Investing in Africa – Page 4

F.I.V.E Questions with Jeffrey Manu, CEO of GrowingStartup.com

Jeffrey, CEO of GrowingStartup.com, beams with charisma and passion. A conversation with him is highly engaging and inspiring. I was fortunate to cross paths with him during a networking event organized by the African Technology Foundation at the Google Campus in Mountain View. The event featured talented entrepreneurs from all over Africa and the diaspora pitching their ideas to members of the Black Google Network and other invited guests. After conversing with Jeffrey for a few minutes, I knew I had to feature him on the F.I.V.E Questions project.

1. Briefly describe your background and how you got started. What is the most exciting or rewarding aspect of what you do? What could make it even more exciting or rewarding?

I grew up in Ghana for most of my life. Both of my parents are entrepreneurs so I grew up in a home where the drive to school was peppered with pep talks on how to spot business opportunities. One time my mom came home with some doughnuts and proceeded to say “I bought them for this amount, you should take them to school and sell to your mates.” I was too shy at the time but I wish I’d started my mini-doughnut business at the time.

After high school I worked as a business to business salesman on the streets of London. The compensation was only commission based so I didn’t get paid if I didn’t sell anything after twelve hours of work. That taught me that products are a commodity in most markets but the ability to sell is what defines the success of many entrepreneurs.

I started GrowingStartup.com because I wanted to help entrepreneurs make better decisions and to give them a proven system that attracts customers and increases sales.

The biggest problem for struggling business owners is wisdom. The ability to know and do what is right consistently is what I provide through our apps and content. Within the next decade, we’ll be the destination fight for business owners who want to know how to attract paying customers and boost sales.

What I love about what I do at GrowingStartup.com is that I get to help people turn their ideas into profits. It’s a calling for me almost the same way a pastor sees his ministry. Having hundreds of millions of aspiring and early stage entrepreneurs using our products and services to start and grow profitable businesses would make it even more exciting. We plan on creating other forms of content such as video games and TV shows for entrepreneurs so that’s something else I’m really looking forward to doing.

2. Flash back and then fast forward to the present, what has surprised you the most about the success in your business? What advice do you have for others looking to take a similar path? Is there something you could have done differently to get to where you are quicker?

What has surprised me is the effectiveness of content marketing. Even while I was working as copywriter for an advertising agency, I started out cold calling small businesses that I knew I could help with branding and web design services. As a matter of fact I did not even have a company name or website at the time. I just went and pitched the value of my services and I had over 90 percent conversion rates. What happened afterwards was that I realized consulting did not scale and what many small businesses needed was a system to increase sales and multiply their conversion rates. I started blogging about marketing and sales and that brought in clients from all over the world.

My advice for people who have a job but would want to start their own businesses would be to focus on a need or problem that they can solve better, cheaper or faster than anyone else.

My success would have been accelerated if I had learnt how to market and sell better at the beginning. The second thing is faith. I have learnt that what separates the top performers in business from the others is a mixture of boldness and understanding. Those two pillars are the keys to exponential growth.

3. What is your unfair advantage? What would your colleagues or clients say are the main reasons that make working with you rewarding?

My unfair advantage would be two-fold and that is having the boldness of faith and using love as my business strategy. By God’s grace I don’t believe in impossibilities like most people do. I also know that the less excuses you have the easier it is do what’s necessary.

With regards to love I believe the easiest way to innovate and get paid more is by giving more value to your customers than anyone else in your market. People always buy things at a discounted price to the real value so giving people magnitudes more than they are paying for is good.

I reckon that’s what people will say is rewarding about working with me. For example, the last time I sold an online course, I noticed one of the students needed help. I conducted special consulting sessions for free just to help her. She’s now a lifetime client.

4. Reflect on all of the key sacrifices and trade-offs you’ve had to make to get to where you are today. Which of these would you say was the most pivotal and why?

The most pivotal sacrifice would be how much time I spend reading and imbibing knowledge. Many of the advice out there is tactical. There are a lot of do’s and don’ts that don’t produce results. I found out that understanding how to create the best products and most importantly how to get the right people to buy them makes up for the 50 steps to success that we see and hear all around us.

5. What is the best piece of actionable advice that you’ve received that continues to be source of inspiration in good times and challenging times?

It’s biblical. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (amplified version) talks about how to use love in daily life. It’s not the emotional or sexual high the movies paint it out to be. In my business we make it a point to out-give (and out-love) everyone else. That’s invaluable advice.

Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].8 Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth]. Source: https://www.bible.com/bible/8/1co.13.4-8.amp

Jeffrey Manu’s Bio

Jeffrey A. Manu is a Marketing Strategist and the Founder of Growingstartup.com, a media and technology company. At Growingstartup.com, he builds technology and content that help aspiring and early stage entrepreneurs to start and grow profitable startups.

