Interview: Bidorbuy founder and uAfrica MD Andy Higgins

Loading player...
Andy Higgins, the founder of Bidorbuy and now MD of uAfrica.com, joins TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod for a discussion on his career history -- including his time as a navy diver and as second engineer on a super yacht -- and the state of e-commerce in South Africa in 2020.

In the interview, Higgins looks back at the heady days of e-commerce start-ups in the late 1990s, the dot-com crash and how Bidorbuy nearly didn't make it, and how the business has evolved since.

He also talks about his involvement today in the logistics side of e-commerce through uAfrica.com. And he provides his views on the likely impact of the Covid-19 crisis on online shopping in South Africa.

Don't miss the discussion!
21 Apr 2020 English South Africa Technology · Business

Other recent episodes

TCS | Donovan Marsh on AI and the future of filmmaking

Award-winning South African film director Donovan Marsh has pivoted to artificial intelligence filmmaking and believes generative AI tools could fundamentally reshape how movies are made – and who gets to make them. Marsh, whose 30-year career includes directing the Hollywood submarine thriller Hunter Killer starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman,…
7 Apr 52 min

TCS+ | Vodacom Business moves to crack the SME tech gap

Everyone agrees that small and medium enterprises are the backbone of the South African economy. But the reality on the ground tells a different story – too many small businesses are still running on spreadsheets and WhatsApp, locked out of the tools that could help them compete. In this episode…
5 Apr 34 min

TCS | MTN’s Divyesh Joshi on the strategy behind Pi

MTN South Africa has launched Pi, a digital-only mobile operator that runs on MTN’s network but operates as a standalone brand, offering contract-free mobile and home 5G connectivity through a single app, with no call centres, no credit checks and no lock-in. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, TechCentral…
1 Apr 21 min

TCS | Anoosh Rooplal on the Post Office’s last stand

The South African Post Office has been in business rescue – a form of bankruptcy protection – since July 2023. Business rescue practitioners Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons have made it clear to parliament that the entity will not survive liquidation unless a R3.8-billion bailout is received soon. With some…
27 Mar 27 min

Meet the CIO | Healthbridge CTO Anton Fatti on the future of digital health

Anton Fatti, chief technology officer of HealthBridge, says the doctor-patient relationship must remain at the centre of digital transformation in healthcare, even as AI reshapes how medical practices operate. Speaking on TechCentral’s Meet the CIO podcast series, brought to you by NTT DATA, Fatti said AI and cloud computing are…
23 Mar 45 min