Afribiz: Business & Investment in Africa

Professor Mthuli Ncube, Chief Economist for African Development Bank, shares insights from a recent AfDB report, Political  Fragility in Africa.

Donovan Neal-May, Head of the South African Business Link to Experts (SABLE), discusses the role the South African Diaspora is playing in assisting South African entrepreneurs develop market opportunities.

Robert Zeger's, Chief Investment Officer for the African Development Bank, provides AfDB's take on the importance of SMEs in Africa.

Amrei Botha, Head of SME Banking at Standard Bank, says that 90% of small businesses in Africa are informal. This sector has unique challenges from their formal counterparts, which Standard Bank has taken on as an opportunity. Join us as we discuss with Amrei Botha key insights Standard Bank has learned serving this sector and how the Bank is developing an untapped market successfully.

Clickatell was at the forefront of sms gateway services in Africa, and is now taking a significant role in the mobile transaction space.  Peter de Villiers, CEO of Clickatell, joins us to share emerging trends in the mobile messaging and mobile transaction space in Africa.

Democracy, governance, and economic growth impact the business environment and the development agenda in Africa. New reports by the African Development Bank shed some insights in patterns seen in elections, coups, and revolutions over the last 50 years.  Professor Mthuli Ncube, Chief Economist and Vice President at African Development Bank, joins us to share insights from the reports and pinpoint key challenges for Africa's future trajectory and how business can be a big part of the solution and opportunity.

China-Africa cooperation is here to stay. The question is how will it evolve. Yanjuan Wang, Executive Editor for ChinAfrica Magazine based in Beijing, shares what they see in this key economic and trade relationship between China and Africa.

Bryan Sidders, head of Prior Institute, joins us to share their innovative business model to provide health care services in South Africa.

Afribiz.fm host, Lauri Elliott, speaks with Jarl Heistee, President of XSML, about investing in SMEs, rather small businesses, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ansgar Kiene of the African Renewable Energy Alliance joins us to discuss renewable energy opportunities across Africa.

In today's show Lauri interviews Derek Kwesiga, founder and managing director of Derekorp Ltd., a Kampala, Uganda-based processor of local fruits and vegetables.  Lauri and Kwesiga discuss Uganda's vast resources and opportunities.

Afribiz’s Lauri Elliot talks shop with Tim Prewitt of Nigeria Markets, a program funded by USAID to improve agriculture in Nigeria. Lauri and Tim talk about the goals and progress of the program, which are to revolutionize the farming industry in Nigeria by increasing commercial agriculture, increasing farm yields, and stimulating investment in sector to develop agriculture in the country for the next generation.

Patrick Devenish, Group Chief Executive of AICO Africa Limited, a Zimbabwe-based agro conglomerate talks with us about his company's expansion and farming efforts on the continent.

As mobile phone penetration grows, so do the opportunities in mobile advertising. Isis Nyong'o of inMobi joins us to share insights about the mobile advertising market in Africa.

Edward George of Ecobank Research joins us to share his thoughts about doing business in French-speaking West & Central Africa.