He enjoys reading business books, biographies, Christian books and watching movies and TV shows. He particularly like shows like The Profit and Billions. Above all else, spending time with my wife is his greatest pleasure. In addition to this, he enjoys playing basketball and reassures himself that he could have played in the NBA league 🙂 #Baller

Connect with Jeffrey on LinkedIn @Jeffrey Manu and Twitter @JeffreyManu

Connecting global brands to Kenya’s demand

The following post is from the e-book, The Most Interesting Thing About Investing in Africa, which features a series of conversations with entrepreneurs, community leaders, students, executives, and doers both home and abroad driving economic empowerment in several parts of my beloved continent of Africa.

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Mr. Peter Nalika

Peter Nalika leads the Digital PR department at Tellem Public Relations East Africa, a digital public relations company established to help organizations communicate better on online platforms.” He was previously a Technical writer at CIO East Africa, where he reported on ICT innovations, policy development, and product reviews. During his time at CIO East Africa, he interviewed several global technology leaders including Oracle’s Mark Hurd, IBM’s Dr. Mark Dean, Microsoft’s Jean-Philippe Courtois among others.

Investment: Digital Public Relations in Kenya

SITUATION

In the 18th century, spice trading was the main economic activity around East Africa. This was before the Agrarian revolution swept through the world in the 19th century, followed by the industrial revolution in the 20th Century.

The 21st century is experiencing what is now being referred to as the technology evolution. Kenya may have struggled to simultaneously catch up on both the agrarian and Industrial revolution in the 20th Century, but the country feels quite at home when it comes to the technology revolution. Tourists from around the world stream into Kenya not only to see the wild animals, or beaches, but also to see how mobile payments are transforming everyday lifestyles in the country.

Kenya also plays home to some of the startups that are changing the way we do things in the world, by incorporating technology. Small Kenyan firms have developed software solutions that are used to collect information and coordinate response in disasters, while others are exporting automated payment systems to Kenya’s neighbors, and even as far as West Africa. In this era, information technology has become a key component in our daily lives, and I believe it has affected the way we manage our information and data. For the few years I have studied and worked in the fields of IT and Information Management, the power of information and how it empowers different organizations and society structures has stood out for me.

In the future, I see myself enabling my organization and our clients to take advantage of technology as an enabler. This is something I have envisioned long before becoming a Public Relations consultant. Four years ago, as a field reporter working with CIO East Africa, I developed an art of compiling information and news from events through information posted on Twitter, the social network. Thus, my computer and an information network became my virtual pen and paper, enabling me to source a variety of opinions of the topic in discussion from the various stakeholders. At CIO East Africa I further explored social media beyond a tool for just reporting my stories, but tried it out as a tool to distribute my published works. Like a newspaper vendor delivers a newspaper to your door, with social media, I could target my stories especially to the valuable “C” level executives. A tweet tagging them would virtually deliver my story to their computers, or phones, in front of their eyes. Further, social media enabled me to bring new business to my employer through meeting of potential advertisers and striking deals with them. Through messages on these platforms, I was able to position my publication to advertisers and come to a value proposition that suited them, and paid our bills.

I started a Digital Public Relations (PR) company to help organizations communicate better on online platforms. For so many years, many Kenyan organizations have relied on traditional PR to reach various audiences, they have invested a lot of resources (time & money) in press briefings, open-ended editorials and one on one interviews in order to pass a message to the general public. This has since then changed once the country was connected through fiber optic cables, access to the Internet became affordable, and device manufacturers brought in smart devices that allowed people to consume content from online social forums.

Since then, organizations realized the need to use social media as online concierge for their brands, because this is where most people access content. This is when I realized the need to help them strategize and communicate better on online forums. The level of Internet adoption and proliferation of affordable smart devices among Kenyans forced companies to think twice and invest on managing social communities for a two-way engagement and harness reviews about their brand and products.

ACTION

The digital world is abound with opportunities. Not only can a Mandarin speaking Chinese in Shanghai have their tweet to an English-speaking Kenyan automatically translated, resulting in conversation where it was no longer possible, but a firm can have their consumers send a tweet to machine in return for a cup of tea or even can of soda. Social Media further breaks the news cycle. No longer are the roles, such as those of the audience, news-makers and subjects cast into stone, but these can be easily reversed. Clients easily find themselves becoming the news, but with the audience playing the previously unfamiliar role news-makers, say if they like something about the client, or bad news if they are not happy with a client’s move.

It thus requires immense experience and skill to help clients walk this tight rope, and hold their hands, as they become front-runners in the digital world. My task is helping organizations not talk to their clients, but rather, to have a conversation with their clients, with the ultimate aim of having both understand each other better and forge a long-term relationship. We undertake a feasibility study, which involves learning the communication objectives of various clients on digital platforms, and then understanding how online audiences prefer to consume such content before coming up with a strategy and community management plan. We invested a lot on training on the employees to enable them understand how to deliver best practices and models that sell, manage and measure digital communications.

Relevancy is the corner-stone of social content.

But in order for organizations to be relevant online they need to understand what is happening in the online world around them. To do this we invested on a comprehensive social listening tool like Radian 6 to ensure our clients jump onto relevant online conversations. In everything we have done in terms of pulling together online monitoring tools, resources and capacity building, we try to be helpful experts by giving clients more than just managing their online communities. We have venture into business intelligence around their customers to enable our clients monitor various consumer behaviors.

