FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What you may still be wondering after browsing the site: who I am, what I do, how it all fits together, and how to reach me.
Moïse B. Selph
Is Moïse B. Selph a journalist or an entrepreneur?
Both. A journalist at Ifrikya FM, Algeria’s pan-African public radio, where he anchors the main 6.45pm news and hosts Africa Tech. The founder of Lobaka, a voice-technology brand created in Algiers in 2026.
A written charter keeps the two apart: he does not cover Lobaka’s direct competitors on air, and he declares his interest whenever a subject touches the company, on air and on this site.
What do Motali, Molobi, Mosali and MOTALOSALI mean?
They are the four doors of the site, in the navigation and footer. Molobi — the one who puts things into words — brings together the programmes (Africa Tech, Nzamba, Umuzi), their guests and media appearances. Motali — the observer — gathers long-form work, the Observatory and its data. Mosali — the builder — leads to Lobaka and entrepreneurial projects. MOTALOSALI connects the background, manifesto, press kit, contact and this FAQ.
How do the radio work, the analyses and Lobaka fit together?
One thread. Every week on air, Moïse interviews the people building the continent’s digital infrastructure. The analyses write out at length what those conversations bring up; the Observatory keeps the verifiable record, line by line, with its sources.
One obstacle comes back in almost every interview: the language barrier. Lobaka is the piece he decided to build in response, starting with Sasa, live multilingual audio on everyone’s own phone.
Where is he based?
In Algiers, Algeria, where he works for Ifrikya FM and where Lobaka was founded. He is from Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.
Why are Brazzaville and Algiers everywhere on the site?
Because that journey explains the rest. Moïse grew up in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, between Lingala, Kituba and French; he lives and works in Algiers. Four thousand seven hundred kilometres, the Sahara in between, and no street language in common: the Central Africa – North Africa axis is the vantage point from which he looks at the continent, and the daily experience behind his work on languages.
Background and training
What is his training?
Cybersecurity and data science. That technical training is what lets him cover technology news first-hand rather than popularising it second-hand. Certifications are available on request; degrees and experience are detailed in the downloadable CV.
What exactly is his role at Ifrikya FM?
He joined in 2023, the year the station launched, and created Africa Tech there in November 2023. Since 2025 he has anchored the main 6.45pm news, after the 2pm flash. He also hosts Nzamba, the new programme devoted to African startups. This site is his personal site, not the station’s.
The programmes
What is Ifrikya FM?
An Algerian public radio with a pan-African remit, launched in May 2023. It broadcasts on FM in Algiers (105.6) and Tamanrasset (98.4), on shortwave and via the AlcomSat satellite. Africa Tech and Nzamba air there. The station’s site is ifrikyafm.com; moisebselph.com is Moïse’s personal site.
What is Africa Tech?
Moïse’s weekly programme on African technology, broadcast on Wednesdays at 1.05pm on Ifrikya FM, prepared and presented from Algiers. Season 1, from November 2023 to July 2026, followed the continent’s news, one topic a week. Season 2, from September 2026 to May 2027, changes method: one country a week, thirty-six episodes and thirty-two countries, each read along five axes with no score and no ranking.
What is Nzamba?
A new weekly programme on Ifrikya FM, in French, entirely devoted to African startups as told by the people building them. Saturdays at 1.05pm, thirty-five minutes, season 1 launched in September 2026. It is separate from Africa Tech, which continues: not a replacement, a second door. In Lingala, zamba is the forest; from the air you only see the canopy, and the programme goes underneath.
What is Umuzi?
A Lobaka project devoted to African languages. Each episode explores one language as a living heritage, its history, its reach, what it says about the people who speak it, and scores it in koris, the cowries once used as money, along five axes. Season 1 announced for September 2026: thirty-six episodes of fifteen to twenty minutes, shared on LinkedIn. Umuzi means “root” in Kinyarwanda.
When and where can I listen?
Africa Tech on Wednesdays at 1.05pm and Nzamba on Saturdays at 1.05pm, on Ifrikya FM: FM in Algiers (105.6) and Tamanrasset (98.4), shortwave and satellite. Documented Africa Tech episodes have a page with the video when one exists. Umuzi episodes are shared on LinkedIn.
What is the difference between Africa Tech, Nzamba and Umuzi?
Three views of the continent. Africa Tech follows African technology country by country: public decisions, infrastructure, regulation, sovereignty. Nzamba tells startups through the people building them, what is delivered rather than what is promised. Umuzi documents African languages, one per episode. The first two are Ifrikya FM programmes; Umuzi is a Lobaka project.
How many Africa Tech episodes are there, and why aren’t they all online?
The site archives 28 season-1 episodes, chosen for the relevance of their subjects; the programme broadcast more. Fifteen of them are documented, with a summary, guests, chapters and the video when one exists; the others appear in the chronological index. 19 guests are archived, and 17 countries have been covered on air.
