Month: January 2025

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African Tech Roundup - Alan Knott-Craig Jr On Life After Mxit’s Royal Fail (2016)

Listen in as Alan Knott-Craig Jr, son of Alan Sr, the pioneering co-founder and first CEO of Vodacom, one of South Africa's leading mobile network operators, and later the feisty CEO of challenger telco Cell C—takes us through a transformative career moment that set the stage for his future ventures. Episode overview This early 2016 conversation finds Alan Knott-Craig Jr in a moment of trademark forthrightness. Fresh from his tenure as CEO of Mxit, once Africa's largest social network with over 50 million registered users, he was already building Project Isizwe, a non-profit bringing free public Wi-Fi to South African townships, while laying the groundwork for HeroTel—reportedly the country's largest fixed wireless internet service providers. His journey would later lead to founding FiberTime, his current venture bringing pay-as-you-go fibre internet to townships through an innovative voucher-based model—an offering in a growing field of players serving underserved communities. Critical points - The fascinating disconnect between Knott-Craig Jr's prominent surname and admittedly privileged middle-class roots—his father never held Vodacom shares and put him through government schools - His journey from dutiful son following paternal direction until 25 to forging his own entrepreneurial path - The honest characterisation of Project Isizwe's non-profit work as "sincerely selfish" What we know now Viewed from 2025, this conversation foreshadowed key developments in Knott-Craig Jr's trajectory: - The evolution from running Africa's largest social network to pioneering township internet connectivity models - His transition through various ventures: from Project Isizwe's free township Wi-Fi network to HeroTel's rural broadband expansion, and now FiberTime's pay-as-you-go township fibre model - The emergence of his distinctive voice on entrepreneurship, particularly evident in his strongly-opinionated social posts and entrepreneurship books. Questions we're pondering - Could Mxit, with over 50 million registered users at its peak, have dominated African mobile social networking if it had doubled down on being a dating platform instead of taking WhatsApp head-on? - After writing several books about entrepreneurship over the last decade, has Knott-Craig Jr fully embraced vulnerability in "Life Lessons: How to fail and win" (June 2024)? - Will FiberTime's pay-as-you-go model or some derivative—no contracts, just vouchers for 24 hours of uncapped 100Mbps—prove to be the key that unlocks true digital inclusion in South African townships? Image credit: Stokoekeagan
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Focus on Africa - Why is Johannesburg facing a water crisis?

What can be done to tackle a water crisis in South Africa's largest city Johannesburg?

Can Somalia's army tackle jihadists when peacekeeping forces withdraw? After space debris landed in a Kenyan village we ask : will this become more common?

Presenter: Audrey Brown Producers: Sunita Nahar, Yvette Twagiramariya, Nyasha Michelle and Bella Hassan in London.  Frenny Jowi in Nairobi

Senior Producer :Paul Bakibinga

Technical Producer: Gabriel O'Regan

Editors :Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi

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CBS News Roundup - 01/09/2025 | World News Roundup

L.A. wildfires leave devastation block after block, while shifting winds bring new dangers. A State Funeral today for Jimmy Carter. Those stories and more from CBS News Correspondent Peter King on today's World News Roundup.

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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - Why Rates Of Homelessness Are So High

In Illinois, Black residents are eight times more likely to be homeless than white residents. The lack of affordable housing, the racial wealth gap, the legacy of redlining all drive these high rates. This is outlined in a report from the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, commissioned by the Illinois Office to Prevent and End Homelessness. Reset hears more about these structural factors and what can be done to alleviate these disparities from Illinois State Homelessness Chief Christine Haley. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
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Up First from NPR - LA Wildfires, Carter’s State Funeral, Trump’s Agenda

Devastating wildfires in the LA area have leveled entire neighborhoods as firefighting resources are stretched thin, a state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter will be held at Washington's National Cathedral, and President-elect Trump met with Senate Republicans to help chart a course for his top legislative priorities.

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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Gigi Douban, Roberta Rampton, Kelsey Snell, Janaya Williams and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Lilly Quiroz. We get engineering support from David Greenburg. And our technical director is Zac Coleman.

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Native America Calling - Thursday, January 9, 2025 – Combating a Native American housing crisis

Among California’s efforts to fight homelessness is an allocation of more than $91 million to boost tribal housing efforts. The Cherokee Nation is putting $40 million toward affordable housing this year. That’s on top of a $120 million housing investment two years ago. HUD is disbursing almost $73 million toward housing programs for 38 tribes. The aim is to offset the persistent disparity in Native American homelessness. We’ll hear about what that money is being spent on and what hurdles remain.
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Bay Curious - Is it Safe to Swim in San Francisco Bay?

If you can brave the cold and get over your worries about sharks, is it a good idea to swim in the bay's somewhat murky depths? This week, reporter Dana Cronin dives into this question about whether it's safe to swim in the bay and when it might not be such a good idea.


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This story was reported by Dana Cronin. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Katrina Schwartz and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED family.

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Curious City - Chicago history is full of consequential years

When it comes to picking the most consequential year in Chicago’s history, 1919 rises to the top for many historians because of how the race riots that year had a big impact on how the city segregates itself. But our experts agree that picking one pivotal year in the city’s history is impossible. Of course, years like 1871 or 1893 stand out for the Great Chicago Fire and the World’s Columbian Exposition. But what about important moments for civil rights and women’s rights? What about arts and culture? Hop inside the time machine as we explore other key years in Chicago’s rich history.
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The Intelligence from The Economist - Adaptitude: India and climate change

The world’s most populous country is at the front line of climate change. Our deputy editor explores the many ways it is adapting—because it must. Our series The World Ahead continues by examining the plausibility of the incoming Trump administration’s policy promises (10:26). And the robots that can at last help with grape harvesting (18:26).


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