This kind of information has encouraged participatory conversations between the client and online communities which has built engagement among these two parties and given the client’s organization a personal side. However, despite the time and effort we have taken to advice organizations on social forums, there is still some sort of resistance. Most organizations are not willing to engage on social media, they don’t understand the importance of having a level of approachability social platforms give to a brand. This has been a challenge so far in addition to quantifying the return on investment when a client or an organization engages into digital communication.

RESULT

Through various engagements, organizations have restructured how they present their messaging to various online audiences. While these audiences have grown to be passive recipients of online messaging, communities have sprout up and created value by connecting members to each other and not just the brand. We have designed remarkable strategies for brands, and even counties in the Kenyan government, the social media strategies have enabled these organizations to have some sort of unity by harnessing the power of social capital and a high purpose among communities. Measurement planning was also one of our outcomes, it is a necessary element of social strategy, and most of our strategies are deeply rooted in measurement planning that is evaluated against client’s marketing and business objectives.

As a company, our objective is to marry traditional PR and digital integration, being a small outfit we started by assisting our clients to creatively use PR and media engagements and we are determined to build the company into a global player. My goal is to have all our existing clients realize and achieve more value through digital platforms. Digital platforms will enable these clients establish personal relationships with their clients and fans, something that is now possible with little effort. Even as a consultant that is highly regarded by my clients, akin to a captain guiding a ship in the high seas, social media and the digital world have also been, and remains a learning experience for my team and me.

To keep up to date with the latest tricks and best practices, my team and I have attended various digital communication training, both in-house and from our affiliates in South Africa. Going to the future, I am aiming to turn social media from more than just being a communication and relationship tool for my clients, but make the same a valuable business insight tool. Through analytics and business intelligence, I aim to provide insight into Kenyan businesses, such that, based on what people are saying online, they can predict the impact of the same on their brand, and be in a position to favorably react to the same, resulting in a positive impact to the business.

Investment: Digital Public Relations in Kenya

L = 50

I = 25

C = 30

BUSINESS IDEA METRIC (BIM): 105

You can connect with Peter on Twitter: @peternalika

The Most Interesting Thing About Investing in Africa: Innovative News Platform About Nigeria

Akin Akinboro (left) and Mobolaji Sokunbi (right) are the Co-Founders of The 234 Project

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Mobolaji is a results-driven Marketing Executive and Entrepreneur. In his capacity as a marketing manager, he established a track record of successfully recruiting and training top sales teams, managing a $150M+ sales campaign P&L, and driving innovative strategies across multiple business units. He has a remarkable gift for identifying and evaluating intricate challenges in an organization and successfully communicating solutions and recommendations to senior leadership. His experience spans across notable companies including Dell, Procter & Gamble, and The Southwestern Company. In his capacity as an entrepreneur, Mobolaji consistently makes things happen from a business development standpoint including as the co-founder of The 234 Project. He is passionate about sharing the untold stories of Nigeria’s greatness and publicizing the achievements of Nigerians around the world.
***
Akin exhibits a masterful set of skills in his work as an Enterprise Systems Engineer and Entrepreneur. Pertinent to his work as a systems engineer, Akin enjoys bridging the gap between IT experts and non-experts alike. Throughout the course of his career, he has established a solid foundation in product & solution development; and he is very experienced in leading efforts related to solution design, infrastructure architecture & implementation, test & testing frameworks, and project management. This experience has allowed him to excel in a variety of engineering roles with major technology companies such as Oracle and Dell. In his entrepreneurial endeavors, Akin is involved in a number of successful ventures including co-founding The 234 Project. He believes that the future for Nigeria is bright and thus essential to the world. Akin is passionate about impacting lives positively and encouraging others to find sustainable solutions to everyday challenges.

Investment: Online Platform to Tell the Positive Stories of Nigeria | The 234 Project

SITUATION
There are many fascinating things about investing in Africa, especially investing in projects that empower young minds. To that end, Mobolaji and Akin sought to develop a deeper understanding of the growing interest in startups and self-employment among young Africans, particularly young Nigerians. This perceived interest seemed to be buoyed by a number of factors like high levels of youth unemployment, lack of opportunities at more established companies in Nigeria, and the foreign investment shift from BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) to MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey) countries with Nigerian startups at the beneficiary forefront of this shift.

Upon closer examination, Mobolaji and Akin discovered that young Nigerians were not only motivated by economic factors, they were also motivated by the opportunity to live out their own definition of success; and so, working with a startup or being self-employed in Nigeria offered them the best chance to stay close to home and stay even closer to self-actualization.

Historically, many young Nigerians yearned to leave Nigeria for greener pastures in North America or Europe (see Forbes article on Brain Drain). They tended to identify with a skewed version of professional success in life i.e. the “non-African” version. Nowadays, with the widespread use of the internet and mobile phones, more young people in Nigeria opt for a career path which allows them to think global but act local.