What are the “media appearances”?
His appearances as a guest on programmes he does not host: The African Pulse, Grand Angle, Les Africains parlent aux Africains, Éco Sahel, among others, with videos where they exist. His own programmes each have their own page.
What is The African Pulse?
An Ifrikya FM programme in English, hosted by Imen Nouad and streamed live on YouTube, that decodes African technology news. Moïse takes part as a guest, not as host; the site sometimes writes it “Africa Pulse”. His appearances, with the videos, are on the media-appearances page.
Coming on air
How do I come on air or suggest a topic?
Each programme has its own door. Africa Tech: the “Take part” form, to come on air, suggest a topic, suggest someone or report an error. Nzamba: the application form, open to founders, incubators, investors and partners. Umuzi: the form on the project page, to propose a language, a linguist or yourself. An email to moise@moisebselph.com works just as well.
Programmes are prepared weeks ahead: a precise proposal, a fact he would not have found alone, a reason to talk about it now, go ahead of an organisation’s presentation.
Can airtime be bought, or a press release placed?
No, not by anyone: not a startup, not a fund, not a partner. Guest selection is editorial and is never for sale in any form; it is written in the charter. A product launch is not a topic; what it changes for a user is.
Who can apply to Nzamba? Do you need to have raised money?
Founders at any stage and in any sector, anywhere on the continent; you do not need to have raised, a live product and real users are enough. Also incubators and accelerators, investors and experts, and partners. Applying takes about ten minutes, it is free, and the answer comes within fifteen days, positive or not, with the reason if it is no.
Who can take part in Umuzi?
Linguists and researchers first, but also native speakers, writers and poets, musicians, teachers, content creators and people running revitalisation projects. One requirement only: to love a language. Contributions are remote interviews, by video call or phone. A language missing from the season map is one more reason to propose it.
How do I report an error in a programme, a text or a dataset?
Through the “Report an error” option of the Africa Tech and Umuzi forms, or by email to moise@moisebselph.com, naming the episode, text or line concerned and the source. An error reported with its source is handled and the correction is published, dated. In the observatories the original line stays visible: nothing is erased, corrections are stacked.
Why isn’t a guest’s displayed title their current one?
Because title and organisation are deliberately frozen at the time of the interview, with dated public sources: an archive should not age into a lie. Each entry carries the note “at the time of the interview”.
The analyses
What are the “analyses”? Are they journalism?
Long-form texts, essays or series, written from what the programme brings up each week: infrastructure, security, languages, work. They are neither reporting nor academic papers: signed analyses that start from a precise fact, look for the mechanism, test the explanation and end with a concrete consequence for African systems. The raw data lives in the Observatory.
What does the “Declaration of interest” box on some texts mean?
That the text deals with a subject directly related to Lobaka, of which the author is the founder. The box is published under the editorial charter, which commits him to declaring his interest systematically, on air and in writing, and not to cover Lobaka’s direct competitors.
Can the analyses be quoted or republished?
The texts are the author’s and are not under an open licence, unlike the Observatory’s datasets. A short quotation, with the author’s name and a link to the page, falls under the right to quote. For a longer excerpt, a translation or a republication, write first. Audio excerpts from the programmes remain the property of Ifrikya FM.
Essay, series, collection: what is the difference?
An essay is a standalone text. A series is a single line of reasoning cut into numbered episodes, with a contents list and navigation from one to the next; it reads in order. A collection groups the texts of one field: cybersecurity, digital sovereignty, digital entrepreneurship, languages and heritage, society and work.
What do “Approfondir”, “Comprendre”, “Prolonger” and “Contraster” mean under an episode?
The nature of the link between the episode and the suggested text. Approfondir (deepen): the same subject, dug further. Comprendre (understand): the context needed to follow the episode. Prolonger (extend): a consequence or a neighbouring issue. Contraster (contrast): another angle or a counter-example. Links chosen by the author always come before those the site computes.
Do the analyses exist in English, Arabic and Swahili?
Each text’s title and standfirst exist in the site’s four languages. The body is written in French and most often rewritten in English; when a text exists only in French, the page and the card say so, and a link leads to the French version.
How do I hear about new texts and new episodes?
Through the site’s RSS feed, which announces every new analysis without going through a platform: paste its address into a feed reader. Programmes and episodes are shared on LinkedIn and X. There is no newsletter.
Observatory and data
What is the Observatory?
Three structured datasets, each with its own page, sources and revision date. The African digital-sovereignty register: who builds what, where, at what stage, with which source. The Nzamba observatory: what the startups that came on air delivered, promised, and what held them back. The Umuzi observatory: African languages documented along five axes. A line enters only with at least one verifiable, dated source. Where the analyses interpret, the Observatory records.
