This episode of the Techpoint Africa Podcast sees us welcome Dr. Olumide Okubadejo, Head of Product at Sabi and AI researcher as our reporters discuss some of the hot topics in the African tech ecosystem. We also have Yinka Awosanya, Research Lead at Intelpoint join the podcast.
First up is the hotly contested Paul Graham "delve" debate.
On April 7, 2024, Paul Graham, Co-founder of influential startup accelerator, Y Combinator, posted on X where he concluded that an email including the word "delve" must have been written with the help of AI.
Many Nigerians were quick to counter this and one question this brings up is how much of a need there is for Africa to have its own AI strategy.
Dr. Olumide cites a need to start working on native problems like cataloguing African data to create models that help Africans and reflect their culture and history.
Next up is Zimbawe's gold-backed currency.
On April 5, 2024, the apex bank released a monetary policy statement to announce its gold-backed currency, the country’s latest attempt to staunch the inflation of its currency.
This annoucement led to a disruption in online services due to many citizens trying to convert their Zimbabwean dollars into the new currency.
Bolu explains that this new currency will be valued based on the market price of gold, but there is also the fact that the feasiblity of this is based on Zimbabwe's gold reserves.
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The country currently has 2.6 metric tonnes of gold reserves, holding 1.1 tonne domestically and the rest abroad. In dollar terms that amounts to about $22 million. Yinka also brings up potential restrictions owing to the currency being virtual and most likely being available only on smartphones.
Fun fact: The Zimbabwean dollar dropped 40% against the US dollar in March 2024.
Last is Nigerian self-checkout startup, Jump n Pass and its partnership with Justrite to activate its mobile self-checkout services at all Justrite Superstores in Nigeria.
Our reporters delve into the potential hiccups the company might face relating to adoption and if this creates more problems than it solves.
You can catch up on the conversation on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and anywhere you get your podcasts. You can also send your questions and observations to podcast@techpoint.africa or share your thoughts using the hashtag #TechpointAfricaPodcast.