In his interview, Mobolaji expressed that he had always wanted to reach out to young Nigerian professionals in Nigeria… “to be a mentor or offer some advice from the standpoint of [his] experience in sales and marketing”. The 234 Project now allows him to take his mentoring to a whole new level– the project is an ongoing investment to tell a different story of Nigeria.

“For some time now, if you ask people, particularly westerners, what they know about Nigeria, you’re likely to hear about terrorism, corruption, the Niger-Delta violence, or those kinds of negative stories; before you hear many westerners and sometimes even Nigerians say anything positive about Nigeria, they probably would have already gone through a list of negative things,” he noted.

In 2011, I was at a stopover in London Heathrow Airport and I met a young man from Katy, Texas (United States). He worked for Shell and was on his way to Port Harcourt, Rivers State (Nigeria). He was reading a thick book about the dangers of living in Nigeria. We got into a conversation about his trip and I could tell he was petrified about going to Nigeria. At that moment, I thought to myself, what if this young man also had easy access to the positive elements of living in Nigeria? Imagine a platform that would have shown him great places to eat and visit while living in Port Harcourt.
-Mobolaji recounts his experience on a business trip

Akin and Mobolaji believe that Nigeria, known as the Giant of Africa, has positive stories to tell– from technology to politics, from politics to entertainment, from entertainment to fashion, there are people making positive waves…

While attending a youth event in Johannesburg, South Africa for the MTV BASE Meets show, First Lady Michelle Obama (wife of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama) was spotted wearing Nigerian label Maki Oh by the young designer Amaka Osake. Michelle Obama took to the stage wearing a chiffon blouse from the Spring/Summer 2013 collection. – Source:africanfashionguide.com

The 234 Project is not in the business of denying that there are negative things to report about Nigeria, instead the project is simply advocating for the other side of Nigeria’s story.

The cinema of Nigeria, referred to as Nollywood, grew quickly in the 1990s and 2000s and became the second largest film industry in the world in the number of annual film productions, placing it ahead of the United States and behind only India. In 2013, it was rated as the third most valuable film industry in the world after generating a total revenue of NG₦1.72 trillion (US$10 billion) in 2013 alone, placing it behind India and the United States.
– Source: un.org/apps/news/story (UN News Centre)

ACTION
Akin and Mobolaji, in collaboration with their global team (a collection of young, brilliant minds), are building out an online platform with global access to tell the positive stories of Nigeria– from positive stories that impact celebrities to politicians, from boardroom bosses to classroom champions. The platform will be used to create and share content.

There are two value proposition pillars that they are keeping in mind:

Stewardship;
Empowerment

Stewardship – they are employing a network of young people in Nigeria to help create the content.
Empowerment – they are then connecting the content they create to action items like raising awareness, project fundraising, and professional networking.

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RESULT
They have implemented some key performance indicators that are part of an ongoing evaluation process to measure the success of the project on multidimensional scale. Notably, in five years, the groundwork is in place to create hundreds of jobs (across different disciplines such as videography, writing, editing, and more).

Investment: Online Platform to Tell the Positive Stories of Nigeria
L = 50
I = 30
C = 40
Business Idea Metric: 120

To learn more about The 234 Project, please check out the online community

The 234 Project is active on social media: Twitter – @the234project | Facebook – The 234 Project | Instagram – @the234project

The Most Interesting Thing About Investing in Africa: Mobile Banking in Nigeria

Amara Udokporo, MHA and Kenny Udokporo, MCE, MCO
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Amara and Kenny are investors in Net Gold Business Consulting.

Amara-Kenny

Investment: Banking of the People, By the People, and For the People in Nigeria
SITUATION
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) spends approximately 34 billion Naira (N34bn) a year to print new paper money due to currency mutilation. To address this critical issue of “cash waste” in Nigeria, CBN introduced the “cashless” initiative as part of an overall policy framework in 2011. The framework identified a number of cashless methods (including checks, ATM cards, online banking, and POS terminal); but the most promising solution, both from the standpoint of dealing with cash waste and pulling the unbanked out of the shadows, has been mobile money. Mobile money consists of a number of money transfer processes but it’s basically an electronic payment system that enables one individual or entity to transfer a specified financial value through a mobile phone to another individual or entity without using a bank account.

Unbanked

ACTION
NETGOLD MOBILE worked with the CBN to register as an aggregator and set up partnerships with CBN-licensed mobile money operators such as eTranzact International, First Bank, and Pagatech. Here’s how the work flows:

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN): Provides general oversight and issues licenses to the Operators.
Mobile Money Operators: Manage the technology platform needed for the financial transaction (eTranzact, First Bank etc.).
Aggregators: Act as the middle man between the Operators and the Agents. An aggregator is a company that is registered with a specific Operator. An aggregator recruits, trains, and manages agents within the platform. NETGOLD MOBILE is an aggregator.
Agents: Sign up users and make a commission on the active users that they sign up. Agents are individuals recruited by an aggregator, and they can also conduct transactions on behalf of their users.
Users: Use the mobile money service to send and receive payments. Registration is usually free.

