Afribiz: Business & Investment in Africa

Halving poverty in Africa is one of the key millenium goals, but few African countries will meet their goals by 2015.  World Hope International, a non-profit Christian development organization, decided to take an innovative and strategic approach by establishing an exporting zone in Sierra Leone. Richard Schroeder, CEO of First Step which is a for-profit subsidiary of World Hope, joins us to share how the venture benefits the country, development efforts, private sector, and even the poorest communities in Sierra Leone while making a profit.

2010 was overall an excellent year for African stock markets.  However, global stock markets have hit many bumps in the road in 2011. This is also being felt in Africa although not necessarily tightly tied to the global stock markets. Eric Musau, a research analyst with African Alliance Kenya Investment Bank in Nairobi, joins us to share some insights on what is happening in these markets.

Cameroon is country with a budding ICT sector in Central Africa. Joel Nlepe of 24Labs in Cameroon shares some insights into this sector.

Social and impact investing has come main stream with growth exceedign 5% in the U.S. alone.  However, it is still not the most effecient space for social ventures and investors trying to participate. Nexii has launched an investment exchange, IX, for social ventures. Its essentially a stock exchange for social ventures. Tamzin Ractliffe, CEO of Nexii, joins us to share about some of the current dynamics in social investing and talk about how investors and social ventures can get involved with IX.

There has been alot of controversy of land acquisition by foreigners, in particular, in Africa in the last few years. The Oakland Institute recently published a scathing report of U.S. interests involved. In this episode, we suggest the real issue is not land acquisition in Africa, but how it should be done. Nissi Ekpott, Hartmut Sieper, and Lauri Elliott, authors of "Redefining Business in the New Africa," address this issue based on the foundation laid in the book. We focus on the ways to positively use land acquisitions via investment on the continent.

DRC is known for its rich mineral deposits, in both a good and bad way.  However, the country is teaming with a variety of opportunities and stories of successful businesses. Mr. James Siggs, CEO of Feronia, which has a subsidiary in the Democratic Republic of Congo, will join us for this episode. He will share what they have learned about doing business successfully in the DRC after more than 100 years of continuous operation in the country.

We hear so much about the conflict in Eastern DRC which reflects a small part of the entire country and overlook the business opportunities in the vibrant Congolese country. One such spot is Kinshasa, the capital, which has over 10 million people according to recent calculations. That means it has more people than New York. It also means its a megacity. With a large population like this, there are obviously many business opportunities. Claude Ibalanky, Chief Executive Officer of Bantu Investments, joins us to share insights about this consumer market and how they found success there.

People interested in exporting often feel that it takes alot of money to start.  However, according to Dennis Hessler of Spyglass Point, you can start often with existing infrastructure and on a part-time basis. Join us to learn the practical side of starting an export company. While the primary audience are American entrepreneurs, most of the principles can be used by entrepreneurs in any country.

Africa is a significant example of how different types of networks impact governance globally and in countries. There are official networks like government in Africa, but also diaspora, development, business, NGO networks. The mix of these networks impact economic and business opportunities as they impact the environment in which business is done. When we think of government, we think of formal institutions.  However, as Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter, author of A New World Order explains, government networks are increasingly informal. In this episode, we explore what that means for developing regions in government administration and to a degree economically.

Indian and Africa have a long joint history, particularly in East and Southern Africa. However, China has burst on the scene in the last five years, particularly in trade. At the recent India-Africa Summit, Indian and African leaders spoke about how to increase their cooperation based on an agreement a few years back. Within this agreement, there is alot of positive impact on business, trade, and investment. Learn what you as an African business, or a foreign business partnering with an African business, can tap into.

South Africa is the leading online sales market in Africa, but still in its infancy.  Arthur Goldstuck, CEO of World Wide Worx, shares recent insights into this small but growing market.

While reasons for starting a social enterprise will vary, there is a lot that social entrepreneurs can learn from each other. Manny Ohonme, founder of Samaritans Feet (a Jesus Christ-centered non-profit that provides new shoes to children around the world without them), joins us to share the practical side of building a sustainable, social enterprise that moves beyond traditional models of donations and grants. His experience provides insights that apply to most social enterprises.

Recently, we spoke with Federic Woringer of the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce in France about what they learned about challenges entrepreneurs perceived in doing business in Africa and insights the chamber would share with entrepreneurs to overcome challenges at the France-Africa Business summit this month. The challenges they address also are not foreign to English-speaking businesspeople, so you will find the discussion informative. Why might Francophone Africa be of interest? Francophone Africa consists of little over half of the African nations  (over 27) in which French is an official language. The opportunity within this sphere of business in Africa is tremendous with countries with large populations like Egypt (over 80 million) and Democratic Republic of Congo (over 71 million) included.

Africa is a huge treasure trove of innovative social ventures. But all organizations face the same dilemma. How do you sustain the organization whether for-profit or non-profit? Today, we begin to take a look at social enterprises that build economic sustainability into their business models.  Kounkuey Design Initiative is an archictectural design social enterprise, specializing in re-inventing public spaces in underprivileged areas. Chelina Ogbert, one of the founders, shares how they look to sustain themselves as a social start-up and how they build economic opportunity into the communities they serve. Their Kibera project was a finalist in the recent Urban Housing Sustainability competition hosted by Changemakers.com.  

The performance of emerging Sub-Sahara African multinational corporations has outshined their counterparts in North America and Europe, yet we know so little about them and how they do it. Mr. Andrew Alli, CEO of Africa Finance Corporation, and Mr. Jumaane Tafawa, Director of Frontier 100 of the Initiativae for Global Development, share how these MNCs are finding great success in Africa and beyond. You can learn from the experience of these MNCs.