Can the data be reused? How do I download and cite it?
Yes: the three datasets are published under CC BY 4.0, free reuse with attribution, commercial use included. Each observatory page offers its exports in JSON and CSV. For the attribution the licence requires, give the dataset’s name, the author, Moïse B. Selph, the revision date shown on the page and its address.
What is the difference between “Observatory” and “Data” in the menu?
“Observatory” opens the page presenting the three datasets. “Data” goes straight to the largest of them, the digital-sovereignty register, with its filterable table, methodology and exports.
How often is the data updated?
With no fixed schedule: the registers are revised by hand, as reporting and reports come in. That is an acknowledged limitation. Each page shows its last revision date, and the Nzamba and Umuzi exports are dated snapshots.
Can I propose an initiative, a startup or a language to add?
Yes, provided you bring at least one verifiable, dated source: without it the line does not enter. Write to moise@moisebselph.com. Corrections follow the same rule and are added, dated, without erasing the original line.
Lobaka
What is Lobaka?
A voice-technology brand founded in Algiers in 2026 by Moïse, with a first solution, LOBAKA Sasa: several live audio channels in one room, each person listening to theirs, in their language, on their own phone, through a QR code and the browser. Conferences, shows, guided tours, services, cinemas, meetings: wherever several languages have to coexist. Lobaka means “speak” in Lingala.
Is Lobaka an operating company or still a project?
A project in its test phase, and the page says so plainly: no commercial maturity, no launch. Sasa sessions are created on request, no public pilot session has taken place yet, and no numbers will be published until there are real ones. The product’s status is authoritative on lobaka.com.
Can Sasa be used for an event right now? What does it cost?
Yes, as a pilot session: free, no contract, no invoice, a room and an audience. A conference, a tour, a class, a service, a screening where several languages need to coexist is a test ground; Moïse sets the session up with you and what it teaches feeds the product. Propose one through the form on the Lobaka page.
Lobaka’s founder is a journalist: how is the conflict of interest handled?
Through written, public rules, the editorial charter of August 2026. He does not cover Lobaka’s direct competitors on air. He systematically declares his interest when a subject touches the company, on air and through a box on the texts concerned. Guest selection remains independent and is never for sale.
Do participants need to install an app? How many languages and listeners?
Nothing to install, nothing to hand out: a QR code projected in the room, everyone scans, picks a channel in their phone’s browser and listens through their earphones; they can switch channel at any time. First milestone: up to five channels and one hundred and fifty listeners per session, on Wi-Fi or mobile data, about thirty megabytes per hour of listening. The speaker, interpreter, commentator or guide, broadcasts from their own phone, no account needed.
How do I contact Lobaka?
Through the form on the Lobaka page, which distinguishes three subjects: hosting a pilot session, becoming a voice on Sasa, press or partnership. The general contact form also has a “Lobaka” subject. In every case Moïse answers; the email moise@moisebselph.com works too.
Speaking, press, collaborations
Can Moïse be invited to speak at a conference, a panel or on a programme?
Yes. His speaking topics: African digital sovereignty, the security of language chains, African languages and artificial intelligence, the continent’s startup ecosystems, media and technology in Africa. He speaks in French or English. Use the “Speaking” subject of the contact form, with the event date; the press kit already holds the biographies and the portrait.
I am a journalist: how do I reach him, and what is in the press kit?
Through the “Press” subject of the contact form, which asks for your deadline, or by email to moise@moisebselph.com. The press kit gathers what is needed to introduce him without having to ask: two ready-to-copy biographies, the exact spelling of his name and titles, a high-resolution portrait, his media appearances and his speaking topics.
Can I propose a project, a partnership or a collaboration?
Yes, through the contact form: the “Lobaka” subject for anything related to voice infrastructure, “Other” for the rest. Nzamba also welcomes partners through its application form. One thing is not negotiable: airtime is not for sale.
Can his photo be reused?
The press-kit portrait is free to reuse in an editorial context, with credit. For advertising use or another resolution, write first.
Can excerpts from the programmes be reused?
Audio excerpts from Africa Tech, Nzamba and Umuzi remain the property of Ifrikya FM; this site reproduces them with a link to the source. For reuse, contact the station.
The site
Does the site exist in English, Arabic and Swahili?
Yes, four languages, chosen with the language button at the top of every page; Arabic displays right to left. Navigation, titles and standfirsts are translated everywhere. Some pages and some long texts remain in French or English; when that is the case, the page says so.
What happens after I send a form?
A confirmation appears, then Moïse replies himself. For a Nzamba application, the answer comes within fifteen days. For a programme or language proposal, it may come later, when the subject reaches the schedule. If the form fails, a button opens a pre-filled email so nothing is lost; for anything urgent, write directly to moise@moisebselph.com.