The daily mission for NETGOLD MOBILE is to break down the banking barriers for the unbanked (many of whom are located in rural areas) while providing job opportunities for agents (many of whom were previously unemployed).

Unemployment Word Cloud

RESULT
NETGOLD MOBILE is making progress in breaking down the following mobile money barriers:

Too Few Agents – By partnering with investors like Amara and Kenny, who have sophisticated professional and family networks that they can tap into, a concerted effort has been put in place to continue to attract more local agents.

Lack of User Awareness – The steady increase in local agents will lead to a steady increase in user awareness. In a survey last year, it was estimated that only 57% of available users knew about the service; but that number is now on the rise.

Agent Income and Business Model – As user awareness goes up, the earning potential for each agent goes up as well. Looking ahead…the good news is that the service continues to improve on key performance metrics and tools to help all the stakeholders involved manage the workflow.

Investment: Mobile Money Banking and “Banking On” the Unbanked in Nigeria
L = 10
I = 20
C = 10
Business Idea Metric: 40

To learn more about this service and get more information on how you can participate, please contact: Amara Udokporo | Kenny Udokporo

The Most Interesting Thing About Investing in Africa

by Chuki Obiyo and Ozii Obiyo

INTRODUCTION

What is the most interesting thing that you have done, seen, or heard about investing in Africa? Think about it. Better yet, this e-book gives unique insight into how others have thought about it. From executives at some of the largest companies in the world to young professionals just starting out in their new careers, the topic of investing in Africa makes for a good debate and an even better conversation.

In the course of human history, Africa has gone from the cradle of civilization to the last frontier of the global economy. Ah…Ah…Africa, the protagonist of the first and next chapter in the story of human success? To read about Africa is to learn about our shared origin, and more importantly, to decide on how we get to our shared future. Reading is an investment in time, thought, and action. This book gives you an opportunity to invest in Africa by experiencing the most interesting things others have done, seen, or heard about investing in Africa.

There are so many things to learn about investing in Africa. This book explores some of the most interesting things contributed by people from different backgrounds. Each contributor was asked to answer a series of questions about an African investment project broken down into three sections: Situation, Action, and Result. In turn, we developed our proprietary methodology to analyze each project and we refer to this methodology as the Business Idea Metric (BIM). The BIM uses a weighting scale to evaluate the labor, infrastructure, and capital requirements for an investment idea or project.

For the labor requirement, we look at factors such as low, medium, or high skill and assign a value of 10, 30, or 50 accordingly.

For the infrastructure requirement, we examine factors such as electricity/utilities, construction permits, property registration, transportation, and technology, and attach a value of 10 for each factor accordingly.

For the capital requirements, we consider the amount of capital needed to get the project off the ground from $0-100, $101-1000, $1001-10,000, $10,001-100,000, and over $100,000 and assign values of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 based on the given spend levels.

We have received very positive feedback on our BIM methodology and its LIC (labor, infrastructure, capital) ingredients as a unique way to not only evaluate current projects but to also help prioritize future project ideas for viability. Please see below for one of the investment projects that we profiled from our work. In this write-up, we classify each profile by the contributor’s name (so please continue to watch this space for more project profiles).

We now welcome you to enjoy the reading experience of exploring the most interesting things about investing in Africa.

★★★★★

Wasili Mfungwe, MBA
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Wasili Mfungwe, MBA is an international market analyst and consultant with expertise in economic research, ALM, stress testing, equity research, and business intelligence. He obtained a Bachelor’s of Social Science Degree in Economics and Sociology (Bsoc Eco) from the University of Malawi, Chancellor College and his MBA from Edinburgh Business School (Heriot-Watt University). He has particular interest in African business development, research, and econometrics.

Investment: Restructuring a corporate loan to promote a public good
SITUATION
Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM)– the main electricity generator and distributer in Malawi had a loan with Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) to the tune of MK3 billion (R79 million). The repayment of the loan was hampering the implementation of a program to revamp Malawi’s energy sector in order to provide more reliable electricity, create better non-outsourceable jobs, and improve the lives of everyday Malawians.

ACTION
Standard Bank Malawi Limited stepped in to restructure the loan which ESCOM owed to DBSA. The DBSA loan was secured by a zero coupon note issued by Investec in favor of ESCOM with a maturity value equal to the loan principal. Standard Bank ensured that ESCOM was able to get the highest discounted value for the note which, as part of the restructuring, was being sold before its maturity in June 2019. Standard Bank also advised ESCOM on the various structuring options and negotiated with DBSA and Investec on behalf of ESCOM, discounting the promissory note through its structured sales team and using the proceeds to partially repay the loan. Through its global markets team, Standard Bank built and remitted a total of R37.5 million on behalf of ESCOM to repay the outstanding amount of the loan. Standard Bank’s Investment Banking team structured and negotiated the prepayment with DBSA without any break costs being applied.

