African Investments Archives - AfricaBusiness.com

16Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Business

MIGA and ATIDI collaborate to streamline African investments

Associations consent to second three-year arrangement to scale and imitate fruitful organization models. The agreement will establish a method for evaluating progress and outcomes, as well as joint marketing efforts to enhance cooperation and investigate new investment opportunities. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a member of the World Bank Group Guarantees, and the African Trade & Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI) have signed a three-year partnership to accelerate foreign direct investment throughout Africa. The two organizations have reached a second agreement to maximize development impact. Through the World Bank Group guarantee platform, the two organizations will collaborate by utilizing ATIDI's insurance and guarantee product expertise across t...

13Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, South Africa News

Unveiling Strategic Pathways to Accelerate Innovation in South Africa: BCX Releases 2024 Digital Innovation Index Report

BCX, in collaboration with EY-Parthenon, released the much-anticipated second edition of the BCX Digital Innovation Index Report at the Enterprise Forum held at the Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel, in Cape Town. This in-depth study delves into the core pillars of innovation—strategy, investment, operating models, skills, and culture—offering actionable insights for businesses at every stage of their innovation journey. Designed to help organisations assess their innovation strategies, the report also provides a detailed perspective on the rapidly evolving digital transformation landscape in South Africa. Melvin Reynolds, BCX's Digital Innovation lead, expressed his excitement for this year's report stating: "The second edition of the BCX Digital Innovation Index provides a benchmark for ...

27Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, Startups

The most valuable ‘white spaces’ today in African investing

By Victor Basta, CEO of DAI Magister In the vast and diverse landscape of African growth investing, more opportunities abound today than ever before. Africa’s recent growth surge has created a large group of companies already scaling successfully, while the current market environment has reduced the capital available. This untapped potential between high quality investment “demand” and reduced capital “supply” extends to various commercial sectors, including logistics, HR, and insurance, all presenting significant high value “white spaces” waiting to be filled. For those looking to invest in Africa, especially in high-growth, digitally driven companies, these markets offer immense potential. African Investment In Developed Digital Sectors Africa’s digital sectors are leading the way in ...

12Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy, Main

Harnessing Africa’s Potential: advancing ESG strategies for a sustainable future

The opportunities for building a sustainable future for Africa are at least as great as the challenges, writes Christian Toben, Head of Financial Institutions for Emerging Markets at Commerzbank. Here, he discusses some of the positive initiatives that are helping to drive forward the continent’s ESG agenda and the crucial role of financial institutions in supporting Africa’s potential to step onto the global stage as a green energy hub. According to a survey by the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, some 97% of respondents believe that environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles are a key consideration when making decisions on investments. ESG, it seems, is now as important in developing Africa as it is in mature markets such as Europe and North America. ...

What African companies “need to look like” today to raise $50m+

12Aug

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, Main

What African companies “need to look like” today to raise $50m+

By Risana Zitha, Managing Director and Head of Africa at DAI Magister Prior to 2022, African growth companies had begun raising $50m+ equity rounds regularly for the first time in history, mainly in fintech but increasingly in sectors such as logistics, education, and healthcare. Since the market downturn, those large rounds have slowed to a trickle, even though today there are more African companies than ever before who are truly “eligible” to raise that kind of capital. This growing cohort, alongside a larger group aiming to raise rounds in excess of $25 million, share the common question, “what will I need to look like now to aspire to raise that kind of funding to continue growing?”. The question is even more pressing today since many successful businesses have already raised interna...

9Jun

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

Why fund of funds unit trusts are the way to go

By Gregoire Theron, Chief Investment Officer at GraySwan Investors have the option to either construct their own portfolio of selected single unit trusts or use a fund of funds solution – otherwise known as a fund of funds unit trust. Investors who are looking for well-diversified combination of single unit trust funds which provides consistent superior performing and at lower fees than the industry should consider fund of funds unit trusts. There are a select few premium fund of funds unit trusts which provides such as a one stop shop solution. Single manager unit trusts, which are managed funds that pool money from investors to achieve economies of scale, have grown increasingly popular as they provide easy access to a broad range of assets, such as local and offshore stocks, bonds an...

23May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Main

Africa: Resilience in the private equity market

By Angela Simpson and Lydia Shadrach-Razzino, Partners and Co-heads of the Corporate/M&A Practice, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg Private markets in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have seen a continuous rise in activity since the COVID 19 pandemic. The latest AVCA Private Capital Activity Report 2022 revealed that USD 7.6 billion of private capital was invested in 2022, resulting in a 3% growth in deal value across the continent last year, after a similarly upbeat 2021. According to the report, 37% of the deal volume came from multi-region investments. Challenges, risks and resilience This resilience is despite the impact of numerous crises over the last couple of years, especially the looming global recession, supply chain disruptions and soaring energy prices. These factors have led to fea...

24Mar

By Alexandra FraserNo Comments

Business, Startups

Why SMME shaming leads to an investment mismatch

Recent articles on fund-raising activities in Africa paint the picture that capital is abundant and readily available. The first seven weeks of this year have seen continued high investment levels, with start-ups raising over $1 billion through 130 deals. This creates incredible optimism for many, signalling a new investment era for businesses across the African continent. While the continental boom is positive for high-growth start-ups, this does not translate into an abundance of capital for the majority of entrepreneurs in South Africa. Despite popular belief and owing to the overuse and incorrect use of the term ‘start-up’, most entrepreneurs are not building truly scalable, innovation-driven, high-growth ventures. They are building SMMEs. Although it might not be seen as sexy to bui...

18Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, Startups

3 trends set to dominate African mobile apps in 2022

In 2021, the mobile industry in sub-saharan Africa continued to show incredible resilience against the impacts of Covid-19 and experienced high growth. Digital solutions have provided instrumental support for communities and businesses, boosting their transition into adopting a mobile-first approach to tackle most of the daily challenges across the continent, with fintech applications dominating this surge. According to the Mobile Economy Report, 615 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa will subscribe to mobile services by 2025, that’s equivalent to 50% of the region’s population. As we enter into a new year, Daniel Junowicz, RVP EMEA & Strategic Projects, at leading mobile marketing analytics platform AppsFlyer, explores three key trends for mobile apps in Africa this year. Inve...

9Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Business, Kenya News

DPI raises one of the largest Africa funds at US$900m to invest in innovation-led companies

Development Partners International (DPI), a premier investment firm focused on Africa, announced on 4th October that African Development Partners III Fund (ADP III), has exceeded its US$800 million target, and is set to hold a final close at US$900 million, with an additional US$250m of dedicated co-investment capital. This brings a total of US$1.15 billion for investments on the continent. The fundraising establishes ADP III as one of the largest funds dedicated to investing global capital in Africa. ADP III will invest in established and growing companies in industries that benefit from Africa’s fast-growing middle class and the increasing digital transformation of the continent. All investments have the highest standards of impact and environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) work. ...