In an interview with TechCabal, Larry Yon II, co-founder and president of US-based CyberAlliance, said Africa’s tech ecosystem should aim to build the next NVIDIA and that digital trust and diaspora capital are central to unlocking the continent’s tech potential. TechCabal published the interview on 25 September 2026.
Yon framed cybersecurity and trust as infrastructure for digital growth. He told TechCabal that if cybersecurity does not keep pace with artificial intelligence adoption, Africa risks losing confidence that data and innovation are secure, and that countries and businesses can enter global partnerships without sacrificing sovereignty.
Yon traced his engagement with the continent to a failed investment in South Africa. He said the collapse of that venture prompted him to travel across Africa, meet local founders and learn from those markets. “I remember sitting in a window seat on the plane preparing to leave South Africa and return to the United States (US),” Yon told TechCabal. “I looked out the window and felt this tremendous sadness. I didn’t know if I would ever have the opportunity to come back.”
He also described how those early experiences shaped his wider work. While serving as managing partner at B&C International, Yon said he advised American companies entering African markets and helped African enterprises expand into the US. He recounted meeting the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and the late King Goodwill Zwelithini while working on a business process outsourcing initiative in KwaZulu-Natal Province, and said each offered lessons that have stayed with him. Yon quoted Mama Winnie as saying, “Don’t forget about the people,” and King Zwelithini as telling him that his ability to tell Africa’s story in the US would exceed the king’s.
Yon described CyberAlliance as an AI-powered cybersecurity company operating across American and African markets. He said the company has worked in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Morocco. He argued that Africa is not a monolith, noting differences in regulation, business culture and technological maturity across countries.
To make cybersecurity more accessible, Yon discussed SallyAI, which CyberAlliance describes as an AI-powered cyber analyst and translation layer that converts technical cybersecurity data into prioritised, business-ready intelligence for security teams, executives and boards. He said the idea was informed by early work in Senegal, where limited French fluency among his US team exposed a practical barrier to technology adoption.
Yon emphasised the importance of coupling global capability with local understanding. “Global capability doesn’t replace local intelligence,” he told TechCabal, adding that bringing world-class technology into a market without contextual understanding does not solve the problem.
Leave a comment