“Public-private partnerships should become the rule, not the exception, in delivering services.”
– Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001

RESULT
The transaction has helped to engineer a smooth implementation of the energy sector revamp program. In addition, Standard Bank ensured that ESCOM saved R1.5 million in interest payments per month, leading to improvements in its free cash flow position. The transaction has also helped eliminate forex and interest rate risk for ESCOM.

Investment: Restructuring a loan to a corporation to promote a public good
L = 50
I = 50
C = 50
Business Idea Metric: 150

We want to hear your unique story and a unique story of someone in your network. Send us a note here.

Andela Alumni “Tech-Effect” on Africa’s Youth

Andela is on a mission to revolutionize Africa through technology spearheaded by Africans. This is a big challenge due to the inadequate supply of highly skilled tech talent in Africa. History informs us that successful revolutions require critical thinking, preparation, cultivation, and execution. So for Andela’s Africa tech revolution to materialize, there needs to be supply of local talent and the infrastructure to develop these talent to execute flawlessly.

Even Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is struggling with an adult literacy rate of just over 50% according to UNICEF. Although Nigeria allocates N392B ($1.9B) of the Federal budget to Education, assuming most of the money isn’t siphoned off to enrich corrupt officials, this is still disproportionately low for a country with a population size of over 170M. Moreover, (teacher) strikes at government-owned universities and colleges have become routine that many schools are forced to close for months while the students idle away. The students end up suffering the most from these strikes. And yet, these same students are supposed to be prepared to lead us into and in the future. Do you see the conundrum here?

A typical office at the Andela campus. — Some of Andela’s offices are set up like your personalized living rooms

According to a report by the UN, Africa boasts the youngest population in the world, a figure estimated at 200M aged between 15 and 24. In the same UN report titled: ‘Africa’s youth: a “ticking time bomb” or an opportunity?’ the authors point to the staggering youth unemployment rate as one of the major concerns of Economists. I don’t think you have to be an Economist to be concerned about the potential economic impact of this issue. In Nigeria alone, youth unemployment is well over 50% according to a report by McKinsey. This figure is alarming and does warrant asking if it is in fact a “ticking time bomb”. Remember Egypt?

Lunch time at the Andela campus...jollof rice, fried plantain, fried fish, and chicken was served. — Lunch time at the Andela campus (jollof rice, fried plantain, fried fish, and chicken was served that day)

Andela sees this degree of unemployment as an opportunity which is why the founders are placing big bets on Africa’s youth with their bold approach. The company’s business model, perks, and culture have been detailed in prominent publications such as Inc., Forbes, and Wired. They make for a good read. Read all of them.

Recent Andela Fellows — These fellows are taking advantage of one of the many open-work spaces

During my last trip to Lagos earlier this month, I spent some time exploring the Andela Lagos campus with Iyinoluwa Aboyeji Co-founder of Andela, Ebun Omoni – Director at Andela, and a group of recent fellows (Andrew, Oscar, Blessing, and Adebayo) to experience this revolution unfold firsthand.

I left the campus feeling excited about the potential impact that current fellows could have once they leave Andela to start or join a new tech venture.

Andela recruits some of the brightest minds in Africa with their very selective process and puts them through an intense boot-camp that teaches a combination of computer programming and interpersonal skills before staffing these fellows on projects with clients abroad. The fellows get paid from day one of acceptance, no gimmicks. At Andela, it is much more than being just an amazing programmer, you also have to believe fully in their audacious future of Africa and take a lead role in shaping that future. Five to twenty years from now, many of these fellows will credit their time at Andela as the springboard to their successful venture. As Andela fellow’s technical expertise, business acumen, and confidence continue to accelerate, it will only be a matter of time before these fellows become tech job creators, not only for talent in Africa but talent across the world. I call this the Andela Alumni “Tech-Effect” on Africa’s youth (and the world).

Update as of June 16, 2016: Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook, and Priscilla Chan, his wife, through their joint venture (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative LLC) invested $25M into Andela. This is just another validation that Andela is heading in the right direction.

Rooftop ping pong is one of the many perks at the campus

Andela is hiring. Apply at www.andela.co

Andela currently has locations in Lagos, Nigeria and Nairobi, Kenya; with plans to expand across Africa in the near future.

Follow and join their discussions on Twitter: @andela

3 Months is a “Short-Long” Time

My heart is heavy with mixed emotions. I can’t believe three months have come and gone by so fast. I remember when I arrived in Joburg three months ago and thought three months was such a long time, only to get to the end and realize it’s such a short time. Basically, it’s a “short-long” time.

Deep thinking at the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, SA — Deep thinking at the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town

Living and working in South Africa for the past three months has been one of the best experiences of my life. From meeting with senior executives at South Africa’s biggest companies, to writing case studies till the wee morning hours, to facilitating in front of some of the brightest professionals in Kenya, to tracking lion prides on safari trips, to driving along the coast in Cape Town, to petting cheetahs, to jamming house music at some of the liveliest clubs in Jozi, to dancing in restaurants in Nairobi and the beaches in Maputo…so many special memories. This is one of those experiences that I will continue to draw inspiration from, years from now.

