Tapping the Wealth of Africa as a Global Individual Investor

As 2010 comes to a close and the new year comes around, it's appropriate to reflect on the challenges we have faced as entrepreneurs this year and what we will do differently next year to move our ventures forward. Taha Jiwaji, Founder of BongoLive in Tanzania, shares his own experiences this past yearwith us, particularly the challenges he ran into and how he worked around them. You will find both inspiration and a fresh perspective to keep down that entrepreneurial route in 2011....

As 2010 comes to a close and the new year comes around, it's appropriate to reflect on the challenges we have faced as entrepreneurs this year and what we will do differently next year to move our ventures forward. Taha Jiwaji, Founder of BongoLive in Tanzania, shares his own experiences this past yearwith us, particularly the challenges he ran into and how he worked around them. You will find both inspiration and a fresh perspective to keep down that entrepreneurial route in 2011....

The EU-Africa Summit finished a few weeks ago. Nwakego Eyisi and Lauri Elliott review some of the key issues which impact business in Africa....

The EU-Africa Summit finished a few weeks ago. Nwakego Eyisi and Lauri Elliott review some of the key issues which impact business in Africa....

Due diligence is often thought as a negative, antagonistic process when investors and entrepreneurs consider working together - a necessary form of evil. But Lauri Elliott's discussion with Joseph Price of Triomphe Consulting sheds a different perspective while providing practical tips for both entrepreneurs and investors. This episode is a special collaboration with VC4Africa.biz....

Due diligence is often thought as a negative, antagonistic process when investors and entrepreneurs consider working together - a necessary form of evil. But Lauri Elliott's discussion with Joseph Price of Triomphe Consulting sheds a different perspective while providing practical tips for both entrepreneurs and investors. This episode is a special collaboration with VC4Africa.biz....

Any time a discussion centers around the BRICs, particularly China, in Africa it can swing positively or negatively. However, the truth is that Africa is being seen as an emerging market to the emerging BRICs, so they have interests not only in extracting minerals or making money on projects but also developing sustainable businesses that will serve the growing African economies. One area you can see the BRIC strategic involvement is in infrastructure. While their contribution to infrastructure develop...

Any time a discussion centers around the BRICs, particularly China, in Africa it can swing positively or negatively. However, the truth is that Africa is being seen as an emerging market to the emerging BRICs, so they have interests not only in extracting minerals or making money on projects but also developing sustainable businesses that will serve the growing African economies. One area you can see the BRIC strategic involvement is in infrastructure. While their contribution to infrastructure develop...

In a continuation of Afribiz coverage of major summits impacting trade, business, and investment in Africa and emerging markets, Nwakego Eyisi, and economist and Afribiz expert, and Lauri Elliott discuss the G20 Seoul Summit declarations. This is a conversation from the week of November 15th....

In a continuation of Afribiz coverage of major summits impacting trade, business, and investment in Africa and emerging markets, Nwakego Eyisi, and economist and Afribiz expert, and Lauri Elliott discuss the G20 Seoul Summit declarations. This is a conversation from the week of November 15th....

As we begin to wind down 2010, the business scene in Africa is still alive with possibilities. Duncan Clarke, Founder of Global Pacific & Partners joins AfribizTalk to give us a high-level view of business in Sub-Saharan Africa to whet our appetites for more possibilities in the new year....

As we begin to wind down 2010, the business scene in Africa is still alive with possibilities. Duncan Clarke, Founder of Global Pacific & Partners joins AfribizTalk to give us a high-level view of business in Sub-Saharan Africa to whet our appetites for more possibilities in the new year....

Cleantech investments are on the rise globally. 2010 figures are exceeding 2009 figures, according to the CleanTech Group. But how does Africa figure in this picture? Kyle Denning of Sustainable Energy Solutions says the Cleantech sector is poised for growth in Africa once a few projects prove viable. Cary Lee Peterson of Ecco2 is convinced that their project in Nigeria is one of those key projects that will open the watershed for cleantech projects on the continent. Both Peterson and Denning join Afribi...

Cleantech investments are on the rise globally. 2010 figures are exceeding 2009 figures, according to the CleanTech Group. But how does Africa figure in this picture? Kyle Denning of Sustainable Energy Solutions says the Cleantech sector is poised for growth in Africa once a few projects prove viable. Cary Lee Peterson of Ecco2 is convinced that their project in Nigeria is one of those key projects that will open the watershed for cleantech projects on the continent. Both Peterson and Denning join Afribi...

