Toby Shapshak

Toby is publisher and editor of Stuff magazine in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is currently writing a book on innovation in Africa. 

Formerly a senior newspaper reporter covering everything from crime to politics, he has been writing about technology, the internet and the impact it has on our lives for more than 10 years - for a number of newspapers and magazines, including the Sunday Times, The Times, Business Day, Mail & Guardian, The Financial Mail, Business Times, ThisDay and The Weekender. 

He broke the Hansie Cronje "the devil made me do it story" for the M&G. He has been the Mail & Guardian's technology editor on three occasions and sports editor twice, and been the technology editor for two other newspapers (Weekender and ThisDay). He ran the M&G website when it was the first news site in Africa. He covered the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and shadowed Nelson Mandela when he was president. 

He has spoken at numerous conferences about innovation in Africa, including SxSW in Austin, Pivot East in Nairobi, Flux Trends Review, TEDxJohannesburg, and Tech4Africa. He is writing a book on innovation in Africa, and writes on this subject for the Sunday Times. He recently auditioned to speak at the main TED conference on how innovation differs in Africa.

In 2009 Shapshak - who was the ICT Journalist of the Year for 2002 in South Africa - was named in GQ's top 30 men in media and the M&G's 300 influential young South Africans list. Full biography