As I reflect on the many lasting and memorable moments, my heart is filled with joy, thanks and satisfaction. In just three months, colleagues have become close friends; handshakes have turned into strategic partnerships; ideas have turned into workshops; and ‘hellos’ have turned into ‘you will be missed dearly’.

Chilling with a Cheetah at a Farm in Pretoria

Special thanks and a big HOWZIT! to the BTS Africa team, you all were integral in making this experience what it is. You welcomed me with open arms and made me feel right at home. This is not goodbye but see you all soon.

I highly encourage every young professional to do a rotation program in Africa. If the company you work for currently do not offer it, create it and volunteer to be part of the pilot program.

Next stop: Lagos, Nigeria! #lasgidi

Next next stop: San Francisco, California.

I can’t wait to reunite with family, friends, co-workers, and my one.

Education Can Stop The Vicious Poverty Mindset

Money can be a very personal and uncomfortable topic to discuss with a stranger. However, when the person sitting across genuinely cares and is equipped with the capability to help, the uneasiness slowly fades away and is replaced with an open and honest discussion. This discussion usually leads to knowledge sharing. With knowledge as the foundation, ideas are sparked. These ideas then turn into goals backed up with time sensitive actionable plans. Money Mondays is a financial literacy workshop carefully designed to turn basic financial knowledge into actionable plans that deliver the highest impact for people in low-income communities. The program content was developed by AVO Vision (a BTS company) and is sponsored by South African Brewers (SAB), one of the world’s largest brewers by volume, in partnership with Better SA, a leading volunteer organization in South Africa.

I had a chance to experience this workshop first hand. There were 30 participants at the workshop which took place at the Thusong Youth center, in the heart of the Alexandra Township in Johannesburg, South Africa. The session started with the facilitator, Tlou (pictured above), encouraging the participants to share memories of money, both good and bad. As expected, the room was filled with silence as no one volunteered any stories. So Tlou then shared a personal story about how an incident that caused her to lose her entire month’s salary motivated her to get a better grasp on managing her finances wisely. Her story accomplished two things. First, she showed vulnerability which allowed the participants to empathize and relate with her. Second, she earned their credibility because she not only highlighted the expertise she’s developed over the years; she also affirmed her commitment to ensure they walked out of the session with a different mindset about money.

The workshop touched on budgeting, financial goal setting, the different bank accounts and their advantages and disadvantages, the most common financial scams and cyber theft, how to boost your income and cut costs, basics of insurance and types of policies, and how to use credit responsibly.

Later in the day, the participants were joined by Finance professionals from SAB. The Finance professionals acted as coaches and provided a second set of eyes on the personal budgets the participants created and their short-term and long-term financial goals. As you can imagine, the room was abuzz with idea exchange. The relaxed, fun and informal tone made discussing the tough topics palatable and it wasn’t random to hear groups burst into laughter, in fact it was highly encouraged. When I spoke with a few of the coaches after their one-on-one session, they all felt they were having an immediate impact and that the participants were responding well to their recommendations. When I probed further, a majority of the coaches pointed at the openness and keen desire of the participants to learn a new concept and immediately apply that concept as a sign that success is just around the corner for them. When I spoke with the participants, they all seemed excited to begin turning these recommendations into actions. Their choice of words in how they described what they would do next was an indication of their mindset shift.

The coaches did point out a few potential challenges that could derail the participant from achieving their financial objectives. The challenge most commonly mentioned was accountability. To address this challenge head-on, one of the coaches set an appointment with his group to connect in a month’s time to measure progress on their short-term goals. In addition, they established and agreed on a regular cadence to ensure they hold each other accountable; now that is how you coach!

One big takeaway for the coaches was that we all share similar aspirations for life no matter our environment. We can all have big bold goals, we just need to put together a plan of action and commit to following through no matter the obstacles that may come our way. Some of us are lucky to be born into more conducive environment that gives us access to amazing resources that we may sometimes take for granted, like 24/7 electricity and clean water. A couple of the ladies at the workshop shared with the class that their long-term goal is to build a school one day. The authority and confidence in which they spoke about their goal really inspired me. And by attending the workshop, they were taking the right steps towards their goal.

I strongly believe that education can stop the vicious poverty mindset and uplift generations out of poverty. When a majority of people are educated, that can be the catalyst for progress and positive change. Governments, societies, families and organizations that prioritize education usually benefit from the investment. I am privileged to be part of an organization that dedicates resources to educating members of their community. If you want to leave a legacy, figure out ways you can transfer some of the skill and knowledge you’ve acquired over the years to someone less fortunate. When you do, you are impacting generations to come; also you may just get an invite to a wedding or a special invitation to an exclusive party. If you have any doubts, just ask Tlou; she’s been invited to countless weddings by former students.

7 Audacious Quotes from the Top CEOs in South Africa

Earlier this year, Forbes released its annual ranking of the world’s 2000 biggest public-traded companies. 13 South African companies made the list. According to South Africa based Businesstech, Forbes’ 2,000 biggest companies listing is calculated by analyzing listed companies from across the world and ranking the top 2,000 in four categories: sales, profits, assets and market value. Each company is given a score based on where they place on each respective list, and the final top 2,000 list is compiled based on a final, aggregated score.