Gauteng Province in South Africa is the 4th largest economy on the African continent after the countries of South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria, according to Mudunwazi Baloyi, General Manager of Investment, Trade, and Project Facilitation at the Gauteng Economic Development Agency. Baloyi joins AfribizTalk to discuss Gauteng as an asset which investors, entrepreneurs and businesses can leverage to do business in Africa. Baloyi shares that Gauteng is a global city region (GCR), a unified region made up of ...

Gauteng Province in South Africa is the 4th largest economy on the African continent after the countries of South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria, according to Mudunwazi Baloyi, General Manager of Investment, Trade, and Project Facilitation at the Gauteng Economic Development Agency. Baloyi joins AfribizTalk to discuss Gauteng as an asset which investors, entrepreneurs and businesses can leverage to do business in Africa. Baloyi shares that Gauteng is a global city region (GCR), a unified region made up of ...

Last year about this time, Kenya entered the global broadband boom with the landing of the SEACOM international broadband cable. David Owino, co-founder of HumanIPO and intimate with the Kenyan ICT sector, joins AfribizTalk to share about what is going on and where the software development community is heading. Owino says three changes over the last couple of years have positioned the Kenyan ICT market where it is today. First, political and regulatory reforms increased freedoms and competition. For...

Last year about this time, Kenya entered the global broadband boom with the landing of the SEACOM international broadband cable. David Owino, co-founder of HumanIPO and intimate with the Kenyan ICT sector, joins AfribizTalk to share about what is going on and where the software development community is heading. Owino says three changes over the last couple of years have positioned the Kenyan ICT market where it is today. First, political and regulatory reforms increased freedoms and competition. For...

As companies shift to take advantage of global markets, a key question is how to develop a strategy that will allow them to compete globally. One company in South Africa, Bizworks, took advantage of government objectives and programs, multilateral agreements, and partnerships across global regions to lay out a global strategy. Mfanu Mfayela, Chief Executive Officer of Bizworks, joins AfribizTalk to share his experience. Myafela explains that Bizworks is involved in the business processing outsourcing...

As companies shift to take advantage of global markets, a key question is how to develop a strategy that will allow them to compete globally. One company in South Africa, Bizworks, took advantage of government objectives and programs, multilateral agreements, and partnerships across global regions to lay out a global strategy. Mfanu Mfayela, Chief Executive Officer of Bizworks, joins AfribizTalk to share his experience. Myafela explains that Bizworks is involved in the business processing outsourcing...

Born Global firms, a term coined by McKinsey and Associates, are those that provide products or services globally from birth. According to research by McKinsey, Born Global firms see the world as their marketplace from the beginning, not as an expansion to their domestic markets. These firms will often implement their global strategy within two years from inception. On our show today, Ashifi Gogo, CEO of Sproxil, Inc., shares how Sproxil is a Born Global firm operationalized first in Africa. Gogo ind...

Born Global firms, a term coined by McKinsey and Associates, are those that provide products or services globally from birth. According to research by McKinsey, Born Global firms see the world as their marketplace from the beginning, not as an expansion to their domestic markets. These firms will often implement their global strategy within two years from inception. On our show today, Ashifi Gogo, CEO of Sproxil, Inc., shares how Sproxil is a Born Global firm operationalized first in Africa. Gogo ind...

Funding is one of the critical factors in the development of entrepreneurial and SME enterprises in Africa. J. Skyler Fernandes, Chief Operating Officer of the South African Chamber of Commerce in America (SACCA), joins AfribizTalk to discuss what is happening with a particular segment of SME finance in Africa – that between microfinance and venture capital. This segment of finance happens to lack a cohesive industry, so it’s known as the “Missing Middle.” The “Missing Middle” includes finance be...

Funding is one of the critical factors in the development of entrepreneurial and SME enterprises in Africa. J. Skyler Fernandes, Chief Operating Officer of the South African Chamber of Commerce in America (SACCA), joins AfribizTalk to discuss what is happening with a particular segment of SME finance in Africa – that between microfinance and venture capital. This segment of finance happens to lack a cohesive industry, so it’s known as the “Missing Middle.” The “Missing Middle” includes finance be...

Would you be surprised to know that Africa has 17 countries that on average had GDP rates of over 5% over the last 15 years? These countries have helped Africa position itself as an emerging global trade and business region. And according to Steve Radelet, author of “Emerging Africa: How 17 Countries are Leading the Way," indicators portend more positive movement on the continent moving forward. Radelet joins this AfribizTalk episode to share the insights he gained over twenty years in the internation...