stemmet talks about the ins and outs of Sim management.
    Stemmet delves into:
    • MSB Micro’s history and how the company changed from being a software development house to a services company;
    • How the rise of hybrid work environments and remote teams have affected demand for Sim management services, especially among mobile workforces;
    • How MSB Micro Systems supports Sims that perform machine-to-machine communications and other internet-of-things functions;
    • How MSB’s network-agnostic approach provides flexibility its resellers and, by extension, their clients;
    • How MSB’s pricing model supports businesses at every stage growth, helping them scale appropriately when they need to;
    • The key benefits for a company that chooses to use a managed connectivity service rather than managing their mobile estate directly with an operator; and
    • Why MSB Micro is changing its business model from being a managed service provider to a platform business.
    Don’t miss this informative conversation. TechCentral
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    12 mins