The South African economy is often considered the most developed economy in Africa, so it is with little surprise that they had the most representation on the list among other African nations. Interestingly, when you review the annual reports of these companies, the recurring theme is that expansion outside of South Africa, or Rest of Africa (ROA) as it is often referred to, remains an important part of their strategy as they pursue long-term profitability and sustainability. There are countless reports backed with extensive research that point to the growth potential of the ROA economy. These top 13 companies in South Africa are capitalizing on the ROA opportunity and their continued positive shareholder returns are measurable evidence of their success.

Here are some combined financial facts of the top 13 South African companies from the list:

One positive observation about the 13 companies that made the list is the fact that they play in different or multiple industries which is an unequivocal indication that the African economy is progressively becoming more diverse. Below are 7 audacious quotes from CEO’s of the top 7 out of 13 companies that made the Forbes list. The underlying denominator in all these quotes is that Africa is beyond ripe for investments and every one of these companies are making investments to take advantage of the Africa opportunity. Also, if you read these quotes through a keen entrepreneurial lens, you will quickly realize that even though these companies are fully committed to executing their strategy, many opportunities does still exist for innovative startups and small businesses willing to think outside the box.

“The strong economic growth profile of our African markets beyond South Africa is well-documented and continues to underpin our belief in Africa’s potential. In particular, growth in sub-Saharan Africa over the last decade has increased the number of bankable businesses and households, as well as levels of household income. Furthermore, the financial markets in the rest of Africa are less developed than those in South Africa, with far higher growth potential.” – Ben Kruger and Sim Tshabalala, Co-CEOs of Standard Bank Hanging metal sculpture of the Africa continent at the Corporate HQ of Standard Bank in Johannesburg.

“It is undeniable that the coordinated changes we have made in the last three years have culminated in a Sasol that looks and feels very different. The work we have done, and are still doing, is about organizing ourselves for a new era. It is about a new way of working; it is about being less bureaucratic, more specialized and flexible; it is about moving forward as a more effective, efficient and competitive organization. It is all these things, which ultimately will enable Sasol to excel and endure long into the future.” – David E Constable, President and CEO of Sasol

“In emerging markets, relatively low levels of internet penetration and limited offerings from over-the-top (OTT) players provide an opportunity for mobile operators to participate in the internet services space. The International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency, estimated that, in 2014, worldwide mobile subscriptions would reach seven billion, surpassing the world’s population, and that Africa would have the strongest growth in mobile uptake as well as the lowest mobile and internet penetration rates. Herein lies significant opportunity for MTN.” – Sifiso Dabengwa, Group President and CEO of MTN Group

“Where technology is likely to play out strongly in financial services is on the broader African continent. Recent international research by the MEF, a UK-based mobile content and commerce trade association, indicates that globally mobile banking is the highest in Africa, led by Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. There is much debate about the value of a large physical footprint given the rapid penetration of mobile technology. However, there is no simple answer. On the one hand, yes physical footprints come with massive cost structures and it seems to make sense that branches could be redundant in the digital era. However there are a few important things to consider; firstly, many emerging economies remain predominantly cash based so branches still perform an important function for the depositing and storing of cash. This will take many decades to change. Secondly, smart devices remain unaffordable for hundreds of millions of people on the continent, this too will take a long time to change.” – Sizwe Nxasana, CEO FirstRand Bank

“The continued success of the diversification and internationalisation drive of the Group, in line with its strategy, must once again be credited for the solid performance of all the Sanlam businesses. The next step in this strategy will be to consolidate this portfolio of investments into a truly international company, which will enable the Group to unlock value by extracting synergies through collaboration. One of several steps towards this goal was the agreement between Sanlam Emerging Markets and Santam towards the end of 2013. This has resulted in the expansion of the Group’s general insurance footprint in emerging markets from six general insurance companies in 2013 to 11 at the end of 2014.” – Desmond Smith, Chairman of Sanlam (Desmond is not the CEO, the CEO of Sanlam is Johan van Zyl)

“JD Group is one of the largest furniture and household goods retailers in southern Africa, and has diversified its retail offering further to include do-it-yourself (DIY) and automotive products…The diverse industrial businesses in KAP are well positioned to continue to benefit from the infrastructural growth in Africa.” – Markus Jooste, CEO Steinhoff International

“Generally, platform businesses are the most valuable in media and the internet – consumer destinations (starting points) with repeat use and positive word-of-mouth. Platforms often deliver attractive financials on the back of this strong position with consumers. Executed well, the consumer base and cash flow from a strong platform can support the growth of valuable adjacent businesses.” – Bob van Dijk, CEO of Naspers (Naspers is a broad-based group with operations in ecommerce (especially online classifieds, etail, marketplaces, online services and payments) and other internet services, video entertainment and print media.)

South Africa’s biggest companies (US$ billions)

Source: Forbes.com