Ft World Tech Founders

Aktau, on the Caspian Sea, is far from being a tech hub. Yet one entrepreneur from Kazakhstan is changing that For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Ghanaian tech entrepreneur Ethel Cofie on the advantages of simple and cheap innovation For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

A talent pool of women programmers has helped two entrepreneurs solve the tricky problem of finding a taxi to take civilians between Syria and Lebanon For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Communist party member and fintech founder Xu Zewei on the ups and downs of riding China’s start-up boom For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Bulgaria was once a centre for production of IT hardware for Soviet bloc countries. Now, as the tech hub of the Balkans, salaries are rising and more developers who moved away to earn better wages are returning home For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Dorcas Muthoni on the opportunities in Silicon Savannah and how to avoid corruption  For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Conflict with Russia has not stopped a new crop of entrepreneurs finding funding, including Maxim Gerbut, the creator of the ultimate smart house For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Najla Al Midfa is teaching young people in the United Arab Emirates how to start and run their own businesses For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

A shy schoolboy internet entrepreneur, hiding in the college computer centre, Vijay Shekhar Sharma went on to build a mobile payments company with more than 200m users. He says he never wanted to build Cisco, he says always wanted to build an Apple For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Poland has seen a surge in Ukrainian immigrant workers since fighting started in Ukraine in 2014. Among them are an increasing number of highly skilled migrants who are entering Poland’s technology industry. One of the start-up success stories is CallPage, which creates tools that help ecommerce companies increase sales by putting sales calls through to the people visiting their web pages. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Growing up in Somaliland Ismail Ahmed saw first hand the difference that money transfers from migrant workers could make to families and the local economy. He went on to run a money transfer project as part of the UN Development Programme, but was fired after blowing the whistle on alleged corruption in the Somalia programme. Founding WorldRemit was a way for Mr Ahmed to get back into working in the money transfer business, which he believes can have a transformative effect on areas such as Somaliland. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

It is not a bad time to be a cryptocurrency business in the country at the moment, says Marina Guryeva, co-founder of Cyber Fund, since president Vladimir Putin has indicated he is unlikely to ban these activities. However, blockchain professionals are keeping a bag packed just in case. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Ammar Mardawi is discovering just how tricky it is to run an ebook business in the Middle East without customers being able to pay via electronic payments. FT contributor Burhan Wazir, met Mr Mardawi to find out more For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Wendy Wu is hoping her new job and dating advice app Wonder Tech will help students pick jobs based on their passion and interest rather than simply on university entrance exam scores. The FT’s Beijing correspondent Yuan Yang met Ms Wu to find out more. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

It is said that a company from Belarus has to be twice as good to be taken seriously, even one referred to as Google for videos. Maija Palmer, a Special Reports commissioning editor, visited Minsk to find out why. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

In the 1950s, Romania was one of the pioneering countries developing computers. Programming skills still run deep and this is what inspired Florin Talpes to start Bitdefender, a cyber security company. But is Bitdefender an exception or simply the first sign of a growing tech ecosystem in the country? For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

The Egyptian educational system is heavily reliant on private tutoring, which puts huge financial pressure on families. FT correspondent Heba Saleh met up with Mostafa Farahat, who created his start up, Nafham, to provide students with online video lessons free of charge. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Learning to play the piano on a boat in the middle of a storm. This is how serial entrepreneur Amine Azariz describes the challenges facing tech founders in Morocco. FT reporter Siona Jenkins met up with Amine to find out more For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

SaasPass is in the forefront of developing ways to rid us all of the dreaded password. This San Francisco-based company has an extensive operation in Turkey. FT Correspondent Mehul Srivastava met its Turkish founder Sal Karatas to hear about the challenges tech companies face in Istanbul. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

3D printing has so far failed to live up to initial hype, but Mixed Dimensions is developing software that takes the pain out of the process. FT correspondent John Reed met up with co-founders Mo Taslaq and Baha Abunojaim to hear about the challenges of running a business that straddles Amman and Silicon Valley For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy